I just tunnel boned a chicken...

[Shalmanese]

Purely as an exercise in curiosity, I decided to figure out if I could tunnel bone a chicken. Turns out, I can:

I now have a whole, 4lb chicken that is completely boneless, what can I do with it?

[Genkinaonna]

Stuff it with something,silly!

[Dave the Cook]

I'm impressed.

Yeah, you kinda have to stuff it. But whatever you do, respect the skin.

[Chris Hennes]

Gallontine or ballotine would be the classic next step, right?

[prasantrin]

Rellenong Manok http://asianinamericamag.com/2011/05/chicken-relleno-philippine-stuffed-chicken/

But I'd leave out the sweet relish--my mother never puts that in. And you'll find recipes that call for vienna sausage--leave that out, too. Ick!

You can basically stuff it with your favourite meatloaf mixture.

[onrushpam]

My favorites are shrimp or crawfish etouffee mixed with rice

or shrimp/crab/crawfish and cornbread stuffing.

[vice]

Nice! For those playing along at home, consult Jacques Pepin for a masterful and detailed demonstration of the technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAekQ5fzfGM

[Deus Mortus]

Nice! For those playing along at home, consult Jacques Pepin for a masterful and detailed demonstration of the technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAekQ5fzfGM

That was just a thing of beauty, I had never heard of this pepin guy, but I guess I'll be checking out some of his stuff, but that just made my day...

[Chris Hennes]

That's the video I checked out from the local public library a decade ago to learn how to do this, thanks for digging it up!

[skyhskyh]

make Hainanese chicken rice

[djyee100]

You could do an Asian version of the ballotine, either roasting or deep-frying the bird. I've cooked this Asian stuffed roast chicken recipe, & it's tasty. Only the ingredients are listed on Googlebooks. The chicken is stuffed, then placed on a bed of onion, carrots, & celery, and roasted. The remaining ingredients are a glaze for basting the chicken as it roasts. I like to add a little brown sugar to the mix.

Here on Googlebooks, page 144:

http://books.google.com/books?id=hKx5s2iGcJEC&pg=PA144&lpg=PA144&dq=patricia+yeo+festive+roast+chicken+with+rice+and+mushroom+stuffing&source=bl&ots=pv-jDH4neN&sig=UK0QnM_vB1TBsJJX5vWe2R5MNrw&hl=en&ei=fpniTam8FOvKiALIipW6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

For a ballotine, since you've got the chicken all deboned and flattened out like that, it's a nice touch to marinate the meat beforehand.

[edsel]

You could do an Asian version of the ballotine, either roasting or deep-frying the bird. I've cooked this Asian stuffed roast chicken recipe, & it's tasty. Only the ingredients are listed on Googlebooks. The chicken is stuffed, then placed on a bed of onion, carrots, & celery, and roasted. The remaining ingredients are a glaze for basting the chicken as it roasts. I like to add a little brown sugar to the mix.

Here on Googlebooks, page 144:

http://books.google.com/books?id=hKx5s2iGcJEC&pg=PA144&lpg=PA144&dq=patricia+yeo+festive+roast+chicken+with+rice+and+mushroom+stuffing&source=bl&ots=pv-jDH4neN&sig=UK0QnM_vB1TBsJJX5vWe2R5MNrw&hl=en&ei=fpniTam8FOvKiALIipW6Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

For a ballotine, since you've got the chicken all deboned and flattened out like that, it's a nice touch to marinate the meat beforehand.

The stuffing looks good. It's fairly similar to the one in the Ken Hom cookbook I learned the technique from. Hom does essentially the same steps as shown in the Pepin video, except that he doesn't split the skin down the backbone. He just works his way from the neck cavity, gradually turning the bird inside-out.

It's easier to do with a larger bird. I've done it many times with turkey. (With a smaller bird it's hard to do without tearing the skin.) It's great fun to serve a turkey that looks fairly normal but is completely boneless.

[budrichard]

Acquire a set of Pepin's 'The Art of Cooking', still the best single reference to technique and recipes ever put into print. Besides leading you through the deboning process, step by step, there are various fillings for your chicken. Makes the common chicken into a gourmet dish.-Dick

[Shalmanese]

Nice! For those playing along at home, consult Jacques Pepin for a masterful and detailed demonstration of the technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAekQ5fzfGM

Tunnel boning involves removing all the bones without breaking through the skin (except at the wingtips and legtips). Unlike butterfly boning, you end up with a tube of meat rather than a flat piece.

I ended up marinating it in a mix of cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, lime, rum & oil overnight, The next day, I made a mix of himalayan red rice, chipotle, pineapple & cilantro and stuffed it and then roasted it at 450F until done.

The tunnel boned chicken was easy to carve and juicy but I don't know if I would do it again, except as a technical exercise in butchery.

[nickrey]

How about then tunnel boning a Poussin and then a quail and cook them one inside the other?

You could even stick them together with transglutaminase.