Silkie (black chicken): thoughts and possibilities

[ChrisTaylor]

I bought a silkie on the way home from work today. At the moment I'm pretty much settled on the basic method of cooking the beast--brine and then roast the breast on the bone, salt and then confit the legs--but I'm at a loss for what to put with the dish. A strong chicken jus wouldn't go astray, of course, but I'm talking in terms of vegetables. Think winter.

[ChrisTaylor]

Doing a bit of research I see that silkie is much tougher than regular chicken and requires a low and slow cooking. I don't intend to deviate from roasting--I'll just roast it at, say, 60 degrees and then finish it off in the pan with butter.

[dcarch]

I had silkie once, just out of curiousity. Not a very appetizing bird both in taste and in appearance.

A live silkie is very attractive. People have them as pets.

Look forward to seeing your results.

dcarch

[liuzhou]

You might want to look at the previous thread on this very subject.

It's here.

[dcarch]

I want to try it with black garlic sauce on black rice.

dcarch

[Mjx]

I bought a silkie on the way home from work today. At the moment I'm pretty much settled on the basic method of cooking the beast--brine and then roast the breast on the bone, salt and then confit the legs--but I'm at a loss for what to put with the dish. A strong chicken jus wouldn't go astray, of course, but I'm talking in terms of vegetables. Think winter.

Root vegetables were the first things to spring to mind, but Hokkaido squash, roasted mushrooms, and kale with beans make great winter vegetable dishes.

[ChrisTaylor]

At the moment I'm leaning towards a bed of roasted root vegetables. The breasts are sitting in a brine and I'm getting ready to confit the legs. I'm going to take the confit meat, mix it with mushrooms and use it to fill pasta. Wondering what to do for a crunchy textural element--considering using deep fried shallots as a nod to the 'Asianess' of the protein.

[LindaK]

There's a 2007 New York Times article on cooking Silkies with some recipes here that might provide a few ideas for cooking and sauces.