I broke down a full chicken, roasted and reduced the bones from stock to jus, dry brined a breast and thigh for 24 hours, blended the thigh with mirepoix and crimini mushrooms, stuffed that into the breast, and seared it in the smaltz that was rendered while making the jus.
While the ballotine finished in the oven, I made my carrot puree and finished the jus with butter, thyme, and shallots. Plated with some micro greens.
I’m going to admit that I rolled my eyes a bit when I clicked on the photo because the plating and small portion size seemed a little pretentious. But then I clicked into the comments and saw OP was a pretty chill dude/dudette who was just excited about something nice they made, and promptly felt like a judgy asshole.
Anyway, this looks objectively nicer than 99.5% of what I eat and probably tastes delicious, so nice job and sorry if you caught any subconscious negative vibes!
(alcohol may have been involved in this comment 😅)
Regarding the portion size, if you were receiving these dishes in a fine-dining establishment, this would be a single course in a multi-course meal. Depending on the amount of courses, you might not even finish this. That’s why you’ll sometimes see dishes where you’re thinking “you’d need 11 more plates of this to actually feed someone.”
Well… that’s because it would, in fact, be part of a 12-course meal. 😊
This one would likely be part of a three or five-course meal, in my estimation. And of course at home, you usually eat the nice plate and then make a second plate with less concern for presentation. Or like I do when I have a dinner party: every guest gets elegant presentation; for myself, I blend up the food, pour it into a dog bowl, and eat it with a soup ladle at the stove. 🤣
You are really showcasing your presentation game. You have a great sense of balance. Even when you weren’t involving as much coloration, your dishes have always felt very thoughtful and poised–both in terms of flavor/textural choices and visual arrangement. Bravo!
I would consider plating the microgreens on the protein rather than in the sauce–it breaks the circularity (and risks soggy greens). And you over-poured the jus by just a teaspoon or so it looks like, but this is high-caliber work all around.