The Smart Way to Carve a Chicken

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There are any number of ways to carve a chicken, but the way it's done at Daniel, the famous restaurant in New York City, is particularly smart. No unlucky diner is left with a scrawny wing protion, or one that requires surgical skill to eat with a fork and knife. Each piece is an attractive, substantial portion. Here's how to do it: 1. Using a medium chef's knife, cut close to the leg at the point where the leg and breast meet, peeling the leg downward as you cut. It should detach easily. At the point where it meets the backbone, make sure to cut around the oyster, a small nugget of meat at the base of the thigh (at the point of the knife above). Repeat with the other leg. 2. Remove each breast and wing by cutting along the breastbone and carefully cutting the meat from the one. Cut through then join where the wing meets the backbone to remove the wing and breast in one piece. 3. Cut each breast in half at an angle parallel to the wing. This will give you four breast portions, two with a wing attached. 4. Separate the thigh and drumstick. Cutting with the knife parallel to the drumstick, slice through the joint. 5. Place each thigh skin side down. Following the lines of the bone, cut alongside both sides of the thigh bone, then beneath it. Pull up the small end, cut around the thicker joint, remove the bone from the meat and discard.