Chicken in a Watermelon

[ltmurnau]

There is a scene in the movie Buckaroo Banzai where Jeff Goldblum and another guy are running through one of the laboratories. He sees a watermelon in a high-pressure chamber and asks, "What's that watermelon doing there?".

The answer, of course, is that Buckaroo was working on a way of feeding the world's poor by developing a strain of nutritious watermelon what could be dropped from an airplane and not burst when it hit the ground.

What's missing from a vitamin-rich, vine-ripened treat like this? Protein! So, we put a chicken in the watermelon and then cook it.

A DVD of the movie was released in 2002. One of the Easter eggs is, if you select the BB logo on the second screen of the "Food from the Skies?" article, you will be taken to a video clip of W.D. Richter (director of the film) called "Why?" where he discusses watermelons and shows a recipe for Chicken in a Watermelon.

Here is the recipe :

Chicken in a Watermelon

Total time : 5 hours

1 very large watermelon
1 roaster chicken, about 5 to 6 pounds
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 tablespoons chilled butter.

Cut a 1/4-inch-thick horizontal slice off bottom of watermelon, so it won't roll. Discard. Cut off the top third of the melon horizontally, then scoop out seeds and enough of the pulp from both remain parts to make room for the chicken.

Season cavity of chicken with salt and pepper. Insert lemon pricked with fork, along with 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce. Brush outside of chicken with remaining soy sauce, and sprinkle with five-spice powder,

Place chicken in the larger part of the melon, and position the other piece of melon on top, securing with long skewers.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and bake 2 hours. Then, reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake 2 1/2 hours longer.

Place watermelon on a tray and show it to guests. Return it to kitchen: remove chicken and carve. With a ladle, remove juices from watermelon and reduce in skillet until thickened; whisk in cold butter and spoon over chicken before serving.

Yield: 8 servings.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 520 calories, 25 grams fat, 140 milligrams cholesterol, 1,185 milligrams sodium, 45 grams protein, 30 grams carbohydrate.

Comments

[ilna.livejournal.com]

In general, i'd trust you as a cook, but i must say this looks absolutely disgusting to me. Are you planning to try that, ever ?

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

I surely do!
I've already cooked a chicken AND watermelon recipe made famous by a popular Canadian cook, Mr. James Barber.
I like it, others don't.

[ilna.livejournal.com]

but.. but.. watermalen is sweet and watery, putting salt and butter in there is evil. ..no ?

[scuttle.livejournal.com]

Richard will be really disappointed that the melon is not being used for impaling on spikes.

[rosminah.livejournal.com]

I am disappointed by the Banzai Institute's poor taste in kitchen decor.

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

I think the experiment must have been outsourced to a different lab.

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

but.. but.. you're French, and French cooks put butter and salt and cream in everything...

http://www.cuisinedumaroc.com/modules/sections/recette-viewarticle-167-tarte-a-la-pasteque.html

(OK, so it's actually an Algerian recipe, but I didn't want to look any harder...)

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

No no no; you impale EGGPLANT, not watermelon...

[duanpian.livejournal.com]

why does it look like a monkey's brain to me?

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought of it that way.
Ick.
But nice to see you here!
How are things?

[duanpian.livejournal.com]

I am good, just enjoying my one week break before I go back to school next week.

how have you been?

[ltmurnau.livejournal.com]

Well, pretty much the same.
Lots of things to do and little time to do them in. Not new.
I carved some stone molds for metal casting on the weekend. That is new.
How much more school do you have?

[ilna.livejournal.com]

You know, i really had to think real hard about it all.. i think my problem lies in having water-based aliments (i'm aware that's almost everything to some extent, but some still have more water than others) smeared in some sort of grease. Like, i love cucumber, but i really hate it in the context of a salad with oil-based vinaigrette -cream or soft cheese would be ok though. And when i think of watermelon, if falls into the same category. And then there's the problem of sugar and salt too - i love indian food, but i hate basmati rice to be salted since it's more on the sweet side with the starch in it and all..

..or maybe that means i'm not that french in the end, i'd easily believe that :-s

(what sort of dyslexia led to that "watermalen" monstrosity in my former comment, i can't even figure. sorry about that :/)