Puffed Chicken Foot, or “Party Claw” (photo: Scott Heimendinger)

I threw a big dinner party last weekend.  Well, six people total (including our culinary teammate Scott), but seven courses.  I totally brought it.  But then I was brought down: three of the courses totally sucked.  The pea consommé?  At the last moment I overdid it with the cinnamon oil – it tasted like a bad scented candle.  The Thai beef curry broth was watery and the beef over-tender.  The sous vide vegetables were mushy and lifeless.  Man, was I embarrassed.  But one of the courses did come through: my deep fried chicken feet.  Good thing, too – they took the longest to prepare. I don’t know if I was redeemed, but at least I wasn’t damned.  In the end, fowl became friend.

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