What It Means To French A Bone When Prepping A Cut Of Meat
French cuisine has a reputation for elegant presentations — dishes that are as lovely to look at as they are delicious to eat. It follows then that cuts of meat that have been "frenched" have been prepped to be aesthetically pleasing. Frenching a bone quite simply means scraping away the meat, connective tissue, and fat from that bone, exposing it in dramatic relief. Meats that are typically frenched include racks of lamb, beef, and pork chops, which can be served as a simple rack or trussed up to stand in a circle, forming what's known as a crown roast.
Crown roasts used to be a bit on the fussy side, with tiny paper "hats" that adorned the end of each frenched bone, but frenching meats is a practice that has become considerably less rarified and, in some cases, even functional. Expensive tomahawk ribeye steaks are typically frenched, the clean bone transformed into the handle of the flashy cut, and some recipes for duck confit call for frenched duck legs. However, cuts of meat suitable for frenching don't have to be extravagant or even expensive.
Frenched meats for the masses
Chicken wings and drumsticks don't typically fall under the heading of haute cuisine, but when the frenching technique is performed on drumsticks and the drumette portion of the wing, these once-pedestrian parts are transformed. Scraping one end of the bone clean and pushing the meat to the other end gives you a little chicken lollipop that's not only less messy to eat but is undeniably cute as well.
Like lamb lollipops, lollipop frenched cuts for chicken drumsticks make for clean and easy finger food that can be slathered with sauce, dipped in dressing, and enjoyed without running through a pile of wet naps. And while perfecting your frenching technique can require a little practice, some retail stores, like Wegman's, carry already-frenched chicken drumstick lollipops, making it possible to serve them without the time-consuming prep.
And delightful frenched chicken lollipops can be served in a multitude of ways. Whether you whip up your secret recipe for barbecue sauce, try a Nashville hot-inspired sauce, or opt for the delectable Asian flavors of our soy-glazed chicken wings, a platter of frenched chicken lollipops will be the hit of any gathering. Meats prepared with a frenched bone can be fancy, served on special occasions with elegant sides, but they can also fit into your everyday repertoire.