This is it! The last of the four “Worst” recipes from the Gelatin Contest submission. It’s been pretty terrible so far, but I have to admit we saved the strangest one for last!

This is Chicken Mousse. It’s pretty much just chicken ice cream.

Which is messed up.

Michele writes:

Hi Ruth,
Here is my entry for the gelatin contest. It came from a book we have that I believe is from the 1950’s. The title is "Secrets of Making Frozen Desserts". All the recipes in the cookbook require an "ice cream freezer" (ice cream maker). So when it says "freeze", they mean in an ice cream maker, not just in the freezer. So here goes…
Best of luck and let me know how it tastes if you are brave enough to try it!
Michele D.

Wow. You know, I have to say that I have never ever ever come across a recipe like this before. Never.

Probably because this is a really bad idea.

Chicken Mousse

2 cups chicken, chopped fine
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon powdered gelatine
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cold water
Chop chicken to almost a paste and press it through a sieve. Season with salt, peppers, and nutmeg. Heat chicken stock and add gelatine which has been softened in the cold water, mix with chicken. Whip cream and add. Freeze.

Also, why did this come from a cookbook about desserts?

Does the book have an appetizer section? Please tell me it does, Michele. Please tell me it does.

At least it turned out sort of okay looking. It was very icy, so I had to dip my ice cream scoop into hot water quite a bit to make it look half-way presentable. You can see in the picture the huge cracks in the scoops.

Getting himself psyched up.

“Okay, I think I am ready for this.”

Tom’s tasting notes:

Chicken-tastic. Disgusting texture, almost like frozen foam.

My tasting notes:

Tasted like very cold, very ground roast chicken. Good flavor, but completely wrong texture when frozen.

At this point, we both pretty much broke out into giggles because, well, we were eating chicken ice cream! And at this point the cats started kicking up a fuss because they smelled chicken and we were eating something. So, we decided to give them a taste.

For your viewing pleasure: Zoe tasting the ice cream!

Zoe’s tasting notes:

Feh.

The Verdict: Good balance of spices and nice roast chicken flavor, but it is ice cream so that was part of the problem. Too weird to really be enjoyable. Would have been much better made into pate! The texture of this thing frozen was just bizarre. Even when it was thawing, it didn’t really melt at all, it just became this fluffy, congealed mess.

Whew!!! Thanks for the awesome submission, Michele! Congrats on being the last of the “Worst” finalists!

*Update: Another great prize has been added to our stash!

Our wonderful sponsor Brigitte from My Nifty Thrifty has added a Dorothy Thorpe Silver Band Large Salad Bowl that matches the fantabulous (and Mad Men famous) Roly Poly Trim glasses!

This is actually a picture of the bowl from Replacements.com because Brigitte is currently polishing up her bowl for one lucky winner. Thanks, Brigitte!

Make sure to come back next week for a special Fourth of July Mid-Century Menu surprise post AND to vote on who should be the “Worst” Grand Prize Winner!

*Disclaimer: This awesome bowl is being provided at no cost to me by My Nifty Thrifty!