[kinky is] Using the Whole Damned Bird
Feb. 5th, 2012 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
commodorifiedWhat I did a little over a week ago:
Roasted two chickens, one covered in Herbs de Provence and one covered in a red chipotle-flavoured spice rub. Stashed the veggie scraps from the side dishes and the raw chicken necks in a bag in the freezer. Boiled the liver and lights for the corgi. Put the leftover chicken in two ziploc bags in the fridge. Put the unused drippings in a container in the fridge.
What I did tonight, after double checking that everything still felt, smelt, and tasted right and wholesome:
1) Stripped both carcasses.
2) Separated the carcasses, the meat, and the skin.
a) Put the carcasses on to boil with the freezer bag of scraps.
b) Put the skin scraps on to boil in plain water.
c) Cut the meat up and put it aside in the freezer until I was ready for it.
d) Skimmed the top of the stock and the top of the boiling skin for as much fat as I could get, three times each.
e) Put the skimmings in the freezer.
f) Strained the stock, discarded the solids.
g) Strained the water the skin was in, discarded the solids.
h) Took the drippings from the original roasting out of the fridge.
i) Combined the fat from the top of the drippings container with the fat from tonight's skimmings and set it all to melt in a saucepan.
j) Combined the water the skin was cooked in, the dark meat jelly from the drippings jar, and the strained stock to make a strong broth.
k) Thawed one boneless skinless breast and two boneless skinless thighs and chopped them up.
l) Added the raw meat to the broth.
m) Added the previously reserved cooked meat to the broth.
n) Strained the fats through a sieve, then through a double layer of paper towel.
And now I am going to:
3) Put the mostly clean fat in the fridge to fry potatoes, etc in.
4) Put the chicken in broth into single-meal servings in the freezer, so that they can be taken out and used for nearly instant chicken soup/stew/etc, each with whatever spicing, vegetables, and starch the mood of the moment dictates.
5) Do the last of the dishes, then sit back and have a well-earned Wee Dram.
This sounds like a ton of work, I realise, but it's really not. The most onerous parts are stripping the carcasses and working with the fullish stock pot; the rest is more just sort of Lounging Around Reading with regular but short bursts of gentle activity.
And you get the satisfaction of knowing that you really truly did use everything but the cackle.
Roasted two chickens, one covered in Herbs de Provence and one covered in a red chipotle-flavoured spice rub. Stashed the veggie scraps from the side dishes and the raw chicken necks in a bag in the freezer. Boiled the liver and lights for the corgi. Put the leftover chicken in two ziploc bags in the fridge. Put the unused drippings in a container in the fridge.
What I did tonight, after double checking that everything still felt, smelt, and tasted right and wholesome:
1) Stripped both carcasses.
2) Separated the carcasses, the meat, and the skin.
a) Put the carcasses on to boil with the freezer bag of scraps.
b) Put the skin scraps on to boil in plain water.
c) Cut the meat up and put it aside in the freezer until I was ready for it.
d) Skimmed the top of the stock and the top of the boiling skin for as much fat as I could get, three times each.
e) Put the skimmings in the freezer.
f) Strained the stock, discarded the solids.
g) Strained the water the skin was in, discarded the solids.
h) Took the drippings from the original roasting out of the fridge.
i) Combined the fat from the top of the drippings container with the fat from tonight's skimmings and set it all to melt in a saucepan.
j) Combined the water the skin was cooked in, the dark meat jelly from the drippings jar, and the strained stock to make a strong broth.
k) Thawed one boneless skinless breast and two boneless skinless thighs and chopped them up.
l) Added the raw meat to the broth.
m) Added the previously reserved cooked meat to the broth.
n) Strained the fats through a sieve, then through a double layer of paper towel.
And now I am going to:
3) Put the mostly clean fat in the fridge to fry potatoes, etc in.
4) Put the chicken in broth into single-meal servings in the freezer, so that they can be taken out and used for nearly instant chicken soup/stew/etc, each with whatever spicing, vegetables, and starch the mood of the moment dictates.
5) Do the last of the dishes, then sit back and have a well-earned Wee Dram.
This sounds like a ton of work, I realise, but it's really not. The most onerous parts are stripping the carcasses and working with the fullish stock pot; the rest is more just sort of Lounging Around Reading with regular but short bursts of gentle activity.
And you get the satisfaction of knowing that you really truly did use everything but the cackle.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-02-06 10:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-06 04:37 pm (UTC)Although I was aware of the possibilities for using schmaltz (that's the Yiddish word that, apart from the English-word emotionally loaded meaning actually means 'rendered chicken fat') I hadn't incorporated it into my cooking since I don't want to spread it on crackers as a snack, but yay! I will henceforth save and freeze it when I make stock.
Coming From Ysabethwordsmith...
Date: 2012-02-06 06:32 pm (UTC)Good work, I do pretty much the same thing when I have a chicken. Sometimes the local grocery store will put out the last batch of roasted birds and mark them half-off. I'll scoop up three or four of them, then go totally piranha on them. I whip up a batch of potatoes, stuffing and two or three kinds of veggies, then break everything down into plastic meal containers. I usually end up with about nine or ten meals, then store them in the freezer as lunches for work.
If I'm feeling particularly adventurous, I'll buy a fresh chicken and cook it myself, but I put the guts into a small saucepan and simmer them with some herbs, salt and pepper. I then use the reduced liquid to make the gravy, and will also add drippings from the pan? But the best is to chop the liver and lights into small bits, then add it to the gravy. Giblet gravy!
I'll also throw the carcasses into a crockpot along with a bouquet garni and let that simmer overnight. Whatever meat I couldn't pull off before is now on the bottom of the pot. I strain out the solids, pick through them for the meaty bits, put the broth back in the pot and add a bag of frozen veggies. Let it simmer another hour.
While that's going, I fire up my pressure canner and get a dozen or so jars ready. When the soup is done, I load it up into the jars, then steam off to Pantryville!
Re: Coming From Ysabethwordsmith...
Date: 2012-02-07 10:08 pm (UTC)I used to do the overnight stock deal, but
no subject
Date: 2012-02-06 09:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-06 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-06 11:18 pm (UTC)Chicken Liver
Date: 2012-02-07 11:46 pm (UTC)Make paté with the livers.
Sauté 100 gm onions, a clove of garlic and a two bay leaves in 150 gm butter until the onion is transparent.
Add 250 gm chicken (or duck) liver, half a teaspoon of mustard powder and a little grated nutmeg and continue to saute until the liver is barely still pink in the middle. Fish out the bay leaves, add freshly-ground black pepper and a couple of glugs of soy sauce and whizz in a blender until smooth.
Put in a ramekin, smooth the top flat, garnish with another bay leaf and a few peppercorns if you wish, and cover with a little clarified butter. Chill for a few hours in a refrigerator and serve with thin toast.
Re: Chicken Liver
Date: 2012-02-07 11:54 pm (UTC)Mind you, she was VERY appreciative, so no regrets for pate missed. :-)
Also, HI! Did you get my email?