How to use Every Part of a Chicken

There's been a fair bit of foodie talk recently about how many meals a responsible adult can get out of a roast chicken.  The highest I have heard posited (and I think it may have been part of the recent Jamie Oliver brouhaha) is 40! Well I don't know about that but I do know a handy trick to get every single scrap of meat off the carcass.  Read on.

My normal behaviour with a whole chicken is to roast it for our dinner.  My real man has a leg and a wing and I have a few slices of breast. As is normal for us, we have different accompaniments - he has homemade stuffing, homemade bread sauce, homemade sloppy peas, sausage meat, potatoes, veggies and real gravy whilst I have butternut squash and red onion roasted with a little chilli!

The next day he has the same meal again and I have something including leftover chicken and leftover roasted squash such as a risotto or, if I haven't eaten all my dinner the night before, I might have a bit of a munge - see here for details of this culinary technique.

On the third day I normally use the second, uncut breast to make a pie for my darling.

At the same time I have a  a curry (quick and lovely recipe here) or similar for me for that night.  Lots more ideas throughout this blog and in my book, Creative Ways to Use Up Leftovers - extensive preview here! 

Extensive preview here!

In addition we may well have a chicken sandwich, salad or similar for lunch before moving on to the next stage. 

How to completely strip a chicken carcass ...

~   After the above kind of meals bung all the rest of the chicken including skin, bones, flesh and any goo, into a saucepan with a lid and add about 1½ inches (4 cm)of cold water.

~   Bring to a boil over medium heat, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.  During this time turn the carcass once so that all of it gets a go in the water.

~   Turn off the heat and allow to sit for 20 minutes or so. 

~   Use tongs to lift the carcass out of the pan and set in a bowl or on a plate to cool a little.

~   Whilst still pleasantly warm manually (yes, with your hands) remove every single scrap of edible meat.  This is NOT unpleasant and DOESN'T take long.

~   Keep the broth - it will be a pretty golden colour and lightly flavoured.  It is not a true rich chicken stock but is prettier and better than water to use in any soups or sauces you might be making.

Here's a gruesome pic of a carcass I stripped earlier, have yourself a zoom, I don't think you'll find much I've missed!

The next day I make soup with the broth and probably the last of the chicken.  If it's not the last I can always think of something to do with it!

This is, of course, nothing like 40 meals, it is 10-ish and at £5 or so for a reasonable 2kg chicken  that's about 50p per meal plus a few nibbles. 

Oh, and before you go see here for how to use
chicken fat and skin in delightful ways.

Chicken Scraps and How to make Easy, Rich & Creamy Alfredo Sauce

Last night, as behooves a good daughter-in-law (even just a common law one like me) I cooked a full on roast chicken dinner with homemade stuffing and my own luxurious version of traditional Bread Sauce.  I fed my chaps well and, not being much of a trencherwoman, had just a modicum of chicken with salad for my dinner

We often buy a bloomin’ huge chicken at Tesco for about ₤6 and make all sorts of things out of it.  

The day after the roast  I always remove all the leftover good solid meat from the carcass and set it aside (to use a culinary term) I put the remnants in a large pot and add some cold water but, here’s the thing; not a lot - maybe an inch or so.  I bring the water and chicken almost to a boil, cover the pan, turn down the heat and cook gently for 15-20 minutes turning the chicken once.  This makes all the rest of the meat fall off the bone without overcooking it and also flavours the stock quite strongly as there isn’t much of it. 

Today I made …

Chicken & Mushroom Alfredo

Firstly you need to make this ...

Easy Alfredo Sauce

This very quick and very easy recipe makes a truly luscious sauce which can be the basis of many a yummy pasta dish and a lot of other dishes too. 

200ml double cream

15g butter

50g freshly grated Parmesan plus more for sprinkling

salt and pepper to taste - I myself, personally, would be heavy on the pepper

~   Gently heat the butter and the cream together, stirring, till the butter has melted into the cream.

~   Add the 50g  of shredded Parmesan and stir in till melted.

~   Slowly bring to a gentle boil, immediately turn down the heat and simmer, still stirring quite a lot but only for a minute or so, maybe less, till you have a smooth creamy sauce.  

Now add some of the leftover chicken scraps you have salvaged and stir in some sauteed mushrooms and freshly cooked pasta.  You'll be delighted.

Alfredo Sauce is such a lovely sauce and so useful - add this to Pinterest or make a note of it or something because I'm sure you'll want to make it again.

Leftover Chicken Scraps 

See here for how to use every part of a chicken. 

Chicken scraps can be used in many ways, for instance ...

~   Chicken & Green Chili Fritters ~   Chicken Soup e.g. Chicken and Leek Soup ~   Chicken Sandwiches~   Chicken Curry~   Chicken Pie~   Add to stir fries~   Salad

What do you do with yours?