Ideas for using a chicken!

boo81 · 27 July 2007 at 1:33PM

Ive got a chicken in a meat delivery im getting today but ive actually never cooked one

For starters whats the best way to cook a chicken and secondly I need ideas of how to use all the meat!

I was thinking would cook as a roast for the 2 of us then definately a chicken risotto and will make a stock from the bones etc. I could make a stew/soup with veggies in and after that im really stuck.

Please advise on which part of the meat you use and what you use it for. Im hoping it will stretch and make multiple meals for us and risotto hardly needs any meat!

Please help!

scuzz · 27 July 2007 at 1:45PM

We tend to have a roast chicken, then leftovers can go in sandwiches for work

Also leftovers can go into a ham and chicken pie or chicken and mushroom pie

Or chopped up and thrown in with pasta with a white sauce or a sweet and sour

shelovestobuystuff · 27 July 2007 at 2:07PM

Sounds like you know what you are doing regards the menu from the bird.Usually possible to get 2 meals plus a good soup out of one.
I always buy a larger chicken as its much better value for my family of 4.I have found that the ones from M&S and Tesco are best and keep their size when cooked but most from places like Morrisons or Asda I have bought seem to be pumped up with water.
We use it for a roast dinner first then either curry,chicken supreme with rice or use it in a stir fry.I boil the carcass for soup stock and if you can be bothered sorting out the boney mess thats left you will get a good amount of meat in the soup too.
My tips for cooking are

Sit in in a deep tray with a raised wire tray inside.

Pour a cup of water in the bottom to keep it nice and moist while cooking

Put any herbs or fruit you like inside the bird to flavour it while cooking,I sometimes use citrus fruits or bunches of fresh herbs with an onion

Cover with tinfoil shiny side on the inside and make sure there room in the top as the legs can move up and pop through the foil while cooking

Remove foil to colour the skin 20-30 minutes before the end of cooking time

Save all the lovely stock from the tray once done and use some of it in a gravy

A bit of white wine in a chicken gravy is delicious.

freyasmum · 27 July 2007 at 2:13PM

Hiya,

I prefer to do a whole bird in the slow cooker if only for the fact that I can go out and do what I want and don't have to check it.

I make soup, pies, have it plain, hot/cold with pasta sandwiches.

My boyfriend usually eats the leg, I have the breast (white meat is lower ww points, lol) and I share with my baby. I tend to use the lighter meat for sandwiches and pastas etc and the darker meat for soups/pies.

Lx

dlb · 27 July 2007 at 2:33PM

Chicken is my favorite meat for making loads of meals.
My favourites are , roast (done in slow cooker),stir-fry,pies,pasta bakes,chicken wraps, or one i love is coat chicken breast with cheese sauce and roll in crushed cornflakes and garlic makes a lovley crispy garlic chicken breast.

newlywed · 27 July 2007 at 2:37PM

My plan for next week:

Roast chicken. Use a fairly generous serving of breast meat for roast dinner for 2. (Mainly cos roast chicken is my favourite meal).

Strip off all rest of meat, leg, everything. Divide up (depending how large the bird was). Find that approx 150-200g will make a nice pie for two of us

One lot of meat will go in freezer for a chicken leek pie later on in the week (get a bit bored of too many days with chicken).

One lot of meat goes in the fridge for chicken risotto. Tip I picked up was to put beef stock in with the risotto rather than chicken stock as it gives it a more "meaty" flavour.

Carcass is boiled to make soup. Usually ends up as noodle soup as it's more filling.

Hope that helps

PS. Seems strange that I only did my first roast chicken last November

boo81 · 27 July 2007 at 2:41PM

Great, thanks newlywed - exactly what im looking for. :T

Im new to soups and not that keen on chicken soup strangely, do you have a recipe for your noodle soup? It sounds nice and substantial

odds-n-sods · 27 July 2007 at 2:43PM

The larger the bird, the better value as the meat to bone ratio is greater.

boo81 · 27 July 2007 at 2:49PM

Ive not really got a huge choice on this as im getting a set box from riverford meats, the amount for 2 weeks in the 2 person box will last us over a month as it is!!

newlywed · 27 July 2007 at 2:50PM

boo81 wrote: »

Great, thanks newlywed - exactly what im looking for. :T

Im new to soups and not that keen on chicken soup strangely, do you have a recipe for your noodle soup? It sounds nice and substantial

I come from a family where soup was always made up and never had a recipe :rotfl:

Usually I just boil the chicken carcass with some veg (like a few whole carrots, chopped leek maybe) for a few hours, strain it, and use most of this as my soup base.

Then I add to it some chopped or grated carrots, and chopped parsnips sweetcorn, whatever veg I fancy. Wait till veg is cooked. Add some herbs, maybe a splash of soy sauce - give it a taste and maybe add a stock cube if it's bland.

Then I just bung in some sharwoods noodles (or value ones) till they are cooked and serve!!

I don't actually add bits of chicken in it. It does tend to go seriously solid the next day though (like jelly) - apparently I may have used too much stock/starch in it. If you plan to put some aside for another day then I would do this before adding the noodles - haven't tried this yet though

boo81 · 27 July 2007 at 3:04PM

sounds like a great money saving dish though!

Ill have to give that a try, thanks

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Ideas for using a chicken!

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free