I've kept the chicken carcass - now what?

leonie_2

Jet wrote:

£19 for a chicken! :eek: Is it gold plated, incredibly large or reared on a diet of caviar and champagne? :rotfl:

I bought 2 mediums chickens for £5 at Asda at the weekend. :T

Lol I didnt expect it to be quite so expensive!

It was from an organic farm, lovely, but a lot of money!

Mr_Proctalgia

Rave wrote:

I can't be bothered with stock, so last time I had a leftover carcass I bunged it in a large-ish pan the next day (having ripped it up a bit to get it to fit snugly) and covered it in boiling water. I simmered it for about 40 minutes, then let it cool a bit and pulled all of it out again. Then I removed all the meat from the bones (at least all the bits I wanted to eat- parson's nose, no thanks:white: ) and chucked them back into the pan, and added carrots, potato chunks and a lentil/pearl barley "broth mix" which I'd previously soaked. Another half hour of simmering and I had a lovely soup which fed two with enough left over for a lunch sized portion to go in the fridge:).

Actually that was to all intents and purposes stock!

JailhouseBabe

Hi all,

DD and I had roast chicken yesterday (r&r freebie ). Normally we only eat the breast meat, then either use the rest in a curry or throw away! I know this is really wasteful, so have decided to be really good this time.

I've picked off all remaining meat and am planning on making a chicken and mushroom pie later (though haven't yet been to buy puff pastry and mushrooms - have a feeling it may be cheaper to buy a ready made pie).

I've also kept the carcass and would like to try to make a soup. I have read recipes in an earlier chicken thread, but I'm confused. Do I boil my veg with the carcass? Do I then re-use those veg after straining? Wouldn't this make it more difficult to pick the bones out? Do I discard those veg and add new ones?

BTW, I'll be making it in a large saucepan rather than a pressure cooker/slow cooker if that makes a difference?

Pink.

I roast the carcass quickly in the oven because I think it helps make a more flavoursome stock. Then boil it in some water. I usually save any left over gravy and the water from cooking the veg and add it in too. When it's done strain the stock to get all of the bones out and then add the vegetables to the stock to make the soup.

Pink

Mishy

I normally just boil the carcass in a pan of water for an hour or so. Then take all the bone out and put whatever veg I have on my veg rack.

Then you can either have a chunky vegetable kind of soup or blitz it in the blender to make a smooth kind of soup.

It tends to be really good either way.

Have a go sometimes the best things happen when you mix things your own way.

Good Luck and let us know what you end up doing?

Mishy

JailhouseBabe

Thanks guys. I burnt the motor out on my food processor, so it'll have to be a chunky soup!
I'll let you know how it goes.

susank

USe the tops and bottoms off the veg in the stock and mash with a potato masher instead of liquidising

JailhouseBabe

susank wrote:

USe the tops and bottoms off the veg in the stock and mash with a potato masher instead of liquidising

The potato masher, I never would have thought of that!
A degree in computer Science, Sudoku/killer sudoku/kakuro fiend. Have even appeared on Countdown - but I never see the simple solutions that seem sooo obvious when they're pointed out to me :doh:

Pink.

I use a stick blender to make smooth soups......most supermarkets sell them at less than £5. But soups with chunky bits of veg in are my favourites.

Pink

Chipps

The other thing you can do with it if you want a really smooth soup, is to press it through a sieve. Although I have to say that we prefer a slightly chunkier soup than that.
If you like a thick soup, make sure there are lots of potatoes in it. If we have guests on Sunday & there are veggies left in the serving dishes, I always save those to go in the soup. (if it's just us I tend to dish up everything onto the plates - saves washing up!)