October 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

mumzyof2

Your going to think im really stupid but i want to buy a whole chicken (small or medium) tomorrow. Have it on Sunday. But then I want to make a chicken soup on Monday. How do i do it? Is there a link or anything. How do i get all the bones from chicken. I never done it before. And would a small chicken do 1 adult and 2 small children (4 and 2) plus chicken soup or would i have to go medium?

Skint_Lynne

mumzyof2 wrote: »

Your going to think im really stupid but i want to buy a whole chicken (small or medium) tomorrow. Have it on Sunday. But then I want to make a chicken soup on Monday. How do i do it? Is there a link or anything. How do i get all the bones from chicken. I never done it before. And would a small chicken do 1 adult and 2 small children (4 and 2) plus chicken soup or would i have to go medium?

Mumzy,

I am following you around:p . I think the small one would be fine, if it is just you and the wee ones, they usually don't eat that much!! I'm sure there is a guide to doing chicken stock on the complete cooking thread, I have seen it somewhere. I think that you strip the chicken as much as you can and then put the carcass into a large pan with boiling water, some veg (defo an onion) and then season and boil for around an hour to an hour and a half, but you would keep checking it. Then when it's done, remove the carcass and strain. Then you will have the stock for your soup!!

I'm sure that someone who knows better than me will be along soon, I'm meant to be looking for veggie recipies for my forthcoming vegginess!!

See you over on the other thread,

SL x

mumzyof2

Skint_Lynne wrote: »

Mumzy,

I am following you around:p . I think the small one would be fine, if it is just you and the wee ones, they usually don't eat that much!! I'm sure there is a guide to doing chicken stock on the complete cooking thread, I have seen it somewhere. I think that you strip the chicken as much as you can and then put the carcass into a large pan with boiling water, some veg (defo an onion) and then season and boil for around an hour to an hour and a half, but you would keep checking it. Then when it's done, remove the carcass and strain. Then you will have the stock for your soup!!

I'm sure that someone who knows better than me will be along soon, I'm meant to be looking for veggie recipies for my forthcoming vegginess!!

See you over on the other thread,

SL x

What is a carcass? :rotfl: So from what you have said but in my terms.. I strip the chicken then bung the rest of it (bones etc) in a pan, cover with boiling water add some veg.. What veg? I only have frozen mixed veg, have onions (do i chop onion up?).
Boil for a hour then strain it. Then its done.. BUT what do i do next to thicken it up etc? Do i need to add chicken to it? Im so confused. lol :rotfl:

Julimk

Hi Mumzyof2

I only buy the small chicken for me & DD (9). Roast dinner, then strip the carcass (the bones) for white meat for salads/sandwiches & dark meat for another meal (? curry etc.)

Any veg!! Whatever is leftover from the roast dinner should be fine. Some people advise against brocolli & cauli. Root veg definitely OK.

I get about 1 pint of stock from a small chicken, others may get more.

HTH

mumzyof2

Im all confused. What do i do when i strip the chicken and made the stock? do i leave some chicken on the bones to put in the pan? what do i do once i made the stock? add chicken?

Skint_Lynne

mumzyof2 wrote: »

Im all confused. What do i do when i strip the chicken and made the stock? do i leave some chicken on the bones to put in the pan? what do i do once i made the stock? add chicken?

You can add what you want to the stock once you have made that bit. As julimk says, you can even add any veg you might have left over from dinner.

When I make HM soup, I add lentils (when I start the soup, to the water/stock.) Make sure you have washed the lentils before you put them into the pan. Now, just put enough lentils to suit your taste/size of pan. I make a cauldron size pot of soup and use half a bag of lentils, so if your pan is normal size, I would use a quarter of a bag. Then add an onion, 2-4 grated carrots, a couple of cubed potatoes and anything else you might have, including any leftover bits of chicken you want to put in. Simmer for an hour to hour and half until you cannot see any lentils. You could make chicken and rice soup, just add a handful of normal rice to the mix, throw it in at the same time as the lentils.

Have you made soup before Mumzy? It's easy, just a guessing game really, the proof is in the tasting!!

SL x

gillaman

:mad: Grrrrrrr. Got muddled over which pot of money my GC comes from. Kept thinking it was my 4 weekly money, but it's not, it's the calendar monthly money so I have two weeks left to go and only about £25.00 left. Hey ho. I should manage because I'll only need f&v and milk.

I have about 10 tofuburgers in the freezer and have just made some cheese, apple and sage turnovers. Had one for dinner, the rest will go in the freezer. Have hm chilli in the freezer, and some Quorn fillets, Asda meatballs and veggie mince, plus lentils, beans etc. in the cupboard. Have some eggs and veggies, and can make a pilaff or risotto. Don't think I'll starve.

Well done everyone - you all seem to be getting pretty good at this! I don't post very often as just too busy at the moment, but knowing I've got somewhere to publicly declare my spends keeps me in line.:rotfl:

mumzyof2

I make carrot soup alot as my DD hates carrots but will eat carrot soup. With carrot soup i just add 1kg of carrots, 1 onion, garlic and 1 -1 and half pints of veg stock and some red lentils. And cook for about an hour.
Think i know how to make chicken soup now. I have a huge pan i will make the chicken in. It will prob turn out more like veg soup lol. Do i just add the water so it covers all the bones? Do i need to break all the bones up ?

Could i just boil the bones in a pan on monday night and then tuesday morning still everything else in slow cooker? and when i get home from college all i would have to do is blend it all?

cw18

In my days pre-SC (slow cooker) when I made the stock in a pan, I broke the carcass up into individual bones (or clumps of - but didn't intentionally break any individual bones) and added water to cover them -- and kept then on a low light while they simmered, with half an eye on them from time to time in case I wanted/needed to add more water.

You do need to cover the bones to get the most from them, but even if you could keep the carcass whole while stripping off the meat, I think you'd find that covering it would be far too much water (the stock wouldn't have a real 'flavour')

Skint_Lynne

mumzyof2 wrote: »

I make carrot soup alot as my DD hates carrots but will eat carrot soup. With carrot soup i just add 1kg of carrots, 1 onion, garlic and 1 -1 and half pints of veg stock and some red lentils. And cook for about an hour.
Think i know how to make chicken soup now. I have a huge pan i will make the chicken in. It will prob turn out more like veg soup lol. Do i just add the water so it covers all the bones? Do i need to break all the bones up ?

Could i just boil the bones in a pan on monday night and then tuesday morning still everything else in slow cooker? and when i get home from college all i would have to do is blend it all?

I don't think you would break the bones up, but someone else will probably confirm this. I would boil it in the pan on Monday, get rid of the bones, and put all your ingredients into the slow cooker for Tuesday, bet you have nice soup when you get in, let me know how it tastes. I am defo going to try your carrot soup for my no face regime which starts on Monday!!!

SL x

There you go, I was wrong, CW has saved the day!!