The chicken fat/stock stuff at the bottom of the tin

Northernbird_2

Hello there!

This may see like a really stupid question, but when you roast a chicken and there's all those lovely juices at the bottom of the roasting tin, what can you do with them? I wasn't making gravy at the time, and I've poured them into a mug and popped it into the fridge.

It seems a waste to throw it away, so what can I do?

ChocClare

Use it for anything where you need chicken stock. For example, if you're using your leftover chicken to make a curry or chicken pie or whatever, then use that instead of a stock cube. Much nicer!

It will be quite fatty, so take any fat off the top first. The "stock" bit of it will have set into a jelly: fry off your onions and diced chicken, then just tip the jelly onto the top - it will melt and become a yummy stock. You can dilute it with water if need be.

thriftlady_2

Well, what I normally do is dollop the fat out in spoonfuls to fry potatoes in-yum.I add the jellied bit to casseroles or soups.You can of course freeze it,although it should keep for ages in the fridge(the fat part at least).

Today,I have chucked my roast chicken residue away :eek: Am trying desperately to lose weight and it is this sort of kitchen thrift that is,I'm afraid contributing to my problem.If I'd thought about it I could have saved the fat for frying up my kids' spuds-they're all lean and active and need their calories.Trouble is once it's in the pan smelling all chickeny and gorgeous I can't help myself

ChocClare

Incidentally, I forgot to add: once you've taken your chicken out of the roasting tin (I know you've already decanted everything to the fridge this time) you can put it on the hob, gradually add a pint of water and deglaze the pan (scrape off all the bits that have stuck to the tin). Bring it to the boil and then let it go cold. This is usually the basis of my Sunday roast gravy (before it goes cold, that is!) but there's often quite a bit left over. You can use that as stock in exactly the same way (usually sets into a jelly, but sometimes doesn't) and it gives you a bit more to work with, as well as making your roasting dish easier to wash up! You can freeze it too - I usually freeze it in ice-cube trays which I then turn out into a plastic freezer bag. Then if you're making something which just needs a little va va voom, you can bung a couple of frozen "stock cubes" straight into the pan from frozen (always assuming you're going to heat it through thoroughly). For example, you could fry some chicken breast strips, add half a teaspoon of dried sage (or 1 tsp of fresh); take the chicken breasts out to keep warm for a couple of mins, deglaze the pan with a glass of wine and a couple of these cubes; reduce it down and stick the chicken back in to heat through - tastes fantastic and makes it look like you've spent ages doing it when you haven't!

It doesn't take five minutes to make and freeze these and it's a real time-saver in the long run - and much nicer than bought stock cubes.

comping_cat

I deglaze my meat pan, just like ChocClare but i use the water from my veggies to do it!!!!

Mrsbojangles_2

I'd bin it, its fat you don't need to be putting into your body x

Jay-Jay_4

Mrsbojangles wrote:

I'd bin it, its fat you don't need to be putting into your body x

We could eat our chicken with veg water poured over and our spuds dry roasted but the meat juices are very tasty and the fat makes roast potatoes taste great....... we could all be knocked down by a bus tomorrow .......let's live a little

thriftlady_2

Jay-Jay wrote:

We could eat our chicken with veg water poured over and our spuds dry roasted but the meat juices are very tasty and the fat makes roast potatoes taste great....... we could all be knocked down by a bus tomorrow .......let's live a little

I have to say I agree with you Jay Jay,but I also agree with MrsBojangles!

Too many years of 'living a little' have had a cumulative effect on the size of my bum! Much as I love to save bacon drippings and the fat from roasts it really hasn't done me any good I'm about to embark on a low-fat diet,I've got some very inspiring cookbooks.Wish me luck!

Jay-Jay_4

Well..... I believe that it's the packets of biccies, chocs, sugar in drinks and hidden fats and sugars that we should be watching. A roast dinner isn't exactly diet food but if we ate proper food and cut out the junk then we wouldn't have to worry about what our spuds are roasted in.

..... off for a cup of coffee and a custard cream

thriftlady_2

Trouble is Jay Jay I never buy or eat that sort of junk!
I love baking though,I'm really mean and don't let my kids have too many hm muffins,biscuits etc.Unfortunately there's no-one to police me and I'm a greedy so-and-so

You're right,of course,the odd Sunday roast never hurt anyone,and the best fat to roast spuds in has to be goose fat-yum But,the fact remains I have grown fat on a diet of good home-made food so I'm going to put my energies and love of cooking into creating delicious low-fat food that will allow me to be greedy without increasing my girth

Jay-Jay_4

Well if you have any spare muffins, biccies or cakes then I'll do you a favour and take them off your hands.... please FEEL FREE to pop them in the post to me.


p.s... I like coffee cake the best :drool: