cooked chicken - how long is fresh?

sparklymessygirl

Hello all,

I know loads of you do this type of thing already but this caught my eye in the Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2104-2187289_1,00.html

Sparkly

Penny-Pincher!!

I try and get at least 2 meals from a chicken. First is normally a roast, then the leftovers is either put in a pie, curry or with a salad/jacket or mash. I have managed to get 3 meals from one bigger chicken and the 3rd meal was a quiche which probably served 6 big servings.

PP
xx

twink

dont forget to use the carcase for soup another day or twos meals

Penny-Pincher!!

Ive never made a soup with the carcass-tried making stock once but turned out very salty and ended up binning it. What did I do wrong?

PP
xx

sparklymessygirl

I make lovely stock (if I say so myself! )

Am off to walk the dogs but will post in a bit

Sparkly
PS have seen photo of your quiches and look good to me!

twink

shouldnt have turned out salty pp unless you had stuffed the cavity or smeared anything on the breast before roasting i justboil up the carcase with a couple of onions then fish them out let the stock cool and put in fridge next day skim the fat off the top then iadd veg and lentils and a kallo stock cube simmer for a while then blend with cheap tesco stick blender then add some chopped parsley
i soon learned not to stuff the chicken with oatmeal stuffing if i wanted to make soup with the bones
maybe someone else will have more ideas

Chipps

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

Ive never made a soup with the carcass-tried making stock once but turned out very salty and ended up binning it. What did I do wrong?

Did you put salt in when you made the stock? I don't put anything in - just the carcass & water, then either cook in the slow cooker overnight or in the pressure cooker for 45 mins on high. Pour the contents into a bowl through a colander - throw away the bones (salvage any good bits of chicken to put in the soup) then add the soup ingredients when ready. If you let it cool overnight in the fridge you can take the fat off quite easily.

Penny-Pincher!!

I dont add salt to any cooking. Not sure what I did wrong then. How much water do you use for an average carcass? Do I just shove in SC on low overnight-that will be for about 6hrs....is that ok?

Thanks
PP
xx

sparklymessygirl

For my chicken stock I put the carcass in a big Le Creuset casserole pot with roughly chopped onion, maybe a carrot, thyme and bayleaf and lots of peppercorns. No salt. I think about 3litres of water - and let it simmer for 3 hours partially covered (think mine is a variation on Hugh FW's recipe). Sieve out all the bits - try and skim the fat off after it has been in fridge overnight. Mine is quite jellyish when cold but thins out on reheating.

Made it once in the slowcooker and left for maybe 8 hours on low - was fine.

PP - I always buy free range chicken - where did you get yours? I wonder if this makes a difference to saltiness???

Sparkly

recovering_spendaholic

Ooh! I had never thought of doing the stock in the SC! Do you put boiling water over the carcass?

Debt_Free_Chick

I make gallons of stock. Barely anything leaves the house without being turned into stock!

This is my basic stock recipe, but I regard all the ingredients as essential, for a good stock with depth & flavour

Carcass
One carrot
One stick of celery plus a few leaves
One bay leaf
A few pepporcorns
One onion (or a couple of shallots)
One clove of garlic

Place everything in a heavy pan or casserole. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil and remove any froth/scum that floats to the surface. Either, reduce heat to a simmer - the liquid should barely bubble - or place in a low oven. Gently simmer for about 2 hours - longer if the simmer is really gentle. Do not boil!

Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly. Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl/jug. Place in the fridge overnight and the following day, remove the layer of fat, if any, on the surface. Decant the stock into a variety of containers and freeze if not using straight away.

The carcass must have been roasted. If you've jointed a chicken (raw) and you have the backbone and other bits, then roast them for half an hour before you add them to the stock. Then pour a cup full of boiling water into the roasting pan, swill it around, scrape off all the roasted bits and add the lot to the stock.

Roasting the carcass produces lovely caramelised juices which add body to the stock.

If you're making beef stock, you can add more herbs e.g. thyme. I just pick whatever's looking good in the garden.

HTH