Rubber Chicken

youngoldlady

I love the thread! :j Funny and informative!! We tend to buy in bulk from the local butchers and freeze the meat portions e.g. 1kg of chicken thigh or 1kg of champion sausages all in bags of 3 sausages or 1 chicken thigh. I used to buy whole chickens and stretch them, but I walk 2miles+ (round trip) to the butchers and am trying to avoid the temptation to catch the tram home because the bags weigh a tonne! I stretched goose at Christmas (and converted most of the extended family in the process - fussy gits!) I still have a kilner jar + 1/2 of goose fat+dripping in the fridge for roasties etc.

When I was a single parent I used to make the following from leftover chicken and stock:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade Chicken stock (fill your pan)
1 nest of noodles per person
1 chilli
2 garlic cloves
small slices of ginger if I had any
Shredded leftover cooked chicken (I used a few handfuls)
Thin slices of any veggies going (carrots, onions, leeks, peas...)

I boiled it up all together to make a watery flavoursome soup. It looks like a light meal, but it is quite deceptive - the chilli makes it feel like you're eating more because it is an effort to eat it iyswim.

At the time DD was 3 and used to gobble a couple of bowlfuls and say "The little red bits are making me cough!" (chilli) Since moving in with H2B she has taken on some of his fussy habits :mad:

Byatt

I am really nervous about keeping chicken for days, so reading this thread has been very useful. I have a couple of questions though...can I freeze cooked chicken and if so how? It seems I can freeze the carcase for when I can use as stock...

if I use cooked chicken in pasta bake for instance, can I freeze a portion? (It having been cooked and reheated already).

lapis_lazuli

I'm afraid of buying a chicken in case it stretches far more than I can handle (cooking for one y'see). I don't want to get bored of the same meat by having enough for a week's worth of meals! Then again I could cut some off when I get it home and freeze it raw.

I can't wait to have a rubber duck!

JulieGeorgiana

Byatt wrote: »

I am really nervous about keeping chicken for days, so reading this thread has been very useful. I have a couple of questions though...can I freeze cooked chicken and if so how? It seems I can freeze the carcase for when I can use as stock...

if I use cooked chicken in pasta bake for instance, can I freeze a portion? (It having been cooked and reheated already).

I do this. I cook the chicken, seperate and if I know a 'meal' has to be frozen I make it first (like my curry) and freeze and reheat later.

Otherwise if I know it's all get eaten I freeze portions of cooked chicken and defrost before making my dish (like my pizza)

HTH

gairlochgal

I did chicken and broccoli soup from the last of Sunday's roast this evening. Very quick and easy as we'd had a cold, wet half term trip to the seaside so were in need of comfort food.

Lightly fried onion, garlic, Ginger, added jug of chicken stock, 1 finely diced potato, herbs, the last of the chicken, frozen broccoli, a touch of chillii powder Simmered it all for about 15 mins, and then got DD1 to blend it to her own satisfaction. She's 13 and fussy about "bits". Broccoli hating DD2 loved it, so happy all round with some nice bread alongside.

spiritless

Ok, so I'm going to do rubber chicken this week- embracing the oldstyle way but I have a little paranoia over food poisoning.

I'll cook the chicken in my slow cooker. How can I ensure that days 2 and 3 are cooked safely? I know to cool it down as quickly as possible and ensure it is piping hot through out but I'm so worried I'll make everyone ill.

Any tips (for a terrible cook)

Hardup_Hester

Hi
You shold be ok as long as the chicken is cooked thoroughly & re-heated thoroughly & kept in the fridge in between. I do rubber chicken twice a month & have never made anyone ill yet.
I tend to cook the chicken & remove all the flesh as soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle. I make stock from the carcase & then freeze the stock in margarine tubs & then make the rest of the meals after lunch on Sunday, that way the meals can be frozen until needed.
Hester

caitybabes

I've had no problems either

A quick tip for stock making and storing: thanks to someone else on this forum (ages ago, can't remember who) I now boil my stock down to just a small layer on the bottom of the pan so that it's very concentrated. This can then be cooled very quickly and either jellified (as it cools it naturally turns to jelly) or poured into an ice-cube tray. So now when I want stock I've got frozen stock cubes

It's the small things that make me happy, obviously! But takes up less valuable freezer space.

HTH someone,

Cait x

zippychick

bumping this as i think there's a rubber chicken question!

FatVonD

I bought 2 chickens the other day and put one in the fridge, one in the freezer. The night before last I stupidly forgot the one in the fridge and defrosted and cooked the other one.

We're having the leftovers of that tonight and I've just discovered the one in the fridge that needs to be eaten by tomorrow. I'm roasting it now so hopefully it'll keep a few days longer after cooking but we're going to be a bit chickened out. We had chicken/mash/pickles on Monday, we've got chicken curry tonight. Does anyone have any ideas what to do with the one I'm just cooking?

Can I slice the breast and reheat with a roast?

If I pick the meat off can I freeze it for a curry at the weekend?

Are there any fab recipes to use up pre-cooked chicken (pie maybe)?

Thanks in advance!