Chicken is also great for a remix--the recipes are endless. Even if it's just me and Jeremy for dinner, I'll make two chickens. After we've stuffed ourselves, I'll set to pulling the rest of the meat from the bones and skin. Over the next few days I'll make chicken salad, chicken casserole, chicken pot pie (or the new one: chicken pot cobbler!), Thai green curry, chicken enchiladas, chicken biryani, etc. The list goes on, and I'll post them all, in due time (I know, I know, at my post rate, you won't be holding your breath). Today, let's just talk about the chicken, and what's left after you've pulled all the meat off the bones--that's right, the makings for stock!
Basic Roast Chicken and Vegetables
serves 2 with leftovers for several more meals, or 8
2 roughly 5-pound chickens, you want even weights, too
fresh herbs, e.g. thyme, sage, marjoram, etc. (optional)
kosher salt (Specifically, it sticks better).
pepper
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted
4 tablespoons olive oil
your choice root and bulb vegetables, any winter squash, all cut into 1-2 bite pieces. E.g. yukon gold potatoes, fennel, and half of a kabocha squash
1. Position your oven racks at the very bottom, and middle, making sure there's clearance to get a baking pan on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
2. Unwrap your chickens and pull out all the bits inside. You'll find the neck, and various internal organs, the largest of which is the liver. Label a freezer bag "Chicken Livers" and toss in the liver. You'll freeze these and add to them as you make more chickens. When you have about a pound, use these to make pate--it's delicious and also deceptively impressive (i.e. easy). Put the rest of the parts in a freezer bag labeled "Chicken Parts." Clever, right? You're saving these for stock. Whatever you do, don't include the livers with the stock parts, it'll make the end product taste bitter.
3. Rinse the chickens under cool water and pat dry inside and out with paper towels. Place the chickens side by side in a big baking dish. Use a couple lengths of cotton or linen kitchen string to tie the legs together. Fold the wings back behind the chicken, so it looks like it's relaxing--rather uncomfortably. Take a look at the photo to see what I mean. It'll feel like you're about to snap the wing clean off, but it'll work, trust me. The point of this tying and bending is to pull the chicken together so it cooks evenly. Most cookbooks and Martha will give you various, complicated ways to truss up a chicken with one long length of string. You can try it, but you'll come back to my method.
4. Separate the skin from the breast meat from the leg end and the neck end. If you are using fresh herbs, stuff them in the pocket between the skin and meat, and put any extras in the cavity. That's marjoram under the skin below, not bruises.
5. Liberally salt and pepper the backs of the chicken. Flip over, pour half the butter over, use your hands to evenly coat it, but do it quickly because it will start to solidify right away. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
6. Place the cut vegetables in a half sheet pan. Drizzle with the remaining butter and olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Just use your hands; this whole meal is about you getting over your fear of touching stuff in the kitchen.
7. Put the chickens in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350 degrees. You're going to cook the birds for 18-20 minutes per pound.
8. At about 45 minutes, rotate the pan, to account for any unevenness in the oven heat.
9. At about an hour and 20 minutes, stick a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh of the largest chicken, without touching the bone. You want to cook until it reaches 165 degrees; trust me, the USDA wants you to eat dry chicken. If you're worried, cut into the breast; it's done when the juices run yellow, not pink. It's OKAY if there are pink juices in the joints. YOU WILL BE FINE. And you'll enjoy your moist chicken.
10. Take out the chicken and tent with some foil. Stab some of the veggies with a fork to test for tenderness. If they aren't quite done, leave them in. You have time because the chicken should rest for at least 8-10 minutes, up to 15 or 20, heck chicken is good at room temp. Take out the vege when they're ready and set aside while you carve up the chicken. Carving is hard to explain in text only and I don't have step-by-step action photos, so I'll let you look that up elsewhere.
There are a lot of ways to make a roast chicken more complicated, salting and refrigerating overnight, propping up in a roasting rack, starting back-side up and flipping partway through the cooking process. All these methods are for ensuring a crispy skin. If you like some good chicken skin, you'll want to employ these methods, just modify my instructions. Personally, I love a nice bit of skin, but it's VERY bad for you, so I make my chicken so the meat is delicious and I'm only tempted by the skin on top--not all of it. Hence, my super-simplified instructions.
If you use a roasting rack, put water in the pan. It'll keep the meat moist, prevent the drippings from burning, and give you some liquid to make into gravy.
When you've stripped the bones of the leftover meat, save what's left of the carcass in your "Chicken Parts" bag in the freezer. When you have 3-4 pounds, you're ready to make stock.
Chicken Stock
makes a giant pickle jar full of stock
3-4 pounds chicken parts, including raw and cooked bits, no need to defrost if frozen
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
1 onion, chopped
a whole bunch of fresh parsley
2 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon ground sage
1. Combine all ingredients in, guess what, a stock pot. Cover by an inch or so, with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and reduce to a simmer. Cover and let it go for at least 2 hours, up to 4. The meat should fall away from the bones. Taste any meat bits, if they taste like paper, you're done. If the water level gets low, just top it up with more water.
2. Place a colander in a big bowl and strain the contents of the pot. Press the bones and veggies, to get out all the juice and compost the lot.
3. You can put this straight into your storage container of choice, but there's still some stuff floating in there, so if you have the tools, prop up a small mesh strainer in a canning funnel (see photo, I used a wine bottle as an extra hand). Dump the contents of the bowl through the strainer.
4. The stock is bound to be super hot, so let it stand with the lid off until it has cooled considerably.
5. You'll notice a layer separating to the top, that's the fat, and you'll have to skim that off. Don't throw it away. That's some quality schmaltz and you'll want to use it. Sure, chicken fat is about the worst animal fat for you, but a little bit every now and then won't kill you. If you're getting your dose in the form of matzo balls, it might even cure you! Millions of Jewish moms and grandmas can't be wrong.
6. Storage: You can refrigerate the whole mess, as long as you boil it every three days. That's a lot of work, so consider either filling freezer bags for defrost as needed, OR fill a cookie tray with all your tiniest containers. Measure out 4 or 8 ounces (1/2 or 1 cup) of stock into each one. Place the tray in the freezer. When solid, remove each stock block from the container and keep them all in a gallon freezer bag, or two. If you find it difficult to remove the stock from a container, fill a bowl with hot water and stick the frozen container in it for 30 seconds. Should do the trick.
Note: If you keep the stock in the fridge, don't be surprised when it congeals into a meat jello. That's perfectly normal--it's all the collagen from the bones making it set up.
Another note: Remember that we haven't seasoned (i.e. salt and pepper) the stock. That's so you have control over the seasoning in the final dish. Don't forget to salt!
As a bonus, I'll tell you the secret recipe for the best matzo balls; not too fluffy, not too dense, just right. You might be surprised by this, but, the secret is in the box. I hope I'm not outing her, but my soon to be Jewish mother in law told me this herself! "It's a well-known fact amongst many Jewish grandmothers (Bubbes)." This is good news because, you don't have to experiment to get it just right.
The best matzo balls I ever made were from the Streit's brand box. Unfortunately, since, I've only ever seen the Manischewitz brand--good, but not as good. So, keep an eye out and let me know where you see Streit's. Below are the quantities from the Manischewitz box; if you manage to find Streit's just go with their instructions.
Secret Recipe for Matzo Balls
serves 2
1 packet matzo ball mix
2 eggs
2 tablespoons schmaltz
4 cups chicken stock
salt
1/2 cup diced carrots (optional)
1/2 cup diced celery (optional)
a handful or two egg noodles (optional)
1. Follow the box instructions, just replace the oil with schmaltz (pre-melted, if you take it out of the fridge).
2. Heat the stock, with salt and vege if you like, to simmer and until the vege have softened.
3. When the matzo balls have finished cooking in the SEPARATE salted water, add to the stock. If you're using the noodles, cook them in the matzo ball water and add to the stock when finished.
There you have some of the most comforting soup you'll ever eat, whether you're Jewish or not!
