Double Duty

Double Duty

Well today I decided to roast a chicken and then turn the remains into stock. It really seemed like a large feat but it was no big thing. I was a bit unhappy when I went to the store and really investigated how much I was spending on chicken broth when really what it is, at least to me, supped-up chicken water. I knew I could make better tasting and healthier broth than I bought at the store.

 

I bought a five pound chicken in thoughts that I just wanted to experiment a bit. My roasting pan can probably fit three five pound chickens with ease. So for future use, I can do a massive cook job. I used “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook” recipe on page 130 called perfect roast chicken and it sure was perfect. I tweaked the recipe a bit. After cleaning the bird and removing the giblets I seasoned it. I have a bunch of fresh herbs in my planter on my fire escape that I bought at DelVal Aggie day a few weeks ago. I stuffed the herbs under the skin of the chicken with a few slabs of butter to keep the bird moist. After that, I stuffed the bird the same as the recipe called for and then covered the outside with baking soda, salt and pepper to give it some crunch when it finished. The bird only took about 90 minutes as the recipe said. Once I let it rest for about 15 minutes I cut off most of the chicken for lunches this week. Brandon was happy to have some fresh chicken for lunches and as was I for a little change. I rarely eat sandwiches or bread for that matter. Well my quasi bread that I eat doesn’t really account for bread.

 

While the bird cooked I prepared my stock so it was instantly ready to go. I used Ina Garten’s recipe for homemade stock that she has in a few cookbooks. I leaned off of “Back to the Basics.” This is my first time making stock and I could not be more pleased in the ease of process. I filled my dutch oven with various vegetables and stuck the chicken carcass in it and let it sit and cook while I was out. When I returned I skimmed the fat and bagged the stock in freezer zip lock bags. There was aboutith two cups of stock in each bag and it made three bags. I laid the stock flat on a baking pan to freeze flat overnight. The next morning I labeled the bags with the date and how much stock was in each bag. They should last up to six months in the freezer according to Ina.

 

This was easy clean-up and easy cooking!!