Chicken Stock

    Chicken stock is a staple in my house.  It is a base for flavorful gravies, the beginning point of soup, an all around flavor booster, and pan deglazer.  For many years I purchased canned broth but I always needed more.  At one point, after stripping as much of the meat off a roasted chicken as my patience would allow, and then throwing the carcass away, I looked at those sad bones in the trash, I wondered if they had something left to give and decided I would make a stock.  I had previously tried unsuccessfully to make a turkey stock from the Thanksgiving turkey carcass but it was so weak in flavor that I gave up on stock making thinking that it wasn't as good as the canned variety until I had to find a use for my weekly roasted chicken.  If I don’t make a stock right away, I put the carcass in the freezer and make it as time permits.  I love the gelatinous quality of the chilled stock knowing that the marrow from the bones has infused the stock with nutrients and minerals (versus thin bodied canned broth).

    The first time I witnessed gelatinous broth was the year my father raised chickens for meat and his mom, my Slovakian granny, came to help him with his butchering and she put a big pot on the stove and boiled up the chicken feet.  The soup was solid after being refrigerated.  I wish I had her recipe for that soup that was thick with gelatin, though, at the time, I would not eat it being a picky and snooty teenager, but now I wish the old world recipe was not lost.  As a family, we did not need to survive on nutrient rich soups any longer.  It was and now the time of the grocery store and plenty.  I find it interesting mass food production is yielding food that is nutrient depleted in both the chemical processing and in the genetically engineered foods.  I take heart in my homemade broth knowing that I am not wasting and in some small way honoring the animal and my ancestors who knew how to survive.

Part 2 of the Chicken that Keeps on Giving series

Chicken Stock 

from a roasted chicken carcass

1 five pound chicken carcass or 2 smaller chicken carcasses

2 quarts of water or enough water to cover chicken

1 carrot cut into chunks

1 stalk of celery cut into chunks

1 medium onion quartered

2 bay leaves

Remove skin and discard, and remove remaining meat and set aside for soup, chicken salad, chicken pot pie, etc. (of course this depends on how much chicken was served at your chicken dinner).

In a stock pot or Dutch oven, place chicken carcass skin and the rest of the ingredients, cover with water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 1- 2 hours until the carcass breaks up easily.

Strain broth through a fine mesh strainer. 

If you like it extra clear, line your strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth. 

Portion off for freezing or use for a soup.

Beer Can Chicken

One of my favorite ways to roast chicken is on the grill with the chicken poked onto a beer can.  Beer can chicken makes a wonderfully moist and delicious chicken every time without the need for a spit or rotisserie. I always associate a roasted chicken dinner with taking time and being a special dinner.  The smell of roasted chicken evokes thoughts of comfort, warmth and caring.  When a chicken is roasting I often hear “it smells so good!” It is little wonder that grocery stores churn out hundreds of rotisserie chickens every day and are at their peak smelling point when the work day is done. By making beer can chicken at home you can control your flavor profile and have a delicious home cooked meal to share with your family and friends.

Part 1 of 3 of the Chicken that Keeps on Giving

Beer Can Chicken

1 roasting chicken - about 5 pounds

2 carrots peeled and chopped into pieces

1 stalk of celery chopped in medium pieces

1 small onion quartered

3 to 4 garlic cloves peeled and left whole

1 cup chicken stock, approximately

1 tablespoon oil of your preference

½ teaspoon sage

½ teaspoon thyme

¼ teaspoon paprika*

Salt and Pepper

Preheat grill with a lid that can accommodate an upright chicken – gas, charcoal, or smoker. I use a gas grill.

Place beer can chicken holder in a 9-inch foil pan.

Scatter the chopped vegetables across the bottom of the foil pan and holder.

Rinse chicken and pat dry.

Empty about half of the beer out of can and widen the opening.

Put beer can in the holder and place chicken on top, legs down and inserting can into the chicken cavity.

Brush chicken with oil and sprinkle with spices, salt and pepper over the entire skin surface. I do this with the chicken on the stand.

Tuck in wings.

Place chicken on the grill.

Turn the burner to low that the chicken is over and lower the other side to medium high. 

Add the chicken broth to pan a little over halfway up leaving room for drippings.

Cook until an instant read thermometer reads 165°F about 1 to 1 ½ hours. 

Depending on your grill you may turn off the burner under the chicken.  Mine goes low enough. 

Remove chicken to plate without spilling the beer in the pan juices or splashing onto the chicken unless you want that flavor in you final product.

*Other spice combinations:

rosemary and lemon zest

granulated garlic and oregano

savory and garlic

any barbecue rub

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

Comfort food is home cooking.  It is used when speaking about food that smells delicious, has enough fat and carbohydrate content to satisfy the palate and is pleasantly filling.  Comfort food gives a sense of well being.  My comfort foods are associated with my childhood and linked to specific memories.  As a small child eating Swanson's frozen chicken pot pies was a real treat.  I can remember the excitement of my mom or dad cooking those pot pies.  My parents did not buy too much from the freezer section but sometimes we had a t.v. dinner, and I remember pulling back the metal top and the little square of dessert, but those don't trigger the same feeling as pot pies.  I remember when the pot pies had both a bottom and a top crust then they changed to only the top crust and that was disappointing.  I grew up and didn't think much of pot pie until a trip to Disneyland and eating at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street and my son ordered chicken pot pie.  His dish brought back a lot of memories and I decided to make it.  I like pot pie not only because it is filling and comforting but I also appreciate the economy of it.  If I have a lot of left over chicken, I make it.  

I have made pot pie with a top and bottom crust but I prefer the biscuits to add that extra layer of home cooking.  The biscuits remind me of dumplings at the bottom and biscuits on top. 

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

2 to 3 pounds precooked chicken cubed (I use leftover chicken from grilled chicken breasts to leftover roasted chicken)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion , chopped fine

2 medium carrots , peeled and cut into sticks and then across to create squares 1/4-inch thick

2 small ribs celery , cut crosswise 1/4-inch thick
2 garlic cloves, put through a garlic press
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons dry white or red wine
2 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup heavy cream
1 bay leaf

3/4 cup frozen peas , thawed

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

Adjust oven rack to low-center position; heat oven to 420 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Set a large pot or a dutch oven over medium heat, heat oil.  
Add onions, carrots, and celery; sauté until just tender, about 5 minutes. 
Add garlic and thyme and continue to cook for about 1 minute
Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
Add butter and melt (the vegetables are still in the pot)
Add flour and stir together until a paste forms the cook for 1 minute.
Stir in wine working up any bits on the bottom.
Whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer on low until thickened.
Stir in the cream and bay leaf.
Add the chicken and heat through.
Add peas and parsley.
Make biscuits - see below.
Pour into a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
Place biscuits on top of the hot chicken mixture and place in the oven.

Bake until biscuits are golden brown and filling is bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes.

Biscuits

makes about 12 biscuits

2 cups all purpose unbleached flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons of cold butter cut into 1 inch or so cubes

3/4 cup of milk

Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Add the ice cold butter cubes to the flour mixture making sure they are not clumped together.

Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or two knives until you have about large pea size pieces - it is important not to over do this.

Stir in the milk until the ingredients just come together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 1 or 2 times until the shaggy dough comes together. Pat into a rectangle and fold edges into each other, turn dough and fold again (folding this way allows for a flakier biscuit).  Pat out until about 1/2 inch or so high. Cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter or glass dipped into flour.

Chicken Sauté

Learning to cook has been a long process of successful and not so successful meals.  My desire for a particular dish was often overshadowed by my skill level until I started watching PBS's Saturday chef programs and Craig Clairborne's Kitchen Primer.  The Kitchen Primer lifted me out of boring meals that relied on pre packaged foods to using fresh foods that were simple yet delicious -- every time I made it!!!
I have made chicken sauté for many years and it is my go to dish.  It can be elevated with the use of shallots or green onions or kept simple with the yellow or white onions you have on hand.  The gravy over rice is very satisfying.    This recipe allows for creativity - add mushrooms, garlic, or spices such as thyme at the same time you soften your onions. This dish is a family favorite.  I always serve over rice with biscuits.

Chicken Sauté
Serves 4-5

4 chicken breasts (about 3 pounds) pounded to an even thickness
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 tablespoons oil of your choice
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots or green onions, or yellow or white onions (what I have on hand)
6 mushrooms sliced if desired
1/3 cup dry white wine (I use the wine I have on hand (not sweet)- red or white, usually red)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons of flour
1-2 cups of chicken broth

Pound chicken breasts with a mallet in a plastic bag to 1/2 inch uniform thickness.
Salt and pepper chicken to taste.
Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium heat and add breasts in one layer.
Cook over medium heat until brown on one side about 3 minutes, turn breasts to other side and brown for 3 minutes.
Remove breasts from pan to plate temporarily (the breasts will be added back in a few steps).

Add onions to oil in pan (about 3 tablespoons should remain) and soften for 3 to 4 minutes stirring.
Add the wine, scrapping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan (the fond).
When the wine has reduced pour over the chicken.
Add butter and flour and whisk together making a roux, cook until brown, around 3 minutes.
Whisk in chicken broth to roux and whisk until smooth and mixture thickens.

Return the chicken and wine reduction to the gravy stir to blend.
Place lid on pan and simmer chicken for 5 minutes on each side or until tender.

Serve over rice.





Recipe inspired by Craig Clairborne, Kitchen Primer

Chicken Rigatoni

I admit, I catch Rachel Ray on the Food Network  once in a while usually when I am on treadmill, and there is nothing else is on.   Despite my annoyance at her saturation of the television airwaves, her Pasta in Vodka Sauce is a standard dish in my house and now I am adding another one - her chicken rigatoni. Apparently, this dish is common in upstate New York and it is quite good especially if you like things a little spicy.

Spicy Chicken Rigatoni

serves 4 to 6 adults

1 pound rigatoni

¾  pound chicken

¾  pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Black pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

2 large or 3 small cubanelle peppers, seeded, chopped - I used Anaheim peppers available in my supermarket

3 roasted red peppers, chopped

6 hot cherry peppers pickled in jar, in Italian section of grocery stores - I used a spicy pepper

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1/3 to ½  cup cream

½  cup grated Romano or Parmigiana plus more to pass at table

½  cup basil, about 10 leaves, thinly sliced

Bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta. 

Salt water and cook pasta to al dente. 

Reserve 2/3 cup of cooking water just before you drain the pasta. 

Trim and chop all the chicken into bite size pieces. 

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large high sided skillet over medium-high to high heat.

Add chicken to hot pan and brown all over, 7 to 8 minutes. 

Add onions, garlic, local mild fresh peppers such as cubanelle or anaheim then season with salt and pepper and cook 6 to 7 minutes to soften then add roasted red peppers. 

Cut tops off the hot peppers and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon then chop the hot peppers and add them to the skillet. 

Stir in tomatoes. 

Bring sauce to a bubble then stir in some starchy cooking water from the pasta - about a cup, then add the cream, twice around the pan, about 1/3 to ½  cup. 

Reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer a couple of minutes. 

Add pasta and ½  cup cheese and toss to combine.

Top the pasta with shredded basil.

Serve with crusty bread.

I plan on making this dish without the pasta and making grinder style sandwich out of it with melted mozzerella.