A major barrier that people think they have to eating organic is cost. I would like to start debunking this myth. Today we'll talk whole organic chicken.
Would you rather pay $6.99/lb or $2.49/lb for the SAME organic chicken? The only difference, is that the $6.99/lb chicken has been cut up into breast pieces for you, the $2.49/lb chicken takes about 10 minutes of work (max...it takes about 5 minutes when you're practiced).
Not only do you have the benefit of saving money, but you get the bonus of being able to make soup with your whole chicken AND have the giblets to use if you like!
Here, a step-by-step on how to cut up a chicken.
1) Buy a whole chicken. Tip: if you're buying it from Whole Foods at $3.99+/lb, you're paying too much! Try a farmer's market (my first choice), or Trader Joe's in your area (pictured above).
2) Remove the giblets from inside the bird and set aside. We'll talk about these in a bit.
3) Rinse the chicken and pat it dry.
4) With a sharp chef's knife and a steady hand, pull the wings away from the bird, simultaneously cutting through the skin and fat. You'll hear a crack as the joint breaks away. Cut the wings off.
5) Repeat step #4 with the legs. Once you get the hang of it, you'll see that the clear divide between parts more easily. Here, you can cut the thigh from the leg, but I leave it together.
See the fat/tissue still holding the thigh onto the body? Carefully cut through that. When first learning, you might hack the chicken up a bit. No big deal, it takes a few mangled chicken to get it right!
6) Cut the back off of the chicken and set aside.
7) Take your big ol' knife and slice the breast down the middle, cracking right through the bone. Sorry I don't have better pictures of this part. It's kind of tough dismembering a chicken while documenting it yourself. ;)
8) De-bone the breast (or not). I do, just because it's easier to use leftover breast for salads and whatnot. Do this with a smaller knife, carefully slicing the meat away from the rib bones.
9) Put all of the bones/carcass in a bag or storage container and throw in your freezer if you're not going to be making stock right away (we'll talk about this).
Voila! Your finished cut up chicken, giblets (in small bowl) and carcass (large bowl). Don't mind the yellow on the cutting board. Did I mention fresh turmeric stains EVERYTHING? Ugh.
Now what? Pre-heat your oven to 375. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and whatever else you like (I used garlic). Rubbing a tiny bit of olive oil or butter on the chicken helps the skin to crisp up.
Bake it for 1 hour at 375*. If you add potatoes, like I did, season those too
and stir about half way through so that they soak in some juices.
Now, what what are two people going to do with all of this chicken, you ask? Here are several things I may or may not do with it this week:
- Sautee the giblets with garlic and lemon. Eat those as an appetizer. (CHECK) They're good for you, but I'd only recommend eating them if ORGANIC. Who knows what kinds of crazy antibiotics and hormones get stored in the organs of conventional chickens...
- Eat it for dinner with veggies (see below for tonight's dinner with asparagus...yum). (CHECK)
- Make walnuts & cranberry chicken salad with diced up leftover breast meat.
- Dice up any other remaining meat from the wings/legs and make chicken fried rice with it.
- Make a chicken and veggie omelet or frittata for breakfast.
- Scramble it in with your eggs in the morning.
- Make a delicious sliced chicken sandwich on a kaiser roll or organic wheat bread with some good cheese.
- Slice it up over a Greek spinach salad with a simple vinaigrette for the dressing. (TOMORROW: CHECK)
- Make chicken soup with the carcass (my favorite!) (THIS WEEKEND - CHECK)
Pictured here with some delicious farm market asparagus sauteed with onions
Making chicken stock is super easy.
CHICKEN STOCK
Ingredients:
1 medium onion
2 medium carrots
2 medium stalks of celery
(The above items make up your mirepoix!)
1-2 chicken carcasses
3 cloves garlic
1 bayleaf
Salt & Pepper
Turmeric
Cumin
Instructions:
Pull your chicken carcass out of the freezer. Don't even need to defrost it! Sautee all of your corsely chopped veggies in a large pot with a tiny bit of olive oil until fragrant. Add the frozen carcass and fill your pot with water until the carcass is *almost* covered. Since you'll be stirring this often, it will all get cooked.
Bring it up to a boil, stir, and then bring heat down to a simmer. Simmer this for 3-4 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies are falling apart. Strain over a big glass or metal bowl. Put the chicken broth in the fridge for now if you're going to be removing the fat.
When chicken carcass is cool, you can pull any remaining viable chicken pieces out of it to use in your soup. Skim most, some or none of the fat off of your chicken stock. I honestly skip the refridge step and usually make soup right away with the fat...because FAT isn't bad, remember? ;)
Now, add new veggies to your stock, some chicken, some rice or quinoa or beans...season some more, tasting often. There you have it...homemade soup!
