Nice Shirt!
(Front Row: Herschel, Shane W-Back Row: Nick P, Laurel M, David O, Sam S, Adrian B, Jeremy F)
Dan Reshef's Birthday Celebration!
Mr. Rx'd is having a birthday party and you're invited! Come out this Saturday, November 13th to help celebrate. Here's the details:
Branded Saloon
603 Vanderbilt Ave @ Bergen St.
9:30p until the wheels fall off!
11:30p birthday burlesque
There'll be paleo drink specials, debauchery and Dragons. Yes Laurel, Dragons. See you all there!
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Bang for your Buck Chicken
By Christian Fox
Do you buy free-range/pastured chicken? Do you buy whole chickens? You should. Don’t let the price of free-range/pastured chicken be an impediment to buying good quality poultry. The more the butcher at the market does for you, the more you’ll wind up paying. Pre-cut breasts, thighs, and other parts are simpler to deal with, but not the way to go if you want to save a buck or two or get the full nutritional value of a bird. Do you buy chicken stock? Why not buy a whole chicken, get ALL of the meat from it, and a homemade mineral rich broth to boot. It’s super simple. Here’s the low down.
You’ll need:
1 Whole Chicken, rinsed and any gravy bits renoved (buy the best quality you can afford)
4 Celery stalks, cut into chunks
3 Carrots cut into chunks
2 Onions, cut into chunks (if you have some scallion or leek tops you can use them and use less onion)
A few cloves of garlic, smashed
1Tbsp Black Peppercorns
2 Bay Leaves (fresh if you’ve got ‘em)
Herbs: 2 Handfuls: Parsley, Thyme, Chervil, Oregano, Cilantro, Margoram, etc all work well. Fresh is great and stems count but you can use about 2-3 Tbsp total if using dried.
2 tsp Salt, or more to taste (a little bit of salt helps draw out minerals from the bones)
Water
- First quarter the chicken. Using kitchen shears or a sharp chef’s knife, cut it in half breast side up, starting at the leg end. Pry the legs joints open and cut through them to separate. Then cut the backbone and neck from the split breasts. You should now have 2 breasts with wing tips attached, 2 legs, and the backbone.
- Place the chicken parts and the rest of the ingredients in a large stockpot and cover with water by about 1”.
- Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to medium and simmer.
- Remove chicken parts as they fully cook. Breasts will be done first, in about 30 minutes. The legs should be done within an hour.
- Separate all cooked meat and skin from the bone and place bones back into pot.
- Simmer broth with the *chicken bones and vegetables for up to another hour and then strain.
- You can leave it here, or reduce the liquid further to make a richer stock.
- Make sure everything is cool before storing. The stock keeps well frozen, and the chicken will keep for about a week.
- *If you want to get fancy, roast the bones and more vegetables in a hot oven before placing them back in step 6. Strain the broth first if you do this.
A 3lb chicken will yield about 2-¼ lbs of meat this way, plus about 2 quarts of stock. The pulled chicken can be added to warm in soups, scrambles, stir fries, curries, or tossed on top of salads. If you go the corn tortilla route then this chicken is the perfect addition to the classic Mexican breakfast, Chilaquilles; corn tortillas sautéed in fat with onions and then simmered in a tomatillo salsa with shredded chicken. If not, the chicken works great as a protein in Butternut Squash Bisque, or the Coconut Curried Collard Greens from last time. There’s no ailment my mom wouldn’t give us chicken soup for. Simmer a ½ cup of chopped vegetables in a 1-¼ cup of the broth until tender and add a bit of chicken for a complete homemade chicken soup.
Enjoy!
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