On Being Thankful for Roasted Chicken Leftovers

Dear Friends,

A couple of family emergencies have deterred my blogging lately.But they haven't deterred my cooking.

In times of trouble I look for comfort in familiar things...... especially the most familiar tasks, like roasting a chicken and making chicken broth from the carcass.

But what really lifts my spirit in tough times is having leftovers in the fridge.

I love having leftovers! Even the most weary of souls can transform leftovers from one meal into a totally new and unique meal. And from recent experience I have to say that a roasted chicken makes for some of the most inspiring of leftovers of all.

This particular roasted chicken (stuffed with lemon and herbs and roasted with potatoes, onions, carrot, and garlic) was first transformed into sandwiches. Then it became the filling for an omelet. Then it became a hasty (and exceptionally tasty) hash served with fried eggs. And in a moment of desperation I stood there with the refrigerator door open and ate some of it right out of the storage container, cold.

But tonight this roast chicken made it's last transformation when it became one of the best chicken soups I've ever eaten in my life.

I regret that I don't have a recipe to share, I just chopped up the chicken and vegetables, simmered them briefly with the broth, added noodles and salt, and it turned out particularly delicious.

But I do have some words of encouragement...... when life hands you trouble, roast a chicken. The chicken, the broth, and all of its incarnations will help you get through some of the hardest of times.

Thank you for checking on me. I'll be blogging again soon...

love, homegrown countrygirl

Chicken Broth

When I sat down to write this post I thought I should poke around online and try to find out what the difference is between stock and broth. I've heard lots of different things before, like that one has bones and the other doesn't, or that one has vegetables and the other doesn't. I just wanted to clear it up in my own mind, once and for all. So I googled it. And do you know what I found out?I found out that a lot of other people have asked this same question.

And although some sources out there claim to know the answer, I don't think that they really do.

So here's what I decided... it doesn't matter. It's stock. It's broth. It's stockbroth. And no matter what you call it, it's handy to have around.

I like to keep plenty of stockbroth in my pantry. I've talked about something I call seasonal stock here before. And I've talked about a roasted pork broth, too.

Today I'm talking about chicken broth.You've probably made chicken broth before. But I am blogging about it anyway because I want to.

My eyes popped right out of my head when I noticed the price of chicken broth at the store the other day. Holy cow. (Or should I say, "holy chicken?") And I realized just how much more value you get even if you purchase the chicken meat.

(By the way, I would be lying if I claimed to have never bought chicken at the store myself. True confession: at the moment I only have a few little laying hens and I don't want to butcher any of them so I recently purchased chicken at the grocery market myself.)Relax, girls.

Chicken broth can be made out of any cuts of chicken. Usually I pick through the pieces and slice some meat off the bones and freeze it for times I want to use deboned chicken in a recipe. Then I simmer the leftover bones (with meat still on them because I'm not a very good chicken cutter). One whole chicken (or package of inexpensive cuts) will yield pieces of deboned chicken, some bits of simmered chicken that you pull off the bones after simmering the broth, and all the broth you can stand.

But chicken broth can also be made from a leftover roasted chicken. Just simmer the carcass after most of the chicken meat has been picked off. This makes an especially flavorful broth.

Sometimes, when I've had a mean old tough rooster, I have thrown him in the pot whole after he's been butchered and cleaned. (I hope this kind of talk doesn't turn anybody off... hello? Vegetarians? Are you still there?)

Anyway, for anyone who is still willing to keep reading, making broth is incredibly easy. Put your chicken pieces into a pot. Cover with water. Add some vegetables if you're an overachiever. (I don't usually add vegetables and I'm definitely not an overachiever.) Then simmer it for a few hours.Later, after it has cooled, skim the fat, remove the chicken parts, and strain the broth. I leave it unsalted.

At this point in the process I usually have an interested audience watching me in the kitchen.The strained broth can be frozen or pressure canned. To can it, pressure process quarts of broth for 25 minutes at the correct pressure for your altitude. I like to can broth in various sized jars so I can always grab whatever amount I need.The National Center for Food Preservation has a nice guide for making and canning stocks and broths here. They have a very informative site that's worth visiting.

The Ball company also has a nice site and they have shared their directions for making stocks and broths here. And of course there's their Ball Blue Book which is a great guide to home canning. I also like the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

Stovetop Tomato Chicken Stew

Healthy, filling, and full of flavor, this meal cooks up on top of the stove in one pot. It's easy enough to be a quick weeknight meal but it's classy, too, and perfect for company because it doesn't require much attention while it simmers and cooks and teases you with its delicious aromas.

Change the spices to suit your own taste. Use some basil and oregano to give it an Italian flair and serve it topped with Italian cheeses. Give it more of a New Orleans spin with your favorite Creole seasoning. Or, use cumin, paprika, and some heat to give it a Mexican taste.

This time I seasoned mine simply with a bit of my "hot" spice... a variety of hot peppers, dehydrated and then ground. I rubbed the chicken pieces with a mixture of kosher salt, pepper, and "hot." Then I sprinkled more of those same seasonings and pushed a little sprig of fresh thyme into the dish as it was beginning to simmer on the stove. Usually I like to eat this with crusty bread or buttermilk biscuits. I like to push the bread down into the bowl to soak up every drop of that tasty sauce.STOVETOP TOMATO CHICKEN STEW

3-4 pounds, bone in, skin on, chicken parts
kosher salt, pepper, and a hot spice, (cayenne, chili, or chipolte powder, or red pepper flakes)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 quart jar of tomatoes, undrained
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups sliced onion
several cloves garlic, roughly chopped
a pinch of sugar
1-2 bay leaves
fresh or dried thyme, to taste
more salt and pepper, and hot spice, to taste

Rub chicken with kosher salt, pepper, and a hot spice such as cayenne pepper, chili powder, or chipolte powder. Heat olive oil in large stock pot and brown chicken on all sides, then remove chicken and set aside. Add chicken broth to pot and scrape up browned bits from bottom of pan. Add canned tomatoes and tomato sauce. (I like to can some 8 ounce jars of tomato sauce and chicken broth because I seem to use "1 cup of tomato sauce" or "1 cup of chicken broth" in a lot of recipes.) Add chopped vegetables and garlic, pinch of sugar, bay leaves, and thyme. Place chicken back in pot, Push pieces of chicken down into liquid. Simmer on stove top for about an hour, until chicken is very tender and falling off the bone. Remove chicken and let sit until cool enough to handle. Pull meat from chicken and return meat to pot (or skip this step and just leave the pieces of chicken whole). Add more salt and pepper and hot spice, to taste. Serve with fresh crusty bread or buttermilk biscuits.

Chicken Marsala

Not too long ago I wrote about Chicken in Wine Sauce and how it's a quick recipe for hurried nights when you want to put a nice dinner on the table in a hurry.

Thinking about Chicken in Wine Sauce made me think of Chicken Marsala.

I had never made Chicken Marsala before, so I googled for a recipe and the "Olive Garden" restaurant came up in my search. I almost dismissed it, thinking, "I don't want to go to a restaurant and order it, I want to MAKE it." But then I realized that the "Olive Garden" was offering up their recipe. Hmmm... this sounded interesting...

So I tried it.

Oh my goodness... this was one of the quickest and easiest recipes I have ever made! It only took a few minutes of preparation, pounding the deboned chicken and slicing the mushrooms. Then most of the cooking was done while everything simmered in the covered skillet.I made a couple of minor changes to their recipe. I used four cups of mushrooms instead of two and I used a few fresh herbs from the garden instead of dried oregano. I'm sure I'll be making this again and when fresh herbs aren't available I'll use "Italian Seasonings," a simple blend of home grown dried herbs... oregano, parsley, basil, and thyme. I served my Chicken Marsala over some homemade noodles with a side of wilted spinach.

I'll reprint the Olive Garden recipe here since they been kind enough to share it... but I noticed that they shared a number of other recipes as well and you might want to visit their site when you're looking for a little inspiration some time. Their site is www.olivegarden.com. Their recipes can be found under the heading "Connections to Italy."CHICKEN MARSALA (Olive Garden recipe)

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
1/2 cup flour
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Dried oregano to taste
4 Tbsp oil
4 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine

Procedure
POUND chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap until about 1/4" thickness.
COMBINE flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a mixing bowl. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off any excess.
HEAT oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts on medium heat for about 2 minutes on the first side, until lightly browned. Turn breasts over to cook other side, then add mushrooms to skillet. Cook breasts about 2 more minutes, until both sides are lightly browned. Continue to stir mushrooms. Add Marsala wine around chicken pieces.
COVER and simmer for about 15 minutes.
TRANSFER to serving plate.

Chicken in Wine Sauce

The name of this dish sounds so decadent, doesn't it? It sounds fancy! But this is really one of the quickest and easiest things I like to make. Lately this is one of my favorite go-to meals, especially if I'm short on time and hungry right now.

I use deboned chicken for this. I pound the pieces of chicken first to make them very tender and evenly flat. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then dredge them in flour. I brown the chicken fillets on both sides but then remove them from the pan before they are completely cooked. Add a bit of butter and some flour to the pan, push that roux around a little bit. Deglaze the pan with wine. Add some chicken broth, chopped onion, minced garlic, and seasonings. Put the chicken back in and let it simmer... done!I like to season this with thyme.

I cut sprigs of thyme off the plant when the thyme starts to flower. I tie the sprigs together and then hang them upside down inside a paper sack. I do most herbs this way... the contraption looks silly but the sack collects any leaves that fall off the herbs while they are drying. I also think the bag prevents dust from getting on the herbs. Then I gently pull the dried leaves off the stems and store them in a little jar.I wish I had more thyme!

Please try this fast and tasty chicken some day when you're short on "time!"CHICKEN IN WINE SAUCE

2-3 pounds deboned chicken
salt and pepper
flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup of a dry white wine
1 pint chicken broth
1 cup chopped onion
few cloves garlic, minced
salt, pepper, dried thyme, to taste

Pound chicken with a mallet to tenderize it and make it evenly flat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour. Brown pieces of chicken on both sides in olive oil, over medium high heat, then remove chicken and set aside before chicken is completely cooked. Reduce stove to a lower heat. Add butter and flour to pan. Push butter and flour around to make a nice brown roux. Deglaze pan with wine. Add chicken broth. Whisk until well combined. Add onion and garlic. Add salt, pepper, and thyme, to taste. (I use home canned chicken broth that has no salt... you may not want to add salt if using store bought chicken broth.) Return chicken to skillet and simmer over low heat until chicken is cooked. Sometimes I shred a bit of hard cheese over the top of this when serving. If parsley is growing in the garden chop some and sprinkle over top.

Chicken & Dumplings. And a Confession

First, the confession... I was too hungry and too greedy and too undisciplined to take a picture of the Chicken & Dumplings last night. I just grabbed my spoon and dug in and ate until I was a lethargic glutenous blob of chicken & dumpling doo.

Sorry.

I should have thought of you and taken a picture of it.

But we're in luck.

Despite my bad behavior last night, a small amount of Chicken & Dumplings survived the attack. I found this little container in the fridge this morning. This photo is of cold, day old, globified Chicken & Dumplings.

And it's just as good this morning as it was last night. I'm eating it, cold, right now. It's like a drug. A comfort food drug.

But this is easier to get than drugs. All you have to do is raise some chickens, take care of them for a few years while they're laying eggs, feed them, give them fresh water, keep them warm in the wintertime, and clean the their coop. Then butcher them, clean the carcasses, simmer them in a great big pot of water, pressure can the meat, pressure can the stock, grow the rest of the makings in your garden, freeze your peas, store your carrots, dry your herbs, and then make this E-Z recipe.

Ok. You're right. Maybe drugs are easier to get.

But eating Chicken & Dumplings will give you a better high.

No lie.

If you don't have the time or place to grow your own ingredients you can certainly pick up all of these ingredients at your local grocery or farmer's market.

CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS

3-4 cups vegetables: fresh or frozen peas, chopped carrots, and chopped celery*
1 1/2 quart jars chicken stock (or use 2 whole quarts if you like it a bit soupier)
1 pint jar of chicken
to taste: salt, pepper

2 cups cake flour**
1 heaping tablespoon baking powder
pinch salt
black pepper, sage, rosemary, thyme, or other seasoning of choice (optional), to taste
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 cup milk

chopped fresh parsley, if available

* I use frozen peas and carrots from storage. For much of the year I don't have fresh garden celery. At those times I just increase the amount of peas and carrots and I throw a pinch of dried celery leaves into the pot. I like a bit of celery taste in this dish. You can use any vegetables you wish. I use peas, carrots, and celery because they make this taste like comfort food to me. Sometimes I add in some chopped, carmelized onion or minced garlic and I have also occasionally added some diced potatoes when I'm really geeking for some starch.

**Cake flour will make slightly lighter, fluffier dumplings. If you don't happen to have cake flour on hand, just use all purpose flour. The dumplings will be just as tasty.

Pour chicken stock into large stock pot. Add carrots and celery. Simmer until vegetables start to soften. Add peas and pint of chicken. Continue heating until mixture returns to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Whisk cake flour, baking powder, salt, and optional seasoning in a bowl. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and pour into a one cup measure. Add milk to equal 1 cup. Stir together. Pour milk and butter into flour mixture and stir just until batter is combined.

Using a spoon, drop golf ball sized portions of batter into simmering pot. Let each dumpling lay where it falls, don't stir them around in the pot. You will get about 16-18 dumplings from this batch of batter. Cover pot and let simmer, without lifting lid, for 15 minutes. The dumplings will fluff up and thicken the sauce as they cook.

Remove from heat and stir, just once around the pot, very gently. Let cool briefly before serving. This is hot!

If you have fresh parsley, chop some and sprinkle it over each serving.