Don't let the chicken get all dried out. (its a Hunt thing)

Mary, remember our trip to New York like 12 years ago?  "Would you like some plastic chicken?"


Tiff, today I learned something about chicken in the crockpot.  The hard way.  Well, sort of.  It was still good, and edible, just...dry instead of juicy...and didn't absorb the flavors I wanted it to.


I've done chicken in the crockpot many many times, and never had an issue.  But apparently, white meat with little fat (such as the boneless, skinless chicken breasts I was cooking with) won't hold its juice when you cook it that long.  Next time, I need to either a) do the same recipe but in the oven, b) sear the chicken first to seal in the juices, or c) drown it in liquid.  or d) use dark meat.


This is for those of you who think my food always tastes great- it doesn't.  Its just that I don't usually share it until I get it right :P.  But looks like my family will be my guinea pigs!  (with my mom's expertise to help me troubleshoot why certain recipes don't turn out how they should :) )

#9: Stretch your Dollar Chicken Broth (slow cooker, or not)

Dear Tiff,
Chicken broth at Safeway usually costs about $2-$3 for a 1 quart container.  You can use it in all sorts of things: soups, curries, casseroles, roasts, etc.  And I'm all for buying the shortcut (the store version) if you need it and its a good price.  But making your own is incredibly easy, and costs basically nothing: you're using something you would otherwise throw away.  With the bones from last night's roast chicken, I made about 5 quarts of chicken stock- which cost me nothing beyond what I had already paid for the chicken!  That would have cost me between $10 and $15 at the store, depending on the current sale price!  I actually could've made more if I'd used my giant slow cooker- or split this between the two smaller ones- but I didn't feel like getting any more dishes dirty.


Thanks to Trent from The Simple Dollar for reminding me about this great way to stretch your dollar!


Ingredients:
the chicken bones/skin/giblets from your latest chicken adventure OR you can also use the carcass from when you cheated and bought a precooked Safeway chicken :P
some veggies: an onion and a handful of baby carrots, maybe some celery or green onion if you have them on hand
Italian seasoning
salt (optional)
water


I did mine in the crockpot because I had no desire to babysit it on the stove all day...
In fact, if you cooked your chicken in the crock pot, don't even worry about pouring out the juices and stuff.  Be sure to pick all the usable meat off first, and then dump your bones, giblets, and skin, add the veggies, and fill your pot with water.  For a lower-fat version, leave out the skin.  Let it cook on low all day, or overnight.  OR you can do it on the stove for at least 4 hours.  But honestly, who wants to be chained to their kitchen for that long if it can be avoided?


Next, remove the pot from the heating element to let it cool, scoop out the bones, strain the liquid, and store in tupperware or freezer bags.  The crockpot lady suggests running it through the blender rather than straining it- then you don't waste any meat or veggie pieces in there.  But its not essential- I don't have a blender so I just strained it and it turned out fine.


Try to stack your bags flat in the freezer (or lay them on a baking sheet in the freezer) until they are frozen; this will keep them in a more manageable shape for storage.


You can look forward to a bunch of recipes that use chicken broth as I put all this good stuff to use!

#8: One-Dish Wonder Roast Chicken and Baked Potatoes

Dear Tiffany,


Today you have a long day at work, and so does Sam.  How would it feel to come home to a feast?  Now, how would it feel to come home to a feast...without either a) slaving in the kitchen for hours, b)paying for takeout, or c) blowing your budget on an in-home chef?


This one-dish meal is inspired by a few different recipes that Stephanie O'Dhea shares on her blog, and there are variations galore to keep it from ever getting old.  Chicken is pretty cheap, and even though you're paying for the weight of the bones and such, its still a really good deal to buy a whole chicken verses the boneless skinless breasts.  Check out this great post on The Simple Dollar to see what you're really paying for.

The basics:

Prep time: About 10 minutes, then in the slow cooker all day

Good for leftovers: yes!  See below for how to use them.

servings: about 8 depending on the size of your chicken

cost: about $8 total.

Ingredients:

whole chicken (about 4-5lb), thawed

Italian seasoning

1 onion, quartered

4 cloves garlic or about 2-3 tablespoons minced garlic

several medium potatoes

The Process:

there's no wrong way to
eat a baked potato

Wash and dry your potatoes, and wrap them in aluminum foil.  Place them along the bottom of your slow cooker (I used a 6 quart; if you are using one smaller than 5 quarts you may have trouble fitting your potatoes in).

This bird is ready to cook!

Remove the giblets from the cavity of your chicken.  I saved mine in a ziplock in the fridge so I can stretch your dollar a little more and make an easy chicken stock later to use in other recipes.  If you're not fond of eating chicken skin, you can remove it at this point too and save it for your stock.  Shake Italian seasoning all over your chicken and rub it in.  Place your garlic and quartered onion in the cavity, and place in the crock on top of your potatoes, breast-side down.  Propping it up on the potatoes keeps the chicken from stewing in its own juices- that method tastes good too, but won't have as much of a "roast" effect.  It will also be lower in fat because the fats have a place to drip down to.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 5.

To serve, remove the chicken to a platter and cut off the meat you want.  The chicken was literally falling apart, so if you care if it looks pretty (have company coming over?) you might want to place a cheesecloth underneath the chicken before cooking so you can just lift the cheesecloth out rather than taking it out in pieces as I did.  Just leave the drippings in the pot, so you can use them to make your stock later.  Remove your potatoes (I suggest using tongs or a big fork so you don't burn yourself! Cut open your potatoes and top them with whatever suits your fancy: today I have butter, grated cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, green onions, etc.

The upside to doing the potatoes this way is that they don't get cooked with the chicken, so my vegetarian friend won't have a problem eating the potatoes at small group tonight.  For other ways to do potatoes, check out my potato post.

Variations:  This is the basic-basic of seasonings, but there are a lot of ways you can do a roast chicken! Barbecue sauce and lemon pepper are just two that I can think of off the top of my head; as I come up with more I'll be sure to post them here.

This chicken was literally falling off the bone- Joey tried to eat a drumstick in drumstick form and it fell to pieces.  I cooked 8 potatoes; we only had 5 people show up but they managed to make all the leftover potatoes (and most of the chicken!) disappear.  I do have a picture, but its on Amy's camera so it may be awhile before I can post it.


I used the chicken bones, skin, and giblets to make chicken broth, which I'll freeze so I can use it in recipes to come.  See how here.