Kitchen Basics: Chicken Stock

So on Tuesday when I first boiled my chicken, I attempted to kill two birds with one stone and reserve the liquid from the pot to make chicken stock out of. So after the chicken was cooked, I cooled the pot and placed it in the fridge overnight---with the understanding that the next morning, the fat would have risen to the top and the stock would be underneath--ready for me to use.

Not so much. I'm not sure if it's because I left the veggies and chicken in the pot, or because there was just a lot of skin and fat in the chicken--but the next morning the entire pot had turned to this gelatin-like goo. I have since discovered the gelatin comes from the bones, and had I strained the stock the night before, it would have been easier to manage. Either way---down the sink it went, and on to my second attempt.

I still had all the bones--now cooked--but my coworker Heather and I were discussing my gelatin problem, and she offered to scan a Joy of Cooking Recipe for me. Using roasted chicken bones actually makes for a richer stock--and because I'm feeling sick and wanted to make a hearty chicken soup with it, I didn't see why I couldn't try again. My recipe last night was pretty easy on the labor--- I'll let you know how my soup goes!

Chicken Stock
from Joy of Cooking 

• 2 lbs chicken parts 

I removed the meat from the chicken first, but left large pieces on the bones for flavor, however, leaving the meat on apparently makes for a more flavorful stock.

• 1 onion-chopped
• 1 carrot-chopped
• 1 celery stock-chopped

I roasted the bones and vegetables for 30 minutes at 425 degrees, then added them to a dutch oven. Using one cup of water, scrap the roasting pan and add the brown bits to the pan. Add around 8 cups water (cover the bones plus two inches) and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat so there aren't any bubbles rising, but heat is still coming off the pan (around 180 degrees). Cook for three hours.

• Bouquet garni (garlic, peppercorn, parsley, thyme, bay leaf wrapped in cheese cloth)

In the last hour, add in the bouquet garni. Remove from heat and strain the stock twice--once with a strainer, once with a cheese cloth to get all the bits and pieces out. Cool, then refrigerate and then skim the fat off in the morning.

Aji de Gallina

The first time I broke down a chicken was to make this dish. Naturally, if I'm going through the trouble of cooking an entire chicken--you better believe this is on the menu.

Aji de Gallina is a shredded chicken dish from Peru that gets its name from the Aji Amarillo pepper of the area. I have never found the actual pepper in the supermarket--but a quick stop at a South American/European food market (there is one down my street) and you should be able to find it in paste form. If you can't find any--cayenne pepper works as a good substitute, but you will want to SEVERELY reduce the amount you put in. Cayenne will give you that heat, but there is this smoothness to an aji pepper that really makes this dish something special.

Serious Eats did a nice run down on the spice, saying:

[It is] less sharp and harsh, more full-bodied, and a lot more subtle. If there were a chile to taste like sunshine, this would be it. It may sound odd to use the word "comforting" to describe a hot chile, but for aji amarillo, it seems fitting.

The recipe is fairly simple, and gets even more so if you decide to skip out on boiling the chicken and either buy a rotisserie one pre-made, or heat up some chicken breasts in the microwave. This is also good to freeze back--I've doubled up on the sauce and reserved half for a later meal, or used leftovers for a nice hearty lunch the next day.

Aji de Gallina

• 3-4 lb. Chicken--skinned
• 4 c. Chicken Broth (reserved from boiling)
• 8 slices white bread, without the crust
• 1-2 T. aji amarillo paste (or 1 t. cayenne, or less)
• 1/2 c. evaporated milk
• 1 finely diced onion
• 1 finely diced garlic clove
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 c. pecans or walnuts, finely chopped
• Garnish: salt, pepper, parsley, black olives, hard-boiled eggs

1. To be done a day ahead or in the afternoon (takes 1-2 hours): Break down the chicken into parts (breasts, thighs, wings, back & neck) and submerge entire  bird in water. Liberally add salt. If you want, add in celery, carrots, onions to create a richer stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-45 minutes until chicken is done. Cool, reserve broth, and shred the chicken.
2. In a saucepan, saute onions and garlic in oil until golden.
3. In a blender, soak bread slices in broth and add aji amarillo paste and evaporated milk. Blend under fine.
4. Gradually add bread mixture to saucepan and stir constantly for about 15 minutes until liquid reduces to a thick consistency. When desired consistency is reached (thick, creamy sauce) add in cheese, nuts, and chicken. (Note: you might not need the entire chicken--add gradually, and use extra for other meals)
5. Cook another 10-15 minutes. Serve with rice and garnish with parsley, olives, and egg.

Sauce Tease...

A taste of things to come...

Not to brag or anything, but this Saturday I get to wake up early in the morning and make SAUCE. As in Italian tomato sauce. My coworker MaryLynn does this every year with hundreds of pounds of tomatoes.

Don't believe me? She just sent me this photo today:

Yes, that would be a pile of tomatoes waiting to be sauced...

Does the fact I've been looking forward to this for a month make me a huge dork? Or someone whose about to have some REALLY tasty homemade lasagna.

Food Budgeting Week 2: The WHOLE chicken

Last week was such a success at NOT spending money and using up random freezer food (spanokopita GONE)--I am $40 under budget for the month so far! I celebrated over labor day by buying a new wallet with the saved money. (Yeah, I know my budgeting should be extended beyond food--but that's not what I blog about!) This week's plan is to make use of an ENTIRE chicken. All my followers from my Vegetarian month should stop reading now. It's going to get bloody.

My Shopping List--3 meals for $25 dollars

That's right. An entire chicken. One that cost me $7.33 cents. The savings you get from buying an entire chicken totally makes it worth the extra hour of work (20 minutes to break it down, 45 minutes to boil off the stock). For that, I've built out a plan to make three meals over the course of the week: Aji de Gallina, Honey Mustard Chicken, and Chicken 'n' Dumplings. But first things first. Attacking the beast.

Before it got gross!

I've cut down a chicken before--and didn't take too many photos because I'm ubber scared of raw chicken and it was too much hassle to continually washing my hands between shots. If you are interested in trying this, I recommend two sites: Serious Eats breaks it down in 16 nice close-up photos, and Martha Stewart has a great video that pretty much follows the same technique.

wings, thighs, and random meat...maybe the liver?

Two skinnish Breasts, plus the spine

The breasts are being stored until I grill them Thursday for the Honey Mustard Chicken recipe--and the rest went into a large pot to cook as part of the stock. I'm going to reserve one thigh and wing for tonight's Aji de Gallina, but the rest will be stored until Friday's Chicken 'n' Dumplings. Feeling hungry yet? I am...and my stock is still cooking for another 20 minutes!

Cooking Light's Strawberry Shortcake

So I rarely make desserts because that's totally in my mother's realm, but this recipe was easy, and delicious and I had to share:

So I totally wish this was the one I made, but by the time I remembered my blog the entire thing was gone! I made this on Thursday for my coworker's birthday and it was a great success.

Strawberry Shortcake
by Cooking Light

If you are looking for a quick, delicious dessert---this is totally easy to do. The hardest party was slicing the shortcake in the middle, and that can easily be bypassed by rolling out individual biscuits instead of making the large, round cake. I baked TWO in 45 minutes. (I actually made two because the first go-round I couldn't remember if I had added one or two cups of flour--so I put in another cup and it ended up slightly too thick. Luckily, I baked that one anyway into those individual sized cakes (each about the size of my palm--and they also turned out gorgeous!)

The lemon rind is a great addition to the dough--with the strawberry topping it really gave the cake a fresh taste.

Food Budgeting...Week 1 Recap

Here's a quick one before I go to work. First of all, I feel I passed my first test for budgeting last night when I decided NOT to get Thai takeout and drove straight home instead. I used up leftover beans/cheese/rotel to make some quesadillas...and spend NO money.

For those curious how this can work for you, I have already figured out the best part of my plan: putting a monetary value on your daily food budget. $300 in a month is a big figure that is easy to chip away from---$30 here for dinner, $21 there for groceries---but by dividing that up daily, I have an easy number to keep track of: $10 a day. That's a lunch out. Or produce for dinner. The idea here is that I use up more that is in my house, and days where I don't spend anything (on Wednesday) I was able to pay that budget forward and spend $20 on Thursday for birthday cake materials.

I'm celebrating today by eating out for lunch. I must stay strong---order off the lunch menu and DONT order a soda. It can be done!!

Food Budgeting Rule #1: The Pantry List

Eating on $10 day isn't impossible--but requires a little planning. When going about how to start this project, I decided that during the first week I should try to make Pantry dishes. aka using up as many items I already have in my pantry. It's a good way to save money initially (by not spending) and it also helps me do a 'spring cleaning' of sorts for items that have been sitting on my shelf for too long.

Canned Items:
Garbanzo Beans (hummus?), Spicy Corn Relish, Salsa, Vodka Sauce, Peanut Butter, No-Salt Tomato Sauce, Pesto Sauce, Jam, Mint Jelly, Aji de Amarillo Paste, Tahini, Dijon Mustard, Wasabi, Pickled Ginger

Starches/Carbs
Shell Pasta, 6 packets, fancy pasta, Mediterranean Curry Couscous, Basmanti Rice, Sushi Rice, Whole Wheat Bread loaf, Hamburger buns-4, Pita Bites, Stacy's Pita Chips, Potato Chips, popcorn

Dairy
Tapioca, Yogurt, Sliced cheese (cheddar, pepper jack), Parmesan Cheese, Half & Half, Butter

Protein
Pepparoni, Kashi Granola Bar, Pine Nuts, Frozen tofu squares

Fruits/Vegetables
Onions, Plums, Dried Seaweed (for sushi), Frozen Eggplant/Zucchini slices, Frozen Okra

Desserts
Lemon Chalet Cream cookies, Smore Ice cream, Graham Crackers, Marshmallows, Chocolate Bars

Frozen Meals:
Spanikopita

Pantry Staples:
Whole Wheat and All-Purpose Flour, Corn meal, Sugar, Brown Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Balsamic Vinegar, White wine Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Worcestershire Sauce, Miren, Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce

It may seem like a whole lot of nothing, but I'm hoping I can use this list to plan a few meals around this stuff. A few ideas have already come to mind: an eggplant pasta? Hummus? Veggie Sushi for lunch one week? We shall see. Do you see any ideas from this list I need to jump on? Let me know..