Brainstorm
Written by Kate Petersen on August 11, 2008 – 10:34 am -So yesterday I made my every-so-often big batch of chicken stock. To do this, I roast two expensive free-range chickens, cut off and save the white meat and some of the dark meat, and make stock using the remainder of the carcasses plus onions and carrots. No salt, no other seasonings. Simmer for three hours.
By the time the stock is done, there is very little flavor or texture left in the chicken meat, so I’ve been just trashing it along with the bones (despite large quantities of guilt at wasting it). The puppies would be delighted to help me out here, but because of the onions I don’t want to take a chance on feeding it to them.
So yesterday evening, after I’d put away nine quarts of stock and cleaned up the kitchen, it occurred to me.
Sandwich spread.
Next time I will save the bits of tasteless meat, add some homemade mayonnaise and a little mustard, some celery seed, maybe a bit of garlic and onion powder, and whiz it all together in the food processor. Eat it on crackers or sandwiches. Less guilt! More taste! Protein!
Report later, after I’ve actually done it!
Posted in Frugality, Recipes |
10 Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
That sounds delicious, Kate! Of course, I would add some finely diced jalapeño for just a little more zip. I also hate to throw away perfectly good protein. Why not make a tasty spread out of it?
Some observations on your quest for the best chicken stock and spread:
Why no celery in making the stock?
Do you crack the chicken bones while cooking the stock?
On the sandwich spread, I’d add some herbs, whatever you like.
I usually cook the whole chicken in water, pepper and a little salt with a little onion and celery. About halfway thru when the chicken is cooked, I take it out, skin and debone, crack the long bones and put the skin and bones back in for the remainder of cooking.
Also, I put the stock in 2 cup increments in baggies and also in freezer trays to drop in a little goodness in this and that.
Your chicken spread sounds great! Also, the homemade mayo. Haven’t done that in years.
Why no celery? Celery is fairly high in sodium so I don’t generally cook with it. Celery seed is fine if I need the flavor, hence the idea of adding it to the spread.
Do I crack the chicken bones? No, but it’s a great idea!
I will divide some of the nine quarts into 2-cup baggies and freeze, just as you do. Some of it stays in the fridge and I use it quickly in making soup. I got directions from a food preservation email list on actually dehydrating some of it all the way to powder.. I think that would be a great way to add flavor, too.
Oh, dehydrating the stock sounds really interesting, portable and takes less energy than freezing. Please do tell.
I usually use a hammer covered in a baggie and the bones wrapped in a paper or cloth towel to crack the bones gently. You don’t want splinters flying around. Also, straining becomes more important and good cheese cloth and fine muslin and/or linen is great to have to strain all the little bits out.
I think this is a great idea.
Something else you might want to think about — a friend of mine who is an absolute fabulous cook used to remove the meat from the chicken bones, roast the bones, then toss them back into the stock.
Cracking would probably accomplish the same thing.
I do much the same the thing with the chicken carcasses left over after several good meals, but I pick off most of the remaining meat and use it, with the stock from the cooking, in chicken soup. I throw the picked-over bones, skin, and anything else I dont eat into the crock pot and let it cook overnight on low. I then strain it through a collander to separate the remaining meat and bones, saving the broth. The leftovers I generally offer my dog, which she appreciates greatly. If you test the bones, you can actually pulverize even the heaviest bones with your fingers after all the cooking, so they don’t cause the dog any problems. For those without dogs or cats, the leftovers would probably make a very nutritious chicken spread, after a run through the food processor, or could even be added to the chicken soup.
One of the real benefits of eating meals that include some of the normally unused parts of chickens is that the cooked-down joint tissues of them might offer us some relief from joint pain. I’m an old guy, but I enjoy no joint pain, have full flexibility, and much of it I owe to eating just such foods. Knox Gelatin, reputed to be good for hair, nails and such, is made from such tissues, and serves the same purpose.
The only problem with feeding this to the dogs is that onions (and stock made with onions) causes a type of anemia in dogs and is deadly to cats. Don’t do it unless you cook your stock without onions.
Garlic, on the other hand, is good for both species as well as us humans.
Would love to know how to dehydrate the stock…I made a batch the other day with fennel in it.
Translator wrote about dehydrating stock a few weeks ago. It will take me a day or so to dig it up — I’m on my way to work now and teaching a class tonight — but I’ll post the links here to what he had to say about it day after tomorrow.
I don’t remember what Doc suggested, but basically:
- boil down your chicken stock to about 1/3 original volume.
- carefully pour about 1 cup of the condensed stock onto a fruit leather tray.
- dehydrate on high until the liquid completely evaporates and dry powder remains.
You should get about 1 tablespoon powder from 1 cup concentrated stock. So it’s pretty energy-intensive but should taste a heck of a lot better than sodium / chemical “bullion” cubes.
To reconstitute: 1 teaspoon powder to 1 cup water will give a stock of the original strength.