Me

Me

Friday 28 October 2011

Rubber Chicken!!

Rubber chicken...........not the strange plastic toys that sometimes squeak but the theory of making ONE chicken stretch and stretchhhhhhhhhh like rubber giving you and your family a few meals out of one chook!
Sometimes I roast a chicken on a Sunday and then make one or two meals after it with the remaining meat. However when it comes to batch cooking I prefer to slow cook a bird and then I can get MUCH more meat out of it.

So today at 9am I popped my slow cooker on low and put a chicken in there, just an average sized 1.5kg one. At 2pm it was cooked so I took it out (I had to use two big spatulas otherwise it'll just fall apart....its that succulent!!) then comes the best bit......the messy fun job of taking all the meat off of the carcass!
I always set out two bowls. One for the skin and fatty bits/gristle and one for the meat. Then I have a baking tray nearby that I pop all the bones in.
Because the meat has been slow cooked it will literally fall off the bones, and there are lots of bones in chickens so I have to be extra careful when I'm doing mine as I have a small child.
I preheat the oven to 170degrees and pop my baking tray of chicken bones in there to roast for 30 mins - 1hr til they are nice and golden. It adds delicious flavour for when I make my stock.
So then I was left with a huge mixing bowl full of chicken meat! So I have decided to make the following:
- Toasted Coconut Chicken Curry (this was lush, made it and ate it tonight)
- Chicken stewp (something halfway between stew and soup)
- Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken and Asparagus pasties
- Coronation chicken for lunches in sandwiches or wraps.

I made the coconut curry tonight and here is the recipe:
Cooked chicken
2 onions diced
2tsps grated ginger (I had none so used ground ginger)

2garlic cloves crushed
2tsps ground coriander
2tsps ground cumin
1/4tsp ground cinammon
1 chopped red chilli if you want it spicier....leave out if not!
1tsp Turmeric
2 tbsps tom puree
125g natural yogurt (I didn't have any so used abit of Creme fraiche)
1x tin of coconut milk (I found half a tin was plenty...adjust to your tastes)
ground Almonds (50g) (leave out if you dont have it) and dessicated coconut. (a few tbsps)



- cook onions until soft on a low heat and then add garlic and cook for a few minutes, then add all spices and cook for a further 2-3 minutes
- add tomato puree and cook for a few minutes
- add coconut milk, yogurt or cream and the ground almonds. Stir and simmer for 10mins, season and taste, I find a tbsp of lemon juice is nice at this point and either a tsp of sugar of half a dessertspoon of mango chutney. 
- Add the chicken at the very end as if you add it too early it will turn stringy.
-whilst the chicken is heating through toast coconut in a dry pan until lightly golden brown, it browns very quickly so don't leave it unattended. Stir in toasted coconut and serve it with whatever you fancy, rice/naan/poppadoms/chappattis etc etc


The other recipes I will post tomorrow when I make them and will also hopefully do a post on Slow-Cooking and One-Pot Recipes!

3 comments:

  1. I can't wait to try your curry recipe. You just can't find a good Korma over here (much like I could never find good Tex-Mex in the UK).
    So my question to you, darling Danni - you just put a raw chicken in your slow cooker? No seasonings? No liquids? Just a whole chicken? It sounds too easy...!
    And how do you make your stock after you roast the bones?

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  2. Also, if you're making chicken enchiladas, I just tried this super simple recipe and it came out delicious.

    1 can cream of chicken soup
    1 can black beans, drained
    1/2 cup sour cream
    1 cup salsa
    2 teaspoons chili powder
    1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1 teaspoon garlic salt
    1/2 teaspoon parsley
    cooked chicken
    shredded monterey jack cheese
    flour tortillas
    chopped green onion

    Stir the soup, black beans, salsa, chili powder, pepper, garlic, & parsley together.
    Combine the chicken, cheese, and 1 cup of the soup mixture.
    Divide the mixture amongst the tortillas, roll them up, and place seam-side down in a greased casserole dish.
    Pour the remaining soup mixture over the top and add a sprinkling of cheese.
    Bake at 350 for 40 minutes and top with the green onion.

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  3. Hey Michelle! Thank you so much for recipe it sounds fab!!
    When I'm making 'rubber' chicken like today I just put the chicken in raw without flavouring as I will be making different dishes out of all the meat.
    This is how I make my stock:
    I put the roasted chicken bones back in the slow cooker and I also put in:
    1 carrot
    1 stick of celery
    1 onion
    A 1/4 of a leek
    A couple of bay leaves
    Around 8 black peppercorns
    Water
    If it's a small chicken I'll also add one stock cube(chicken) as there may
    Not be enough bones to impart a nice strong flavour.
    Then I cook it on low for a few good hours (overnight is ideal). Then next day sieve the liquid into a jug and leave to cool (skim off any solidised fat) and voila you have stock! You can then freeze this (it lasts three months in freezer) and take it out as you need it.
    Thank you again for the recipe I will have to try that! Loooove enchiladas!! Xxx

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