Sunday, July 15, 2012

One Roast Chicken - Many Meals - Part #2

Hello friends and welcome back!  If you missed yesterday's guest post over at Michelle's Tasty Creations, please go check it out here.  It will make today's post make a lot more sense, haha!

Making Stock

So, we left off yesterday with your carcass.  Now I've shown you recipes for multiple days but on the carcass, you are still on day one after you've stripped the "good" meat off the bones.









In a large pot, toss in about 1/2 cup of chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery stalks (including the leaves), 1 chopped onion and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Saute until the veggies start to soften and there is nice caramelization (spell-check says this is not a word but Food Network stars use it all the time so I'm going for it).









Stick all the chicken scraps and bones and basically anything you would normally throw away in the pot.  Make sure you get all the solidified drippings off the bottom of the container your chicken came in - remember, this is the juice from the chicken when it was fresh off the rotisserie so there is a lot of flavor there.  Add enough water to cover the top of the breast bone of the carcass.  Cover and bring to a boil.




Add salt, pepper, and any fresh herbs you have on hand - I used thyme, basil, chives, parsley, and sage.  Your herbs can be chopped if you wish but because I'm making stock here I like to leave them on the stalk - I can remove any remaining big pieces later.  Reduce heat and let simmer at least 2 hours or until the carcass has fallen completely apart.  Let cool and then refrigerate.





This refrigerated stock can sit for 3-4 days (remember you are making this on day 1 when you make the bruschetta).  If you want to keep it longer, on day two, carefully sift and remove all bones, cartilage, and skin.  (You'll be surprised how much meat there is off what you thought was the bare bones.)  Then put in freezer containers in 2-cup portions and freeze for several months.





Take your stock that has had all the undesirables removed and whisk in one can of cream of chicken soup.  Heat covered on high until boiling.




In a small cup, whisk 3 tablespoons of flour into 1/2 cup of half-and-half, cream or milk.  To this cup, add a scoop of your hot stock and whisk until cream is warmed.  Slowly, whisk the cream mixture into the stock.

Bring to a boil and continue boiling about 1 minute or until the stock turns to gravy consistency.  Remove from heat.  The gravy will thicken upon standing.  Salt and pepper if needed.








Cook a package of wide egg noodles according to direction.  After draining well, add to the creamy chicken gravy.  If there is not enough gravy or it is too thin, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sour cream.  Serve with garlic bread.


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