We’ve been blessed with 50 degree weather for two days now, so blogging is only in my head. I hope to finish “TAKING STOCK” tomorrow… but the weather is saying 62 degrees - so please be patient.
The last two pups we’ve brought into the family were purchased in the fall. This has turned out perfect for training them to the gardens, greenhouses and livestock. We have more time to keep a watchful eye and kid proof everything, and the weather isn’t too cold yet for all those potty breaks in the middle of the night. Trace, our newest kid, is 7 months old and is now big enough to listen to us and stay out of most things. When we brought him home in September, the plants in the garden were big enough that he could just be a puppy and not do too much damage. Most days, he could be found just sleeping under the tall plants for shade. This spring, when seeding starts he will learn quickly what is expected of him. He now knows all the cows and they know him, so when calving starts, he will have a better understanding of what they are saying to him. We were able to schedule his “brain surgery” in the right moon, so he didn’t even miss a beat or anything else for that matter. He was sleepy the first day, then we had quite a bit a wet weather, so it was easy to keep him quiet for the required 7 days. NOT easy with an Aussie! So we’ve spent the last two days cleaning up in greenhouse 1, and tying up raspberries. The dogs have thick coats yet, so they spent both days “helping” by keeping a watchful eye on us from a shady spot.
I’m cheating and using this recipe for a post. I had this written up for a http://westonaprice.org chapter meeting. I use this every week and it makes me cook healthier and saves me time.
note the yellow broth!
BROTH ON HAND (or how to get your money’s worth out of that expensive chicken!) Since I cook with chicken broth frequently, following the methods outlined in Nourishing Traditions, I devised this method to avoid making stock and canning the results. I find that if I have broth in the refrigerator I will use it more often. My husband has digestive problems and this seems to help. I don’t add salt to this, so plan accordingly to add it to recipes using purchased broth. We also supplement our dogs diet with it.Yield: Lunch meat for Hubby for one week.2 qts broth.
Enough roasted chicken for 2 additional meals, soup etc.
Possibly 2 more qts of broth if you make stock with carcass.
It costs us $9.00 per chicken to raise it to 8 weeks, so really this is pretty economical.
Since I’m doing the chores anyway, I raise extra chickens and sell them to offset our costs.
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Thaw out one whole chicken. Slit the breast skin open down the middle, spread it away with your fingers to expose the breast meat. With a sharp knife, cut the breast meat away from the breast bone. It works well to pull it away with your left hand and cut with your right. (or the opposite if your left handed) At this point you can easily separate the breast and tenderloins and refreeze for later use or just cook the breast meat however you want. Pull the breast skin back over the breast bone and secure with a toothpick. I butterfly the breasts and saute the breast meat for lunch sandwiches. The breast meat stays moist if cooked this way opposed to roasting the whole chicken.
The roasted chicken also has a clean fresh flavor, I’ve tried freezing cooked poultry and thawing it out later and it tastes like it has been in the freezer.
Fill covered roasting pan (4 -5 qt) with 2 qts water. Place chicken in water. Roast at 400 degrees for
1 hour, then turn oven down to 350 degrees, roast for an additional 1 ½ hours. The longer you cook the chicken the thicker the broth will be. Longer cooking may sacrifice some leg meat ( dry) so it depends how you want to use it. When the chicken is done, transfer it to platter for cooling and let broth cool, and transfer broth to wide mouth quart jars for refrigerator or freezer storage.
Use the roasted meat for meals throughout the week. At this point I make stock again in a stockpot with vegetables, this broth doesn’t get as thick. The broth should keep for at least a week in the refrigerator.
If your chicken was pastured, the fat will be yellow. Use this rendered fat for roux, etc.
