Look away now if you are vegetarian…
Roast Chicken with rosemary, lemon and garlic
This week I gained insight into how they used to cook back in the days before processed and canned food.
I cooked a roast chicken with roast vegetables. I stuffed it with lemon, rosemary and garlic. That’s not the amazing part. It did taste good though. After finishing the meal I removed the leftover chicken from the bones and put it aside. I didn’t throw away the bones which is what I would normally do. This time I did something different. I kept the bones too. I put them in a pot with water, carrots, onions, fennel, parsley, peppercorns, salt, garlic and celery and simmered it for 4 hours. Sieved it and voila, I made my very own chicken stock.
Chicken Stock simmering
I had been wanting to do this for a while now.
Would I do it every time? I don’t know. It was time consuming and probably not energy efficient but on satisfaction, nutritional and healthy levels it was high or off the scale.
It’s nice to know how to make chicken stock. I think the thing that surprised me the most was how many vegetables were in it. Plenty.
I made three items from one chicken.
- Roast chicken
- Chicken Stock
- Chicken Corn Chowder
Chicken Corn Chowder
The chowder was supposed to be smoother but my electric hand blender decided to give up and died. So chunky chowder it was. Red peppers and onion, corn, potatoes and chicken. Fresh corn from the cob, too. Yum.
I made the chicken stretch. Two meals and counting. I still have leftover chicken stock. I may freeze it for later or it may go into noodle soup for tomorrow. I think soup for tomorrow will be the winner. I may be able to do both.
way to get multiple uses out of one item – very starving artist. Well done and looks delicious!!
Why thank you! I also ate one portion of defrosted chicken corn chowder yesterday.
The chicken on the rack, keeps getting stretched. The Spanish Inquisition?
If I was always this well organised! I take that back. This was just a perfect moment in time.
Nothing beats homecooking – and that roast chicken looks amazing. Recently I’ve started freezing the chicken stock in small tin foil containers from the supermarket. Added to pork and chicken dishes at a later date they make a tasty difference. But you’re right it is a lot of work!
Thank you. And the Spanish have a whole other twist on cooking that I love too. Tapas, can’t get enough of them. And the fish, wow. Octopus, yum. I’m making myself hungry.
Never mind the age old question “why did the chicken cross the road?” – we need to ask “why did the chicken go so far?”
We also had a roast chicken (again) the other night – stock and soup are on the way today! I love the idea of a chunky chowder… might just have to see what I can put together. My turn to say “thank you” for the inspiration!
Or the question how!
Pleased to have helped the inspirer!
Love this! We were the weirdos at Micah’s family Thanksgiving dinner who asked if we could take the turkey carcass home with us. And we save pretty much all bones, shrimp shells, etc., not to mention onion, carrot, and celery scraps, so that we always have the ingredients for stock. Micah will make a giant batch every so often, freeze it in 1- or 2-cup plastic freezer jars, and label it so we can tell what kind it is and when it got frozen.
We made a veggie stock once, but it turned out a little bitter. Further reading suggested we should’ve left out a) celery leaves, b) onion skins, and/or c) tomato seeds. We’ll probably try it again soon, though.
Seafood stock, sounds like a great next challenge.
Just be thankful you are the only ones in the know about the turkey bones , otherwise it could have been a rather unpleasant family food fight.
Shrimp stock is actually easier and cooks more quickly than beef or chicken. Definitely give it a try if you get some shell-on (or, even better, head-on) shrimp.
I think Micah’s folks know about the turkey bones, but he and I are the only ones in the family who really cook much. So, thankfully, we probably won’t be having any knock-down drag-out wars over those turkey carcasses.
Nice to hear shrimp stock is easier. Will probably go with fish for starters. I have been wanting to make Thai three chili fried fish for ages so nothing like another incentive to go to the fish market.
They expect it now, you have added another element to the tradition.
this. looks. so. good……………..*drools* i’ll confess, i’m reading your blog while i’m at work. but i saw the chicken and i couldn’t help it………………………………………so hungry now.
I hope you don’t faint! It’s terrible what we do to ourselves when hungry, read food blogs and become even hungrier!