The Cook’s Concern: One Chicken; Three Meals

Sep 262011

As a young bride and first year teacher, I found it necessary to build a budget and find ways to stretch the few dollars for our food budget. Chicken was one of my favorite solutions. I was able to get at least two or three meals out of a five-pound bird and, with a nod to my work in the Culinary Arts Department at a vocational school, I was able to practice all sorts of skills from breaking down a chicken to making mother sauces.
With time and budgets strained a bit this fall, it makes sense to plan and prep ahead for family meals that taste good and use seasonal products.

At least once or twice a month, I dedicate Sundays to make ahead meals. The hero of this effort is usually a 4-6 pound chicken. Whether purchased during my weekly market foray or pulled from the deep freezer in the basement, Gallus domesticus is a darn tasty staple in our diet.

This week, I have planned three chicken-based meals that will satisfy taste buds and budgets: Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Pot Pie, and Chicken with Green Apple Flatbread…all from one bird!

Recipe: Chicken Soup

Summary: A great chicken soup, full of vegetables and home-made goodness..

Ingredients

1 4-6 pound chicken
8 cups of water
4 carrots, scrubbed and chopped
6 stalks celery with leaves, washed and chopped
1 whole onion, peeled
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp chicken base (similar to bouillon)

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a large stock pot.
Bring to a boil.
Cover pot and reduce heat to low.
Simmer for 2-3 hours, checking occasionally to skim scum/fatty solids from surface of stock.
Remove chicken to a large platter and allow to cool enough to handle.
Once cool, remove all the skin and discard.
Carefully remove meat from the bones and divide into four equal portions.
Place 3 of the chicken pieces into freezer storage bags.
Discard bones.
Shred remaining of chicken into bite sized pieces; set aside.
Using a large strainer, pour stock into a large bowl or pot.
Skim any excess fat or solids from the surface of the stock.
Reserve carrots and onion and discard celery, garlic and bay leaves.
Return stock to pot and add chicken base and bring pot to a simmer.
Stir to dissolve chicken base.
Taste for seasoning and adjust with more salt and pepper, or water if too salty.
Remove to a 2 quart storage container or freezer bag, 2 1/2 cups of stock and store in refrigerator or freezer, once cooled.
Into the stock pot add reserved carrots and whole onion.
Add an additional 1 1/2 cups of peeled chopped carrots and 1 cup of sliced celery to the pot.
Add shredded chicken.
Simmer until carrots and celery are tender.
In a separate pot of boiling water, cook 1/2 bag of egg noodles according to package directions.
Drain noodles and divide into four soup bowls.
Ladle chicken soup over noodles and enjoy.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 2-3 hours

Number of servings (yield): 4

Chicken Pot Pie

One of the most stressful days of my life was when, shortly after returning from my honeymoon, we were to have my in-laws over for dinner. My Italian in-laws, my husband’s mother, wo made everything from scratch from recipes handed down for generations. And me coming from a home where spaghetti sauce came from a McCormick’s sauce packet, to which Mom added water and love.

I knew I couldn’t make Italian for them. So I did the next best thing — I made American. I was teaching US history after having spent much of my youth in Colonial Williamsburg, soo I returned to my “roots” and I decided to recreate the King’s Arms Tavern Chicken Pot Pie from the first cookbook I ever purchased. Using some of the techniques I learned from preparing my chicken soup recipe, I was able to make a very impressive first dinner for the in-laws. I even made the pie crust from scratch. Now-a-days, I may or may not use a ready-made pie crust or make a cornbread topping instead. By the way, my mother-in-law must have seen some culinary potential in me as she taught me how to make the family tomato sauce and other traditional recipes! And according to my father-in-law, my sauce is better!

Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

2 portions of prepared cooked chicken (about 2 cups)
8 ounces frozen peas
4 carrots, sliced and cooked
2 cups potatoes, diced and cooked
2 cups chicken stock
4 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp flour
White pepper
Chicken base (in lieu of salt)
Ready to use pie crust (thawed according to package directions)
1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp. milk (egg wash)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place in a large casserole dish, prepared chicken, peas, cooked carrots and potatoes.
In a large, high sided saute pan, melt butter.
With a whisk, stir in flour and white pepper.
Cook five minutes, stirring constantly over medium heat.
Do not brown the roux.
Slowly add chicken stock, stirring constantly, to achieve the desired consistency of sauce.
Add water or cream for a thinner sauce.
Simmer five minutes.
Add salt/chicken base and more pepper to taste.
Pour sauce over chicken and vegetables, gently lifting, so sauce will flow down and around the filling.
Cover casserole with prepared pie crust, crimping the edges in a decorative pattern.
Using a paring knife, cut an X in the center of the pie and carefully fold back the corners to create a square opening in the center of the crust.
Brush the crust with an egg wash.
Place casserole on a foil or parchment paper lined sheet pan.
Bake at 375* until the crust is golden brown.
Serve immediately.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Cooking time: 30 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Chicken and Apple Flatbread

This recipe is based on a Tart Alsace, straight from Trader Joe’s! But being a culinary upstart, I wanted to make my own version. This flatbread normally features caramelized onions and ham, but I wanted to utilize some chicken I had on hand as well as take advantage of some beautiful apples I got from the farm stand, so voila! A variation on a good thing and at a lot less money per serving!

Recipe: Chicken and Apple Flatbread

Ingredients

1 portion prepared chicken
2 tbsp hickory smoked bbq sauce
1 apple, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
16 sage leaves, julienned
1 pound frozen puff pastry
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup cream or half ‘n’ half
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp white pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425*.
Unfold puff pastry sheet.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into a 12×16 inch rectangle.
Transfer the dough to a parchment lined baking sheet.
Prick the dough all over with a fork.
Bake the pastry for 10 minutes.
While the pastry is baking, in a bowl, combine the chicken with the BBQ sauce, set aside.
In a small saute pan, melt the butter over medium high heat.
Once the butter melts, sprinkle in the flour and white pepper, whisking for 3 minutes.
Slowly whisk in the chicken stock and cream and bring to a slow boil and forms a thickened sauce.
Remove from heat.
Remove the pastry from the oven.
Leaving a 1/2 inch border around the crust, spread a thin layer of the sauce over the surface.
Arrange the apples and onions on the crust over the sauce.
Dollop the BBQ chicken evenly over the pastry.
Sprinkle cheese and sage over the chicken.
Return the flatbread to the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese meots.
Cut the flatbread with a pizza cutter into 8 squares and serve warm.