Aww man, see what I did there? Somewhere right now I made my mother snort in laughter, I'd bet anything. Ok, so here we go. I've been preparing for this for a few days now and I'm psyched. I'm going to to show you how to seriously maximize a chicken.
First things are first. Remember how I always say to keep your eyes out for good deals so that you can capitalize on them? Well I did that last weekend at the Farmer's Market. Meat, of any kind, is really the ONLY food I won't cut corners on- even once in a while. I will only buy it at the Farmer's Market because I will only feed my girls local, hormone free, grass fed (beef), free range, anything. Because they are going to encounter enough hormones in everything else in their lives, and for SO many other reasons, I just won't budge on this issue. So, yes, meat is typically my big expense. Which is why I buy halves of pigs and look for simple savings where I can. So, back to the market. We typically buy our poultry and eggs (and the occasional rabbit pie for Papi, my grandfather) from Maine-ly Poultry and they always have a fair price no matter what. This week we had the choice of, "kinda small birds, or big ones, I mean real big", he said. I saw an opportunity to capitalize on using a large bird. So we went for it and took home a 8.28 pound bird (which is the biggest chicken I've ever seen) for $28. That's $3.38 per pound, as compared to $1.79 per pound for a Perdue whole roasting chicken at the local grocery store. But, again (sorry here's my soap box), there are hundreds of reports and articles, like this one, detailing how terribly these birds are raised, and how terrible they are for us to consume. Check out any one of the detailed documentaries on Netflix even. I know this seems like a lot of money to some people but I save money in so many other ways, and feel so passionately about this topic that I'm steadfast. Whew....onto the cooking!
So an 8 1/4 pound bird is pretty enormous and I'm going to get 3 whole dishes and 2 bonus items from it! The first thing we do, and by "we" I clearly mean my husband, is pull out all the organs left for us by the kind farmer in case we are the type who likes offal. We are not (but we do give it to Papi). I do feel compelled to mention, however, that if you did like offal (organs and such) you could get yet another meal out of this chicken! Ok, so we finish cleaning the bird and dress it very simply with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper and place it on a roasting pan. I toss it into a preheated oven at 350 degF for 20 minutes per pound. That makes just about 3 hours for our lady. When it comes out it is golden, has crispy skin, juicy meat and smells amazing. The entire thing was meat, I swear. One breast fed all four of us with sauteed green beans and couscous.
One meal, down!
During dinner we also made one of our bonus items: gravy. We poured off the drippings from the roasting pan and put it on a hot stove. We thickened it with a standard roux and added some dry sage, salt, pepper, and herbs to our taste. It was amazing, and for me as someone who loves gravy, was a highlight.
After dinner my husband picked the rest of the bird. First he cut the other breast off and then continued by cutting and physically picking the meat off of the legs, thighs, wings and remaining breast/chest. We reserved the bones and skin in another bowl as well. The meat was put into plastic containers and refrigerated.
Later that night I got started on our second bonus item: chicken stock. I placed the clean carcass and the reserved bones in a large stock pot (lobster pot). I also added one of my "vegetable stock freezer bags" and a little salt and pepper. I covered the carcass with water and put it on the stove to boil for about a half hour and then come down to be left at a simmer. Occasionally checking it, I let it reduce down the pot roughly an inch. This took about 5 hours and my house smelled freaking amazing! It tasted great. When it was done, I strained it into a large bowl using my colander. Then I placed the colander over another bowl to accumulate drippings (I got about another 1 1/2 cups of liquid after letting it drip for 15 minutes). After that the liquid got put back into the pot and given an ice bath in the sink to cool it down. We were able to produce about 1 1/2 gallons of homemade chicken stock for almost no effort at all and absolutely no extra cost. This will enrich vegetable soups, chicken soups, cous cous, polenta, and so many other things. From there the stock gets packed in plastic containers and sent to the deep freeze to await use.
The next day we got to work on the other two meals. First up was daddy's chicken stew, one of the girls' favorites. For the stew he used the meat he pulled from the wings, thighs, legs, and breast/chest area. He did not use the giant breast itself and we still had plenty of meat. It was cubed and added to a hot pan that already had onions, carrots and celery working away. He added salt, pepper, and herbs and spices to taste. Then he added a bit of roux and enough water to just cover the ingredients (we want it thick, it's a stew, but add more water and no roux for soup instead). He let it come to a boil to activate the roux and then brought it down to a high simmer until we got the consistency we were hoping for. Now, I don't know about you, but I can only eat so much chicken in a week. So, this is was also destined for the deep freeze. Now, some week in the future, when things may be extra tight, I have a meal ready to go. When we serve it Daddy will undoubtedly whip up some drop biscuits to go with it. 
Two meals, down!
We saved the best for last and made my all time favorite chicken dish: jerk chicken. We took the remaining breast and sliced it super thick and put it in the hot cast iron pot with some onions and dry jerk seasoning. I like mine very hot so we added a lot of seasoning. We also added about a 1/4 cup of beer and 2 cups of water. We let it come up to a boil, covered. Then, let it boil for about 15 minutes, then brought it down to a high simmer for about 1 hour, and then down further to a low simmer for around 2 hours. This process of braising made the chicken melt-in-your-mouth tender and so full of flavor. My oldest won't eat this and I will only let my youngest eat a little (because it is spicy and though she loves she won't cut herself off and I worry about her belly and her diaper) so this is actually going to be my lunch for the next 4-5 days. I will eat it on its own or as a sandwich, maybe with some eggs or as a quesadilla. In any event, the third meal ended up being a multiple meal lunch. As a mom, who rarely gets to eat lunch, let alone one I truly love, this is pretty epic!
Three meals, down!
Now, truth be told, the night after we had roast chicken for dinner I actually had a cold chicken sandwich with some mayo, tomato, and lettuce. So, I count that as an extra, third, bonus item because we still had tons of meat. And, if I'm being fair, the dried wishbone we saved was hidden bonus number four. My oldest daughter LOVES to pull the wishbone and make a wish, she gets so into it! That enthusiasm and excitement alone is worth every penny and certainly makes it a bonus item.
So there you have it. For $28 I had the protein (and most of the other stuff is stuff I had on hand or very minimal) I needed for 3 full meals, 1 1/2 gallons of chicken stock, a gravy, and a wish. I am more than ok with that, especially considering I also have peace of mind knowing and trusting the source of the meat. I am one happy camper.
That's what I call getting the biggest bang for your cluck!
Simple City Sam
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