Earlier this year we previously showed how to make orange chicken and take it further by later making chicken salad sandwiches, as well as putting together jalapeno mac and cheese with leftover ingredients. Now we're going to take a personal favorite and regular fixture in our fridge - the whole chicken - and turn it into three to even four separate meals.
For our whole chicken we're only going to dress it up with a single style of seasoning - some of the leftover coffee rub from when we grilled up coffee BBQ ribs earlier during the summer.
The rub is massaged onto the chicken inside and out - both over and under the skin - which looks messy but is worth the effort. Obviously you may not have homemade coffee rub on hand in the cabinet, but that's OK, because any seasonings will work here. You can get a great flavor just by mixing softened butter with sage, salt, and pepper and rubbing the mixture beneath the skin, or instead use any number of store-bought BBQ sauces.
This time around we didn't inject the meat with any extra flavors since we'd be using the chicken for several very different dishes. Here's our finished chicken after cooking for a few hours - notice the drippings that form in the bottom of the pan, as we'll be using these as another cost saving measure.
There's no need to buy gravy at the store during your regular grocery shopping day, as the chicken provides it's own gravy base. Simply whisk together flour and milk...
...and then combine with the chicken drippings in a large pan on the stove.
After warming up and mixing you'll get this amazing gravy that has a flavor you won't find in a jar. Salt and pepper are recommended, and if you want more of a Thanksgiving style feel, throw in some sage as well.
My plate is practically overflowing with mashed potatoes and homemade chicken gravy, along with a few pieces of our coffee-rubbed chicken.
After a filling and heavy meal like that we wanted a change of pace the next night and decided to go with an Asian style stir fry using some of the leftover chicken. To start our second meal using the whole chicken, we cook up some bell peppers and broccoli pieces in a skillet. After the veggies start getting soft we diced up some of the remaining chicken and tossed it in the skillet.
To keep this cheap but still have an exciting meal that's just as fun as going out, we got $1 egg rolls from the frozen section at Albertsons and microwaved them for half of the recommended time. Instead of finishing in the microwave, we placed them in a small skillet with a thin layer of hot oil. The finished egg rolls are much crispier that way and taste more like something you'd get at a Chinese restaurant, but without paying an eating-out price.
The base of our stir fry is going to be just standard ramen noodles with some crushed red pepper and sesame seeds. Oriental is a great choice, but beef, chicken, or pork all work fine.
The vegetable and chicken mixture is tossed on top of the noodles, and a few dashes of soy sauce finish this off. If you want it spicier, drizzle some Sriracha hot sauce on there as well.
Here's my bowl of stir fry with a crispy chicken egg roll on the side. Put out a small bowl of either soy sauce or sweet and sour for dipping and you've got a satisfying meal that cost next to nothing.
After making suaasat for the Greenland stop of our culinary world tour, we decided we wanted another go at a barley based soup, since that one was rather disappointing. Going with a flavor and meat we knew well seemed like a great choice, so for the third meal of our whole chicken we're making a barley soup that starts with carrots and onion cooked in a small layer of oil.
At this point in the week here's what remains of the chicken. Even after slicing some off directly the first night, using more for the stir fry, and even cutting a few slices a late night sandwich, we've still got a good amount of meat leftover.
After the onions and carrots are cooked, we poured in several cups of water and threw in some sliced chicken.
Bouillon cubes and some barley add the final flavors, and then the soup simmers until everything is cooked through.
This bowl of soup is thick, hearty, and has a great homemade taste. The barley gives a different texture than either stew or thin soup and was a great change of pace during the week's meals.
Some leftover bread torn into pieces finishes off the meal and is perfect for mopping up what's left in the bottom of the bowl!
So now we've taken one whole chicken - which only cost about $3 at the store - and stretched it across a full three meals that were all vastly different and immensely satisfying. Don't throw those chicken bones or skin away though! They can be turned into stock for more delicious soups down the line, and we'll be covering our latest stock creation in a new blog coming soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment