Tag Archives: Chicken stock

Buying whole Chicken leg quarters equals BIG value.

Posted on by Standard 14

 

Greetings Carnivores,

I LOVE chicken. Who doesn’t ??

It’s so versatile and always affordable. And like many other offerings for the dinner table these days, there are ways to make the venerable chicken even MORE affordable.

Buying the whole bird and separating it yourself is often the best way to go but, many times you’ll find Leg quarters (drum, thigh and back attached) on sale and THAT’s when I fill my freezer!

Frozen-Chicken-Leg-Quarters

Ahhh … the whole chicken leg quarter 🙂

First thing I do when I get them home is remove the back bone then, separate the drum from the thigh and lastly I bone out the thigh.

I do this because #1, I want the bones for stock and #2, I love, love, LOVE the thigh and boneless is my FAVOURITE part.

I vacuum seal the drums in meal portions then, do the same with the boneless thighs and toss them into the freezer.

Next, I break the back and thigh bones (to expose the marrow), and throw them into a roasting pan and bake them off for a good hour at 375.

When the bones come out of the oven I scrape all that roasted goodness, fat drippings and all into a pot of salted water with a couple of bay leaves, some carrots, onions and celery and bring it to a boil then simmer, covered for a good hour or more. Next, I strain it all and cool it, skim the fat and freeze the broth for soups and sauces later.

So, let’s recap:

20 Chicken Leg Quarters, backs attached $2.18/kg (0.99/lb) total spent $19.97. About a buck a leg. 🙂

Yield: 20 drums, 20 boneless thighs and 12 cups of beautiful, rich, homemade chicken stock.

20 drums at retail price of $6.49/kg, purchased separately will cost you about $22-$25.00

20 Boneless thighs at retail price of $8.49/kg, will run you about $25.00-$30.00

6 Tetra pac boxes of Chicken stock, around $12.00-$15.00

I think you see where I’m heading with this … the value of the whole chicken leg quarter and DIY can’t be overstated.

That’s it for today Carnivores 🙂 🙂

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Feeling a little Chicken ???

Posted on by Standard 11

Greetings Carnivores,

Who doesn’t like Chicken? It’s one of the highest volume, commercially produced, affordable proteins … period. They’re always available, the price doesn’t really fluctuate seasonally like Beef, Pork and Lamb and, whether you choose Free range or Grain fed, it’s always a great value for your protein dollars. The only time it’s NOT really a bargain is when you choose to buy parts vs. the whole bird because then you’re just paying for someone else’s labour.

I know I’m not really telling you something you don’t already know here and, I mean no offence to anyone … I thought I’d just highlight a few things for you that I ALWAYS do.

I ALWAYS look for specials on Drums, Thighs, Leg quarters and Whole birds. Whenever possible, I will buy the bird whole. This to me is a no-brainer since they’re just so easy to take apart. When you find them on sale, buy 3, 4 or 5 at a time, take them all apart (or leave them whole for roasting) and freeze. When buying Whole birds, I especially love having the neck and back section, as well as the pouch of giblets (Heart, Liver and Gizzard) left over after taking them apart for making stock. If you prefer to have your Breasts boneless, it’s a piece of cake to remove the bones yourself AND don’t worry, it’s pretty hard to mess this up. Even if you leave a little meat on the bones it doesn’t matter; you’re adding to your pile of wonderful bones and skin in the stock pot. And, incidentally … I usually take the Breasts off the bone using just my thumbs … (yes, it’s just THAT easy!!).

Leg quarters are almost ALWAYS on sale somewhere and, RIDICULOUSLY cheap too!!! Keep in mind, the Leg quarters always come ‘Back attached’ but, don’t worry about that either … you can cook them any way you like with or without the ‘Back’ on. If you choose to remove it before cooking, simply flip it over, follow the bones with the blade of the knife on the inside, slip the point of your knife into the hip socket joint and remove, but remember to save the bones for your stock pot.

Nothing could be easier than making your own Chicken stock too … throw everything into a stock pot, add the Holy Trinity of aromatic vegetables (Onion, Carrot and Celery), a pinch of salt, fresh ground black pepper, a couple of Bay leaves, fresh Thyme and Sage … really, whatever you fancy. Cover with fresh cold water, bring to a boil then, simmer for a couple of hours. VIOLA !!! Skim the fat off the top, let cool and freeze for soups, stews, making Rice, Quinoa, Couscous … whatever, the sky’s the limit!!!

Chicken … is there anything easier or better??? Smoked, BBQ’d, Stewed, Roasted, Fried, SautĂ©ed … “Honey … I have a GREAT idea for dinner”

Stay hungry Carnivores and remember to ‘like’ and ‘share’ my stuff on facebook http://www.facebook.com/carnivoreconfidential.com and, follow me on Twitter @DougieDee