With my renewed effort to get healthier, I bought chicken instead of pork at the supermarket. Husband is not really fond of chicken he says it tastes like cardboard at best. When I was pregnant with my first child all you had to do was say the word "chicken" and I would loose my stomach contents, but that was (wow) 30 years ago, so I think I am over it. That child, by the way, makes the most awesome fried chicken ever. One day she wanted fried chicken so I bought her chicken parts and handed her the cookbook and said have fun! My kids learned how to cook at an early age. The girls learned in 4-H and Son learned from us plus he attended a cooking school for a couple of semesters. He can read a recipe in English and Spanish! The secret to really good fried chicken is to soak it in milk before battering and resisting the urge to turn it in the oil, or so the kids tell me. I don't fry chicken.
Today, I followed another of the Crockpot lady's recipes, this one for teriyaki chicken. It's cooking right now. I was going to make an Indian cabbage dish, but discovered that I am out of dried coconut. So I made cabbage salad instead, and I'm reheating the red tomato rice that I made earlier this week.
I am definitely over the malaise, I am looking at cookbooks and planning stuff. I want to make some pineapple habanero jelly. One thing that I need to find is pectin, I looked up the word in Spanish, pectina, that seems too easy. I did find a couple of recipes online for making your own pectin out of apples. Actually crab apples would be best but I have never seen them here. I did seem some plums though and plums have a lot of natural pectin, plum cheese is really yummy. It's like cranberry sauce but made out of plums. Okay, back to the pectin, it looks easy enough, chop apples into eights, simmer in water, drain and boil down the liquid.
I guess I could make some apple jelly and then put the habanero in it? Hmmm, that might work! I no longer have a copy of Putting Food By, but I think I saw one at MELL.
Back to the chicken, I got some skinless breast and what I thought were thighs and legs, but was really a half a chicken. When I unwrapped the chicken half I found some chicken feet and other parts in a baggie. I don't know if I am up to using them to make stock.
Theresa,
ReplyDeleteYou should learn to use chicken feet! Skin then and proceed. They add a lot of gelatin to the stock. Also, I experimented with them for dim sun style Chinese chicken feet, with the taste of anise. I loved them in the US and will get the hang of them here. Also, Lora dog loves the feet out of the stock. Don't forget, a chicken stock is boiled and boiled, so what the heck!
IslaZina, I looked up making soup with chicken feet and it said to "clean" them, which had me stumped. But skinning them makes more sense. I put them back in the freezer, I am going to be cooking more chicken so I will be acquiring more parts!Thank you so much for the advice and encouragement.
ReplyDeleteregards,
Theresa
There is some great food is cooking in your kitchen. Same as you, I love looking! And I have a few other hobbies, but cooking is the main. I think you would be interested to have a look on http://www.hobbything.com - hobby social network. You can create photo albums, write stories, post videos and share tips about cooking or any other hobby you have as well. Plus you can meet other like-minded hobbyists. Check it out.
ReplyDeleteBy skin, the cook boks mean the paper thin layer. It can be removed with a good grip of even a stub fingernail and just peeled like a galic clove. Well, without smashing them!
ReplyDeleteThank you IslaZina, that sounds less daunting! I can peel garlic!
ReplyDeleteDmitri, I don't do social network. I have heard of social networks hijacking people's contact lists and sending out invites to all their contacts! Just what someone needs, to unknowingly invite their boss to join a dubious organization.
I considered deleting your comment as spam, but decided to give you the benefit of the doubt.
regards,
Theresa
By all means use the feet! I buy whole chickens, which apart from a savings give me the innards too. Liver, neck, feet and the rest that comes with a "complete" chicken. I always wrap and freeze these to keep for making stock for soups, rice, pasta or whatever.... my freezer looks like a little morgue full of chicken parts but you know what? Good stock makes all the difference! So go ahead and use these "extra" parts, add onion, garlic, celery, salt and pepper (more stuff if you want to) and develop a quality stock to enrich your dishes, you'll be glad you did!
ReplyDelete