Last night for dinner, we had roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Today, I have a leftover chicken staring at me from my refrigerator. What to do with that chicken?
Here's the plan:
Throw the whole chicken, including the inside parts that came in a bag, in the slow cooker and cover with water. Add a splash of apple cider vinegar. I may add some chicken feet. Turn the heat on low and walk away.
When I come back later this afternoon, I'll pick what's left of the chicken off the bones. Then, I'll throw the bones back in the slow cooker, and add celery, onions, and carrots. Turn the heat on low overnight. Tomorrow, it will be golden, thick, beautiful gelatinous broth. Cool and remove some of the fat from the top. Then just strain and use, or freeze in ice cube trays, or can in a pressure canner at 10 lbs of pressure, quarts for 25 minutes and pints for 20 minutes.
Tip: #1: I usually save the organ meats and grate them on a hand held grater into ground beef after it's been cooked. No one knows it's there but I've added some nutrition.
Tip #2: I keep what I call a "stock jar" in my freezer. It's a half gallon jar that I add carrot peels, celery ends, and onion peels to. That way you're not wasting good veggies in stock but you get the same nutrition. You're going to strain them out anyway so save your whole veggies for soup.
The leftover Chicken Meat : check out my recipe page for ideas on how to use it up! I think I'm going with the White Chicken Chili, it's cold today!
