Sunday, August 9, 2009

4 meals from 1 chicken

I just want to take a second to apologize to everyone for not having updated in awhile. I went out of town and I have been dealing with a tooth that needs a root canal but procrastinating with it as long as possible. So to make up for it I have a couple of recipes for you, and the awesome part is, they are recycled meals! If you don't know what a recycled meal is let me fill you in, basically what you are doing is making new meals out of leftovers! Isn't that awesome?!


Okay so first off I had a whole chicken in my freezer just hanging out. It had been in there for at least 2 months so I figured I should use it, and guess what? I did! I've also gotten 4 meals out of it!
How do I do this? Well...first I rotisseried the chicken, but you can also roast it in the oven. All I did was take about 4 Tbsp of butter and throw in 1/2 tsp of rosemary, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and marjoram, also 1 tsp. of salt (I used kosher) mix it all together and spread it in between the skin and the meat. I put this in the rotisserie for about 15 minutes a pound and go do something else.

For the first meal I made wild rice stuffing, pan gravy, and frozen veggies (shh so I cheated a bit).
Second meal I made chicken stir fry.
I just cut up the breast meat and added it to my sauce mix and then threw in some veggies and boiled up some rice.
The recipe for the sauce is:

Stir-Fry Sauce
1/3 c. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 clove garlic (crushed and minced)
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp cornstarch

Mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken and veggies, let simmer for about 1 minute and sauce will thicken.

So there are two meals taken care of. I promised a few more right. The next thing I made was Tinga. Oh the words to express Tinga, it is just absolutely, deliciously, satisfyingly AWESOME!!!
Tinga is a traditional Mexican dish and its combination of flavors had me wheeling. There are not enough good things I can say about it, so here is the delightful recipe for you all to enjoy as much as I do.

Tinga
2 onions sliced
1/2 head cabbage shredded
2 large cloves of garlic
3 tomatoes (pan roasted and peeled)
1/2 can chipotle pepper in sauce
1/4 c. chicken broth
1 chicken bullion cube
handful of chopped parsley (fresh or otherwise)
3 cups shredded chicken (from the roasted chicken...white meat, dark meat doesn't matter)
1/8 to 1/4 c. ketchup

-Saute the onions and cabbage together in a large skillet/saucepan with a bit of oil in it. When onion becomes clear and cabbage is wilting add the 2 cloves of minced garlic.
-In a blender combine the tomatoes and chipotle peppers in sauce, add the chicken broth and blend to a sauce consistency. Pour over the onion and cabbage mixture and let simmer for 5 minutes.
-Add the bullion cube to the sauce and then add the shredded chicken and parsley. Let cook for another 3-5 minutes.
-At the very end add ketchup and mix everything together.
Serve on tostadas with sour cream and fresco cheese.
Trust me, this tastes amazing!

Last but not least I saved some of the shredded chicken and the bones to make some broth. I threw these in the crock pot with some water, onion (with the peel still on), carrots, celery, garlic, black peppercorns (or black pepper if you must) and some salt. I let this cook overnight on low and in the morning I strain it and use it as a broth, its so easy and it tastes very good.

You can use this broth in any recipe that calls for it, you can also freeze it in ice cube trays for later use, or you can use it right away for soup. I made chicken tortilla soup, here's the recipe.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
1-2 cups shredded chicken (still leftover from roasted chicken)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes (mashed)
1 can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic
chicken broth
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 c. frozen corn
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

Put everything into the crock pot and cook for 8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. When done serve in bowls over rice and with tortilla chips.

Alright, I hope this makes up for me going MIA on ya. I will also post a new recipe tomorrow complete with pictures. Enjoy!

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