Typically on Sundays, I like to slow cook meat (usually it’s a whole chicken, but on occasion will I brine Pork or Roast Beef). The intent of this is so then I can use the meat for various meals throughout the week. Example: Chicken soup, Chicken Enchiladas, Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta… Yes, It’s a lot of chicken 😊 LOL. So I might intersperse a meal with Shrimp or Salmon one night of the week; and maybe if I’m being lazy, will I order take-out for another night. So really… It’s 5 days of chicken. Good news; there’s so many recipes and things that you can make with any type of “whole” meat.. It’s not only very cost savvy (Costco has the best deals) but it allows me to still be creative with meals, and not have to spend hours in the kitchen after working all day. (Who would, right?)
One thing to note: I never cook the chicken the entire way through. This is so that when I cut off pieces for the soup, or pasta dish, etc. It needs at least 7-8 mins before it’s cooked through and that way you don’t end up with overly dry chicken.
Second thing to note: you do not have to brine any of these meats; I like to because 1. Flavor always seems better this way and 2. It makes the meat more tender, and I often have issues trying to digest big hunks of meat. (I’ll shred some for enchiladas, dice some chicken for tacos or salads, cut up into larger pieces for pasta dishes, etc).
To Brine the Chicken:
I usually let it sit for at least 8 hours; you don’t want to ever brine for more than 24hours or the chicken will start to reaallly absorb the salt and then you’ve got some seriously salty chicken that you can’t really fix…
What’s in the Brine?
I will use Bay Leaves, Lemon, Black Ground Pepper, Chicken Stock, Rosemary, Thyme, Garlic (whole cloves), Montreal Chicken Seasoning, and Salt.
(Mind you, I am cooking a whole chicken here, so ensure that the pot you start your brine mixture in is large enough to hold a chicken).
Before putting the chicken into the mixture, I boil the mixture to allow all of the flavors to sort of seap into the stock. Then sit until room temp, and then add my chicken (after I have gut out any yucky things that I don’t wish to eat or see later on 😉 ).
Once the brine is complete (8 hours usually), I will then put the chicken into a big cast iron baking dish, throw some olive oil and salt on the bottom; stuff my chicken with more lemon, garlic, salt and pepper and occasionally add a little honey 😊 Cook at 425 for 30 mins, turn the chicken over, and cook another 30. Watch this baby, some ovens are faster / hotter than others!
For this week, the whole chicken made the following recipes:
1. Chinese Chicken Corn & Bean Soup
2. Chicken Enchiladas
3. Chicken Sandwich (for lunch; way better than lunch meat!)
4. Creamy Mushroom Chicken Pasta
5. Chicken Parmesan
Enjoy! 😊
5.25.21: tip-sy tuesday: fluffy iced coffee
5.25.20: potato salad
5.25.19: healthy chickpea blondies
5.25.18: spiced chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
5.25.17: travel log - Amsterdam
5.25.16: rolo cupcakes
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