Roasted Chicken Broth

Well you remember the Chicken Roast Done Right Blog, that we did the other day. Where you ended with the Roast is where we start today.

When you do the Roast, I save the pan with all the drippings, etc. Wake Up, we don't need the gravy that badly and if you do, then use chicken boullion or purchase some Chicken Broth. Ok, so we got that decided. When your done with your meal of Roasted Chicken, strip all the meat off the chicken, you can use it in sandwiches or whatever you want. I usually just snack on it when no one is watching, especially the dogs. They are always looking for handouts.

We are heading back to the stove with the roasting pan, put a pint or so of water in the pan, and heat it to a boil. We are trying to disolve all the leavings in the roasting pan, so we can use it in our Stew. Using a wooden spoon, we are making sure everything is loosened and part of the liquid. When all is in the liquid, it will be a dark chicken broth by this time, add it to a large Stew Pan along with the chicken carcass.

Add an onion, a couple carrots, a couple stalks of celery and 5 or 6 peppercorns to the pot. Of course, we need to coarsely chop the veggies. You might want to also add a bayleaf, thyme and parsley to the pot also. I generally only add the bay leaf, because the chicken was cooked with thyme and is stuffed with parsley. Add sufficient water to cover everything, I generally use a total volume of 3 quarts of water, plus or minus, depending on your situation. Bring to a boil and simmer for several hours or until you are satisfied that everything is done. The chicken bones should be all separated by now and you have extracted the most flavor, out of the chicken.

Let the pot cool so that you can handle the hot liquid. Strain the the liquid through a strainer, I use a spaghetti strainer, so the herbs and stuff can go through, but not the stuff you don't want. Strain it into another pot. Discard the bones and such, being sure it is discarded where animals will not get at it. Chicken bones tend to splinter, so it is not a good ideas to give this stuff to your dogs and other animals. If you want you can now chill the chicken broth, so that you can remove the excess chicken fat. The chicken broth will be dark and rich looking.

At this point, you can use the broth for anything you like, but I am going to make a multigrain soup out of this.

Mexican Black Beans

You know those awesome black beans you get in the Mexican restaurants, well I do and I always order them, they are so good. I have been looking for a recipe for a long time and finally was gointg to try making them. I got half way through the original recipe, and didn't like adding some Goya packet they were using. I just couldn't bring myself to buy something with monosodium glutamate in it. So I ended up switching to another recipe and the result was outstanding. The smoked jalpeno pepper which I used has a mesquite-smoked flavor and comes from Mexico. So this is what I did.

• 1/2 cup dried black beans
• 1 medium size onion
• 1/2 cup green pepper
• 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic, the kind you buy prechopped or use fresh
• 2 tablespoons of oil, corn or olive oil, corn oil for authentic taste
• 1 10oz can chopped tomatoes & green chilis, available at Walmart & other stores
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of dried cilantro or use 1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 dried chili pepper chopped, I used dried Chipotle Chilis (Smoked Jalapeno Chilis)
• 1 teaspoon of salt if desired
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Start with soaking the black beans in 2 cups of water over night or use the short method, bring to a boil and let sit for 1 hour. Bring the beans to a boil and simmer till almost done. Add water if necessary.

In a separate frypan, be authentic, use castiron, add oil, then onion, pepper and garlic. When they are almost done, add the rest of the ingredients. Continue cooking for more 5 minutes to make sure they are well mixed. Then add mixture to the black beans and continue cooking till the beans are done and are dry, but not too dry.

Serve with the rest of your mexican meal, corn muffins, enchiladas, etc.

Getting Fried

You think you want to make some donuts, well you won't have to get up at 3 AM like the Dunkin Donuts guy and walk into the kitchen half asleep.

I wanted to make my own French Fries, my own Buffalo Wings and my own donuts. So I went down to the local Walmart. You can go to whatever store you choose. I wanted an inexpensive frier that would be convenient to use. Well for the cheap ones Presto has cornered the market. They offer two models, one about the size of a crockpot and you can fry, steam, soup or stew with it. To me, it seemed to need a lot of oil for frying. So I went with the Fry Daddy. It is small, but big enough for 1 or 2 people, holds a minimum of oil, less than one of those large bottles of oil, not the giant size. It also had a cover so you could store the oil right in it and have it always ready for frying. So that's what I got. This is not meant to be an endorsement of Presto, but they offered the right size for the right price for me.

So when I got home, I found a place where it could sit and be relatively safe from being knocked over or some other catastrophe. Everyone hears of frying accidents and how dangerous they are, well with a few precautions I felt that it would be safe for me to use. Just don't decide to fry up some stuff after you have drunk a six-pack of beer. One has to use their common sense here.

Presto made a real neat addition to the fryer, the plug is magnetic, so when you are done cooking, I gently push down on the plug and the connection is broken. I don't have to touch the fryer to turn it off.

So now I have a fryer that I can easily deal with and to me it is safe and easy to use. Just cut your potatoes and put them in the preheated oil. When they are done they will rise to the top of the oil. Take them out with the slotted spoon they provide and drain on paper towels or whatever you want. It is that simple.

Chicken Ceasar Salad Extraordinare'

I hate salads, but I love this one. First I make a salad mix and store it in a big plastic covered bowl, such as the GladWare Family Size Bowl with cover. The base salad contains the following:

• Chopped Celery
• Chopped Green or Red Leaf Lettuce
• Shredded Carrots
• Chopped Red Onion
• Chopped Chinese Cabbage
• Chopped Mushrooms
• Chopped Peppers(optional)
• Chopped Radicchio

I store this mixture in the covered bowl in the refrigerator. When it is time to make the salad. I take a portion of this mix out and place it in a bowl. Add grated Parmesan Cheese and Croutons.

I take a thin sliced piece of chicken breast, salt, pepper and tyme both sides of the meat and fry in an iron skillet. When the meat is done I move the meat from the fry pan to the cutting board and chop the meat into 1/2 inch squares.

Next place this chopped cooked chicken on top of your salad, add salt, pepper and a good quality brand of Creamy Ceasar Dressing, I like the Newman brand and I never use diet dressings.

Sit down and enjoy one delicious salad.

Chicken Roast Done Right

I pick up chickens at Walmart, they are usually $.67 per pound and are generally 3 -5 pounds. To roast them do the following:

Wash the bird inside and out, salt and pepper inside and out. I also sprinkle Tyme on the bird inside and out. Stuff the bird with Parsley and place in an open roasting pan. If you cover the pan, you will steam the bird, which is not what you want.

Mix together 1/4 cup Olive Oil and 1/4 cup Lemon Juice and pour over bird, being sure that the bird is well covered with olive oil and lemon juice. Place in an 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and roast 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. I like to get the bird a bit on the well done side, rather than on the under done side. This way the skin will be dark and crispy and the herbs will have flavored the meat.

Enjoy.

Low Carb Breakfast

This is my version of a low carb Breakfast and is as follows:

8 oz. glass of Orange Juice or Orange/Pineapple Juice

2 Eggs scrambled in butter cooked in a frying pan. I use cast ironware for most all my frying.

1 slice of thin sliced chicken breast, coated with Salt, Pepper and Tyme. Cook in frying pan, should not need any oil for frying.

Plenty of strong coffee with milk and sugar if desired.

Enjoy Low Carb.

Let's Get Cookin'

I have always wanted to collect recipes and write them up in an organized fashion, so I thought I could do it in a blog. I actually have another blog, but that is of a more personal nature, so this one is about Cookin For Fun, hence the name.

I am semi-vegetarian in that most of the time I eat vegetarian, but not always, so you should be able to get some vegetarian or vegan ideas for my blog.

I hope many will visit this blog and help to make it a great success.