Tuesday, November 19, 2013

My Love of the Rotisserie Chicken

I love the rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. There, I said it. I love the several functions it serves and the awesome feeling I have as a provider of deliciousness I get to serve to my family as a result of said amazing bird. That was a lot to say. Below is why I love these birds I hope you take advantage of these very soon!

First and foremost I get not 1 not 2 but 3 yes you read correctly 3 full meals out of one already cooked for you bird from your local grocery store! I will list the 3 recipes I used this week below.  Also, I have found that Costco or Sams club give you a much bigger bird that makes these 3 recipes easier to pull off. If you are shopping at a store that offers a smaller bird be safe and get 2, you will still be paying tons less and you will have 1/2 the work in preparing all of these meals! I must say though I have pulled off all 3 with an average sized bird I compensated a little and I mean little with extra veggies but it was still done and enjoyed by all!

 I hope that you enjoy them. It took me about 1.5 hours to make the first 2. The stock takes about 5 hours total, then to make the soup about another 45 minutes tops.


Chicken and Cheddar Souffle on the Food Network

I love Giada and I love her recipes they are good, easy to make and very crowd pleasing. I Hope to one day look like her as well because man she is a beautiful woman...who can cook! Lordy!


http://www.food.com/recipe/loaded-baked-potato-chicken-casserole-505862

This was a pinterest find. I cook a ton from the recipes I find on pinterest.  This one is great without the chicken as well.

The recipe below is what I have scratched together from the catacombs of my brain. I am very much a throw it in a pot and see if it tastes good kind of cook. I fail A LOT but when I do good I do pretty well! 


Noodle of Chicken Soup

2tbs Olive Oil
2-3 Cloves Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
3-4 Good Sized Carrots
3-4 Stalks of Celery
1 Small Onion
2c Cooked Chicken
2c Egg Noodles
Homemade Chicken Stock to cover Veggies and Chicken

Start with a hot pan and cold oil. Sweat the onion in the olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the onion is approaching clear. Then add the carrot and celery. Sweat all three adding salt and pepper to taste. Then add the garlic and the chicken mixing with the other veggies. Let these mingle and sweat together for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally then add your homemade chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, then give it a taste. Add salt and pepper, I sometimes add a little celery salt at this point. Then put it over low heat and let it be for about 20 minutes. You could throw the noodles in now and enjoy it right away. I like to let the flavors intermingle and get to know one another. Then after at least 20 minutes, add your egg noodles. You can absolutely use any noodles I just prefer egg noodles.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Without a doubt the easiest most valuable thing I have ever learned by working in a professional kitchen. This is one of those comfort things for me. I love the smell of stock on the stove. It takes me back to my more recent days as a server when I was working at The Hummingbird Room in Mill Hall, PA. Chef Eric Sarnow and his wife, also a chef, Claudia Sarnow really took the time to teach me how to never let anything go to waste. This was one of their tricks.

Take all the meat off the chicken. Then raid your veggie drawer! Use those carrots that are starting to get soft, the peels from your onions, the spinach you used half of to make the soufflee, the peels from your garlic bulb, the stems from the celery you cut up. Throw all of that and EVERYTHING left over from your chicken in a pot. I mean everything, skin, bones, anything and everything left over nothing is really off limits here I have used all sorts of stuff! Then cover that with water. Put this on the stove over low heat and just leave it for about 3-4 hours at least. I leave mine on a very long time. Then turn it off and let it cool completely. After it is cool strain the stock into the container you are going to store it in. Absolutely delicious and homemade! LOVE IT!!

So here is my final little celebration over the pre-made so you don't have to cook it, rotisserie chicken. Have you ever noticed how much a chicken is? I ask you the next time you are at the store check out your poultry aisle and check it out. Then go look at the already “rotisseried” chickens. The fact is this is one of those things that grocery stores take a huge hit on to get you into the store! They actually loose a ton of money on these birds because they hope that you will buy more from their store. So you have that going for you as well.

Good luck with our feathered friend!

Be Well!






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