The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Recipes => Topic started by: Stereo on December 18, 2015, 05:48:59 pm
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We raise our traditional breed chickens and the cockerels go in the freezer. It's a lot of work to process the whole bird so I have found that it's easier to skin them and take off the breast meat and legs / thighs. If I do process them and roast the whole bird in the normal way, the leg meat is often not edible. I have been told to slow cook them but was wondering if anyone had any good slow casserole type recipes or tips to deal with this meat. I fancy just chucking it in on the bone. We have an Esse wood fired range and the bottom oven is not that hot. Possible to use that?
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We ate our first cockerel last week, so I can't offer loads of experience on the matter, but this one was delicious.
The bird was over 6 months and totally free range.
I looked up 'coq au vin' recipes online and adapted that concept of a slow cooked pot roast with liquid a bit to suit what I had to hand on the day. I just cooked the bird whole.
Basically I sizzled up some thick strips of bacon, added the whole bird to the fat to brown on all sides, added white wine, honey, spices (thyme, cumin and bayleaf) and some carrots, put foil under the lid for an extra seal and put it in a lowish oven (180C I think) for about two hours. If your range cooker is not as hot I would just leave it cooking for longer.
I checked twice to make sure there was still enough liquid in there (you definitely want a couple of cm of liquid in there at all times, probably more to start with, if the sauce is too thin at the end you can boil it down a bit, but I didn't have to).
Let it rest for a while before cutting it up - it practically just fell apart into portions by itself. The leg meat was very dark but delicious, neither tough nor dry. We got 3 meals for two out of it.
Can't wait to do the next one now!
:yum:
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How about slow cooked tarragon chicken? Soften onions and mushrooms, add chicken thighs, some white wine, or cider or just water, tarragon and seasoning. Cook in bottom one of Esse for at least 2 hours, possibly longer, it won't come to,any harm if left longer as long as it doesn't dry out ( I find things don't dry out in the Aga so guess Esse will be the same). When ready to serve you could add some cream, creme fraiche to,the sauce, and have with either potatoes and green veg or with pasta or rice.
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Thanks for the ideas. Deffo needs slower cooking and maybe more liquid I guess. Might try a couple legs / thighs in a casserole as suggested. We did do this once and they came out really well, I think it was a black bean sauce or something so that is the key. I also free range mine to about 6 months and I think that does make the legs a little tougher so you can't use the same methods as with a supermarket bird.
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I have seen them done as charcutery air dried on the bone end to form a drumstick or just mince them and add a little pork fat and sage with some salt and white pepper seasoning for chicken sausages.
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Definitely having chicken for dinner now :excited:
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Took 4 legs / thighs out of the freezer last week. 2 of them we separated as we had found a recipe for chipotle chicken on the sainsburies site.
http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/find-recipes/recipes/breads-lunchbox-and-savoury-snacks/chicken-chipotle-tortillas-with-philadelphia?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=zb7BYp3puBAHL%2F9W6cKs6Z25LK1qsu%2BE9i3lOtoh67Oh3jLnEcNlfGQsZCvkKklOlWSgzGtvoYyj%0ATNWGEXm%2FbraTl3OgWO6dOPj8RO8r2weMFvQDROUDtlUTSw4%2BhTZQ&ddkey=http:gb/groceries/find-recipes/recipes/breads-lunchbox-and-savoury-snacks/chicken-chipotle-tortillas-with-philadelphia (http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/find-recipes/recipes/breads-lunchbox-and-savoury-snacks/chicken-chipotle-tortillas-with-philadelphia?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=zb7BYp3puBAHL%2F9W6cKs6Z25LK1qsu%2BE9i3lOtoh67Oh3jLnEcNlfGQsZCvkKklOlWSgzGtvoYyj%0ATNWGEXm%2FbraTl3OgWO6dOPj8RO8r2weMFvQDROUDtlUTSw4%2BhTZQ&ddkey=http:gb/groceries/find-recipes/recipes/breads-lunchbox-and-savoury-snacks/chicken-chipotle-tortillas-with-philadelphia)
I didn't have much faith as I though frying the meat would still make it rubbery but actually it was superb. It was a little tough but not really. Kind of like the texture of beef. We found that cutting the meat up into very small chunks made a fantastic meal. Personally didn't do the Phili but did tacos with various dips, cheese and salad etc. 2 Marans legs and things did a meal for 2, supper for me and lunch for me today in wraps.
I would recommend this to anyone who like enchilada type flavours.
The other 2 legs are going to be slow roasted tomorrow, probably in wine and a few other bits as recommended above. Got 4 boys to go in the freezer next week and plan the sausage idea for them.