Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Buy the Chicken

If you are like me, you've looked at those roasted birds at the store and contemplated throwing them in your cart. For whatever reason, I always resisted. Since I began cooking for one, the individual birds have been the greatest purchase in my cart.

I pick it. (get about three meals worth)

I then put it into the crockpot on low for the day and gain about 10 cups of broth.

So three meals, about $2 a meal.
10 cups of broth, about $7 of boxed broth.

So I save $3 and a lot of time! And my broth is better than the box. And that chicken is damn good!

Here is my broth recipe:
one small onion
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
sprig of sage
sprig of thyme
dried herbs
salt
pepper

Chop the vegetables in larger pieces, so they strain easily. Cover with water, about 10 cups.

Last night I took the chicken and made a curry simmer. I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com.

In the recipe, it calls for uncooked chicken. The roasted chicken got so tender and good, and I simmered it for about 20 minutes. Here is the recipe the way I used it, sans chicken. It made 2 servings.

1 onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 itty bitty bay leaf
1 cloves crushed garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pinch salt
1 T cup olive oil
water to cover
DIRECTIONS
Fry the onions in olive oil until browned. Add the cinnamon and the bay leaf. Continue stirring and add the ginger, paprika, curry powder, sugar, salt, and garlic. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Mixture will become much like a paste.
Add chicken pieces and tomato. Add enough water to just cover the chicken. Simmer until chicken is done, about 20 minutes.

I ate this chicken with brown rice, cooked in lime juice and water, and tossed with chopped cilantro.

1 comment:

What's Cookin Chicago said...

I love buying a large piece of meat or chicken... and using it for several meals. It definitely makes me feel like it was money well spent! Great recipe choices too!