Friday 28 July 2006

One Chook, Five Ways

Fancy cooking one chook and from there milk the chook right down to its bones? Yeah I did just that... can you imagine it? I roasted one chicken and got a lot of leftovers that I had to be creative to finish them up. I guess I must have bought a rather huge chook for the two and half of us!!!

I was browsing Ruth's blog when I came across her post of Perfect Roast Chicken. I read on and I was intrigued by the simplicity of the recipe and method of cooking she had adapted from Joy of Cooking, Neil Perry & Thomas Keller (does French Laundry ring a bell?). I also delved into the steps Thomas Keller had posted in Epicurious. Click here for the simple instructions.

Like Ruth, I did not use any butter or oil. I dried my chook as dry as possible with loads of kitchen towels plus I hung up my chook for a couple of hours with a tray beneath to catch the liquid dripping off it. Next, I merely rubbed the chook with sea salt and stuffed 2 bulbs of garlic in the cavity. Trussed the chook then stuffed into the oven. Voila... a really perfect roast of crispy skin but tender meat!

ruth's roast chick01

I was really amazed by its simplicity without any butter or oil rubbed on it, no herbs, no need to turn over the chook and best of all no need to even baste the chook!!! Woohoo and I got juicy meat and crispy skin as opposed to what was published in the latest copy of Flavours magazine where oil or butter is needed to prevent the chook from drying out!

My only issue is that whilst roasting there were so much oil dripped out onto the pan and they splattered all over my oven!!! It's really a tough job to clean the oven up as I have trouble reaching the nooks and corners plus those spots above the heating element. Anyone out there have tips to clean up a normal oven without self-cleansing function???

Anyway, on a separate tray, I've roasted some vegetables ie. pumpkin, onions, bell peppers (capsicum) and carrots. Just cut them up, sprinkle olive oil and sea salt all over in a baking tray. Place them inside the oven the same time as the chook but they need a shorter baking time though depending on the size of the vegetables.

We only managed to devoured the thighs, wings and part of the breast. With so much leftovers, I got a wee bit creative and came out with the various ways to finish them up.

First, the easiest was to come out with was a roast chicken with mayonnaise. All I did was chopped up the meat into tiny morsels, mix in some mayo and freshly ground black pepper. Once done, I topped up onto a bed of greens and some of those roasted vegetables and the roasted garlic too. Drizzled in some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I've also stuffed them into pita breads to make roast chicken mayo sandwich.

ruth's roast chick leftover mayo salad

ruth's roast chick leftover pita

I've also made another salad but this time I thinly sliced the breast and on the bed of greens, I've some fresh capsicums and cubed pears. A simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar completes this simple and refreshing salad.

ruth's roast chick leftover sliced salad

Four down and one more to go!!! The last one was a very unconventional and unimaginable way of using up a roast chicken leftovers. I made a chicken rice porridge with the bones of the chicken cavity!!! Devoid of meat after making the salads, I added the bones whilst cooking up the rice porridge which provided a very sweet and garlicky taste since I've stuffed some garlic in the cavity. When the porridge is almost done, I added in some shredded chicken meat and chopped salted duck eggs. Adjust seasoning of salt and white pepper. Topped up with more white pepper and a dash of sesame oil when serving to complete the porridge.

ruth's roast chick leftover porridge

So that was my story of one chook, five ways... hoped you had enjoyed it and thanks to Ruth for highlighting this wonderful recipe.

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15 comments:

  1. slurpssss.. why never invite me to makan???

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  2. Wow! Impressive. Can 'ta-fu-thau' to go shopping! :p

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  3. eh ky, if i invite you, habish makan d how to create so many dishes out of one chook leh? haha

    hoi hoi tummythoz, dun say like dat lah!! hahaha... but seriously the leftovers stretched me many meals, maybe a great way esp towards end of the month

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  4. Good way to use the chicken. I always leftover everytime I cook my chicken, maybe I try your way. Now is Butternut pumpkin season and it would be a good accompaniment for the chicken too. Butternut pumpkin is so expensive in Malaysia, isnt it. Remember paying a fortune a small piece in BSC, Bangsar but cost next to nothing here.

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  5. awww i never eaten butternut before hahaha really jakun :p but then how to buy when it's so expensive!

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  6. Love the new look! And want some of that delicious looking salad...can't believe that it's from leftovers. You did it again, Babe [kow tow]

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  7. *blushing* kittycat... i also learnt from other people leh

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  8. I remember paying more than RM10 for a small slice of butternut pumpkin in BSC. I paid less than AU$2.00 for 1/2 of a small butternut pumpkin here. Butternut pumpkin shapes like a guitar with a lighter orange colour than the normal pumpkin.

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  9. yeah flower its really expensive but very attempted to buy one to try. btw, yr kids very da comel lah

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  10. babe


    wil be trying these recipes of yours this sunday!


    BTW, did you do all of them in one day, or you kept the leftovers in the fridge?

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  11. chocolalat, lemme know how it went ok. leftovers of course kept in the fridge and consumed ASAP heh

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  12. Babe

    this recipe works!!

    chicken was nicely browned, skin was cripsy all around and good taste also! i used sea salt + black pepper though, coz i love the smell of black pepper on roasted chicks!

    I did have to sacrifice a lot of scotts kitchen towels to keep this chick dry though...:P


    today, will be finishing off the other laf of the chick...making roast chick sandwich...

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  13. Usually do this. Can buy a small roast chicken in the U.S. military commissaries here on Okinawa. Very popular item back in the U.S. Get a whole roast chicken for about $6 to $7. First night is dinner of sliced chicken with rice and brown gravy.

    Next day is a salad for lunches of baby spinach, sliced round onion, sliced tomatoes or cherry tomates, topped with pieces of chicken. With favorite dressing of course.

    Finally I make jook with the carcass bones in a slow cooker.

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  14. Should have added further stuff. Am a Chinese-American born and raised in Hawaii. From Many foods of yours are similar to what I grew up with.

    About the jook, since am Cantonese, learned from my mother that way. She made jook with the turkey carcass from the American Thanksgiving turkey and most special was jook made with parts of a whole roasted pig from bai san (Ching Ming) time. Either the head or feet made excellent flavored jook.

    That's how I started to make jook with the roasted chicken carcass.

    Another thing my mother taught me was to use ham ha (shrimp paste) when making fried rice. Gives a smell to the house, but it's so tasty!

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  15. hi there okihwn, i learnt from mom too in using roasted pig bones to make jook. very tasty!

    the ham ha jeung can be used to steam pork strips with some sliced fresh red chillies. very very appetising!!

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Blog Revamping

Hello... I'm in the midst of revamping my blog to make my life a little easier. So do not be alarmed as work is still under construction.

Cheers,
Babe_KL
16 Oct 2012