To ask what you can do with a chicken?

[KenAdams]

I've heard MNers can do wonderful things with a chicken

Is it roast dinner, curry, stock or do you all actually have amazing ways of feeding 18 people for 12 days with a single chicken?

[Tee2072]

Yes

[LittleprincessinGOLDrocks]

I would say 3 days limit on cooked chicken in the fridge, am I over cautious?

[cantspel]

One large chicken = one diner for 5

I dont know how anyone would have enough left over to make another meal unless you only have a small slice each per meal.

I might use the carcass for stock if i am making soup but otherwise it goes out for the birds.

[revealall]

I buy a medium chicken (all I can afford). I cut off the thighs, legs and wings to make spanish chicken ( a small chunk of chorizo which I cut up with onion and potatoes. Then grate an orange over it). This is enough for my Ds, his friend and me.

I cook one breast in the oven with it to use in DS's packed lunch (half) and I have the other half with salad

I use the last breast the next day with vegetables and either turn into fajitas, chicken pittas or chicken stir fry.

Boil the carcass and use to make risotto (just mixed with grated lemon and peas )

[raisah]

Fat Free Curry Sauce

Fry 1 large onion with garlic & ginger (quantity upto you) & salt in 2/3 tbsp oil

When softened add 1 heapes tsp of curry, cumin, coriander, chilli powders. Then add a small tsp of garam masala & turmeric powders. Fry it for about 10 mins to cook the spices (add a bit of water to loosen the mix).

Add a couple of chopped tomatoes or tomato paste if
you want & cook for 10 mins.

Add your cooked or raw chicken & cook until heated through if precooked or no longer pink if raw.

Add enough water to cover the chicken & to make a sauce. Give it a stir through & cook for a further 5 minutes.

If you want a thick sauce add a few tsps of gravy powder to some hot water and add it to the curry.

• Alternatively add a can of Waitrose own brand ratatouille (this is the only one which works) to the chicken and it makes it lovely & thick.
  
  Or add the whole lot to a slow cooker and add a glass & a half of water and cook it on low for 6 hours. Perfect curry for when you get home.

[Ashoething]

You all must have the appetite of birds! I could easily eat a whole chicken just to myself and I always make sure I eat all the meat at the bottom-its lovely and greasy!

I have made chicken stock a couple of times using a carcass and it was minging

[raisah]

If the sauce is too spicy then add a few tablespoons of natural yoghurt to tone it down.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves & lemin wedges. Optional.

[Latara]

I have never cooked a chicken in my life! So I would give it to someone else to cook for me (they could have a chicken leg or something as 'payment') hehe :)

[apatchylass]

Roast it first. When you serve it, separate thighs, drumsticks, wings and breast, so everyone gets some meat on the bone and some breast.

Next day strip chicken for the rest of the breast, chunks of meat near the bone and from underneath. Use these in a chicken salad, curry, risotto or pie. Then boil the carcass and use the stock to make chicken noodle soup with sweetcorn, peas, spring onions etc. Three family dinners for £3.33, if you buy them on the 3 for £10 meat deals at supermarkets.

[HouseAtreides]

I find chicken stock cubes have a really strong artificial MSG- ish flavour to them. I tend to use veg stock cubes for everything. DH did make proper chicken stock a few months ago which we are using up from the freezer- it has a much nicer flavour than chicken stock cubes.
In summer we have roast chicken with chips, salad and salad cream :) Both DH and I used to have this as a 'treat' meal when we were kids. When the chicken's cooled down I strip it completely to the bone (the dog gets all the flopply-dopplies), all that dismemberment and cracking open makes me feel like this

[dayshiftdoris]

Please please can someone post up their Chicken Noodle soup recipe please

[marzipanned]

Ashoething WHAT? Homemade stock a billion times better than a cube. Not even comparable.

Chicken noodle soup - I make a stock with the carcass and some carrots, celery, any other old bits of veg and herbs I have to hand (rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, etc) and plenty of salt (you do need a lot. But a stock cube is basically salt anyway)

After about 3 hours, sieve the stock - the clear soup is the base of your soup. At this stage I can usually get a bit more meat off the chicken, so add that as well as chicken already stripped before the stock making.

Then you can cook whatever you want right in the stock. So, noodles, sweetcorn, peas... whatever you like in your chicken noodle soup!

[marzipanned]

Oh and the BEST meat on the chicken is on the underside - there are two small strips, one on each side, think they're called the oysters?!! It's like the best bit of the leg, only better.

[Ezio]

Cola chicken? what about trying that.

Cola Chicken

[marriedinwhiteagain]

Medium chicken - two adults, two teenagers does one main meal and perhaps my lunch with a bit of salad the next day. Carcass goes in the bin here. Now if you want to talk turkey:

Xmas roast for six, cold meat for 6 to 8, turkey pie for 5. Oodles of stock for oodles of soups. Although it takes a gammon joint too. Don't buy a very big turkey but usually can slip into supermarket at 4ish and buy one for less than a fiver - have never relied on that for xmas dinner but it slips nicely into the freezer for easter.

[Latara]

Some of these recipes are making me hungry for chicken!

[valiumredhead]

Ah yes, the mythical MN chicken that feeds the five thousand

[PearlyWhites]

Thanks Louis , will give it a go it sounds delicious.

[QuickQuickSloe]

Really porto, not everyone has a helmet and a suckling pig in their pantry. We're not all Nigella you know!

[Portofino]

I am determined to recreate that at some point before I die though

[Portofino]

Quick - your comment might have to be my nomination for quote of the week though....

[freemanbatch]

I roast the chicken and we eat what we want with roast potatoes and lots of veg for a roast dinner. When its cold I strip everything I can from it and bag it up and freeze it in portions required to make chicken and mushroom pie and chicken and leek pasta bake for one adult and 2 kids and then I boil the carcass before letting it cool and stripping anything else I can from it before adding any left over veg from the dinner and whatever else I have around to make a soup with we have for lunch the next day.

I probably get 5 meals for 3 from one chicken

[Sushiqueen]

Chicken lasagne is our favourite meal from the leftovers. Then I can freeze portions of that for more meals