Chicken Recipes

Appetizers & Soups Recipes  |  Midweek Meal Recipes  |  One Pot Meal Recipes Salads & Barbecues  |  Pastries & Pies Recipes  |  Hot & Spicy Recipes

Choosing a Chicken  |  Chicken Parts  |  Trussing Chicken  |  Roasting Chicken  |  Cutting Up Chicken
Boning a Chicken  |  Butterflying Chicken  |  Making Chicken Stock  |  Making Chicken Sautes
Poaching, Casseroling & Braising Chicken  |  Chicken Stuffings

Poaching, Casseroling & Braising Chicken

SIMPLE CHICKEN STOCK
This all-purpose chicken stock may be used as the basis for a wonderful homemade soup.

1. Put the giblets (the neck, gizzard and heart, but not the liver, as it makes stock bitter), or the carcass from a cooked chicken, into a pan and just cover with cold water.

2. Add a quartered onion, carrot, bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme and parsley) and a few peppercorns. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer gently for 1-2 hours.

3. Remove any scum that rises to the surface with a large slotted spoon. Alternatively, make the stock when you cook the chicken, by putting the giblets in the roasting pan around the chicken with the onion and herbs and just enough water to keep them from burning.

4. When the stock has cooled and set, carefully remove the fat from the surface with a spoon. Add salt to taste when using the stock.

POACHING
Poaching is a very gentle cooking method and produces stock for making a sauce afterwards.

1. Put the chicken into a flame proof casserole with a bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme and parsley), carrot and onion.

2. Cover with water and add salt and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 1½ hours, or until tender.

3. Cool in the liquid or lift out, shred, and combine with a white sauce.

BRAISING
This method can be used for whole chickens and pieces and is ideal for strongly-flavored meat.

1. Heat olive oil in a flameproof I casserole and lightly fry a chicken or pieces until golden.

2. Remove the chicken and stir- fry 1 pound of diced vegetables (carrots, onions, celery and turnips), until soft.

3. Replace the chicken, cover tightly, and cook very slowly on the stovetop or in a preheated oven at 325°F, until tender.

CASSEROLING
This slow-cooking method is good for large chicken joints with bones, or more mature meat.

1. Heat olive oil in a flameproof I casserole and brown the chicken joints.

2. Add some stock, wine or a mixture of both to a depth of 1 inch. Add seasonings and herbs, cover, and cook on the stovetop or in the oven, as for braising, for 1 - 1½ hours, or until tender.

3. Add a selection of lightly stir-fried vegetables such as baby onions, mushrooms, carrots and small new potatoes about halfway through the cooking time.