How to Cut Up A Whole Chicken

I like buying whole chickens for several reasons. They're usually cheaper per pound than trimmed chicken pieces. I've gotten leg quarters or half breasts with skin and bone for cheaper, but have you noticed they usually have big chunks of skin tucked underneath? I'm not sure how much weight that actually adds, but it feels sneaky to me. I think the thing that I like the most about this is that I can get the most possible use out of the whole chicken. The only thing I don't know what to do with is the skin. Any ideas?

There you have it! With some practice, we might be as fast as Yan someday!

A few notes:

• Save those giblets! If you aren't a giblet gravy person, your cat or dog will love you for them. I like to cut them up into treat sizes and flash freeze on a tray with wax or parchment paper. I have also heard that chicken liver makes good fish bait.
• Sorry about the pic for separating the leg quarter into drumstick and thigh. I somehow missed that one! You can see the line of fat in the picture I used for now. I'll update this post the next time I cut up a chicken.
• A post on making chicken stock with the lovely chicken carcass is forthcoming. :)

Please share your favorite ways to prepare chicken! Do you have any special tricks to make it extra delicious?

Chicken + Ham = Chickham?

My favorite fella likes to tease me about how specific my food cravings can be sometimes. But I use it to my advantage when it comes to meal planning! When the billboard for the new Wendy's pretzel burger was making my mouth water, I got some pretzel buns and made my own! (Not to mention, taking the time to make extra burger patties to freeze for easier prep next time.)

Anyway, I've been craving colcannon for the past couple of weeks. It's an Irish dish I discovered a few years back that boils down to (ha! I'm keeping that!) mashed potatoes with shredded cabbage. It goes really well with salty, cured meats like ham, bacon and corned beef (mmmmm). 

However, I'm not buying a lot of those pricier meats until I get my credit cards paid off. Time for some creative internet searching...

Enter torihamu!

Thank you, Japan!

I took my first crack at it, and it's quite good! This article at JustBento.com explains the process much more thoroughly, but, basically, you brine the chicken breasts in a mix of honey and salt in the refrigerator for two days. You can also add seasonings of your choice (I used a bit of garlic and clove to make it more ham-ish.) Then you rinse it really well, and steam or bake it at a low temperature. I went with baking, since the author of the article liked it best and seemed to know what she* was talking about. 

It ends up with a texture very like country ham! It got a big stamp of approval from my guy, so I can definitely see this being repeated, and it complimented the colcannon nicely!

 

 

Maybe this blog will force me to learn how to take nice photos someday

P. S. I made colcannon with red cabbage, since someone nabbed the entire crate of green while I was wandering the produce section. It tastes the same, and looks like purple Easter grass! Kinda fun. :)

*Please correct my pronoun if need be, maki!