The many wonders of whole chickens
My local big supermarket has a meat section with a hashgacha that my rav said is fine.
They have big sales on chicken, especially whole chickens.
I got 2 whole chickens at 9.90 shekel a kilo, so got 3.5 kilos for 35 shekel, or 7.5 lbs for $8.75, for those thinking in dollars.
With those whole chickens, i did a bunch of things-
I cut up the legs and divided them into 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs, enough chicken for 2 shabboses for us. 4 wings. Not so much (maybe one serving or two), but when I added them to our stock of chicken wings in the freezer, it was more substantial. Cut off the chicken breast- 4 chicken breast pieces, each one being 2 or 3 shnitzels, or each one being enough for one stir fry. So thats enough chicken breast for 4 more meals.
Took the chicken carcasses and neck and put them in a pressure cooker with water and veggies and a little bit of vinegar to leach the calcium out and into the stock, and made chicken soup from that.
Took the chicken off the carcasses and am making a chicken pot pie with that.
And because I had put vinegar in the stock, the bones got really soft. Bones are full of lots of great stuff, namely calcium and iron. The two kinda counteract each other and inhibit absorbtion somewhat, but... The bones were so soft and edible that I was able to eat 75% of the bones of two chicken carcasses and necks, and even if only 20% of that was absorbed, it still was a TON of calcium and iron.
So, with those 2 chickens for 35 shekel, that was enough for how many dishes/courses (assuming one person is eating each course)?
20 servings of meat, 1 pot of chicken soup, and a whole bunch of edible bones. Not bad... Thats less than 2 shekel a serving of meat.
:-D
They have big sales on chicken, especially whole chickens.
I got 2 whole chickens at 9.90 shekel a kilo, so got 3.5 kilos for 35 shekel, or 7.5 lbs for $8.75, for those thinking in dollars.
With those whole chickens, i did a bunch of things-
I cut up the legs and divided them into 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs, enough chicken for 2 shabboses for us. 4 wings. Not so much (maybe one serving or two), but when I added them to our stock of chicken wings in the freezer, it was more substantial. Cut off the chicken breast- 4 chicken breast pieces, each one being 2 or 3 shnitzels, or each one being enough for one stir fry. So thats enough chicken breast for 4 more meals.
Took the chicken carcasses and neck and put them in a pressure cooker with water and veggies and a little bit of vinegar to leach the calcium out and into the stock, and made chicken soup from that.
Took the chicken off the carcasses and am making a chicken pot pie with that.
And because I had put vinegar in the stock, the bones got really soft. Bones are full of lots of great stuff, namely calcium and iron. The two kinda counteract each other and inhibit absorbtion somewhat, but... The bones were so soft and edible that I was able to eat 75% of the bones of two chicken carcasses and necks, and even if only 20% of that was absorbed, it still was a TON of calcium and iron.
So, with those 2 chickens for 35 shekel, that was enough for how many dishes/courses (assuming one person is eating each course)?
20 servings of meat, 1 pot of chicken soup, and a whole bunch of edible bones. Not bad... Thats less than 2 shekel a serving of meat.
:-D