Last Night's Dinner
Last night, Christina could have been called "the Drunk Chef." Or, you know, Christina.
So, around 5:30, I start making my mother's stuffing recipe:
1 package Pepperidge Farm stuffing
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 stick butter
1 roll reduced fat sausage
1 1/2 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped prunes
Cook celery and onions, then add sausage. Separately, cook stuffing according to directions. Mix the two pans, then add prunes.
Since I couldn't find reduced fat sausage, I used 2 3/4 cups chicken broth and cut the butter. I managed to forget the very important direction of "wait for the stuffing to cool" and starting stuffing the 7 pound bird I picked up from the grocery store on Friday (horrendous experience, to be chronicled a little later). The bag said no more than 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound of bird, but I took it easy and only stuffed in about 4 cups worth since I was burning my fingers to iddy, biddy bits. I brushed the bird with melted butter and stuck it in the oven at 450* for 20 minutes and then at 375* until about 10 minutes after I saw the thermometer had popped out of the bird. I realized almost immediately that I couldn't actually access the juices from the bird to baste it with. kittenlid suggested chicken broth with brown sugar, salt and pepper. I had a bunch leftover from the stuffing, so that's exactly what I used. I used all the broth that was left, which was probably too much and didn't get any of the pan juices. I basted about two basters worth every 20 minutes.
In between bastings, I was definitely drinking some pinot griggio and eating all the leftover stuffing. By the way, Barefoot wines do not suck. I've had both their cab and their pinot and they're about $6 a bottle and yeah. They don't suck.
While the chicken cooled, I stuck the stuffing in the oven to cook for about 15 minutes (less than the package said, but it had been sitting, covered, on the counter and was piping hot when I put it in there, so I figured it had cooked some on its own.
Carved the chicken (my favoritest thing to do when I can carve properly - please note that this is not after having 3 glasses of pinot griggio), stuck all of the leftover chicken bits into tupperware, to be used later for crockpot goodness and decided to make chicken stock. I dunno, maybe it was the wine.
So, I threw the chicken carcass, the remaining celery, a handful of carrot sticks and a peeled onion into a pot and covered it with water, then threw in a little salt & pepper. Got it boiling and then lowered the heat to simmering. Left it to simmer, covered (a big no no), for about 4 hours. I ended up with 2 1-cup containers, 3 2-cup containers and 1 4-cup container of stock, with at least a cup or two leftover that I poured down the sink before tossing the carcass and veggies. And now it shall all live in my freezer until I want to cook with it.
The best part? OH MY GOODNESS, THIS CHICKEN IS FANTASTIC. Like, the best thing ever. I want to date this chicken.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with 12 cups of chicken stock.
So, around 5:30, I start making my mother's stuffing recipe:
1 package Pepperidge Farm stuffing
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 stick butter
1 roll reduced fat sausage
1 1/2 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped prunes
Cook celery and onions, then add sausage. Separately, cook stuffing according to directions. Mix the two pans, then add prunes.
Since I couldn't find reduced fat sausage, I used 2 3/4 cups chicken broth and cut the butter. I managed to forget the very important direction of "wait for the stuffing to cool" and starting stuffing the 7 pound bird I picked up from the grocery store on Friday (horrendous experience, to be chronicled a little later). The bag said no more than 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound of bird, but I took it easy and only stuffed in about 4 cups worth since I was burning my fingers to iddy, biddy bits. I brushed the bird with melted butter and stuck it in the oven at 450* for 20 minutes and then at 375* until about 10 minutes after I saw the thermometer had popped out of the bird. I realized almost immediately that I couldn't actually access the juices from the bird to baste it with. kittenlid suggested chicken broth with brown sugar, salt and pepper. I had a bunch leftover from the stuffing, so that's exactly what I used. I used all the broth that was left, which was probably too much and didn't get any of the pan juices. I basted about two basters worth every 20 minutes.
In between bastings, I was definitely drinking some pinot griggio and eating all the leftover stuffing. By the way, Barefoot wines do not suck. I've had both their cab and their pinot and they're about $6 a bottle and yeah. They don't suck.
While the chicken cooled, I stuck the stuffing in the oven to cook for about 15 minutes (less than the package said, but it had been sitting, covered, on the counter and was piping hot when I put it in there, so I figured it had cooked some on its own.
Carved the chicken (my favoritest thing to do when I can carve properly - please note that this is not after having 3 glasses of pinot griggio), stuck all of the leftover chicken bits into tupperware, to be used later for crockpot goodness and decided to make chicken stock. I dunno, maybe it was the wine.
So, I threw the chicken carcass, the remaining celery, a handful of carrot sticks and a peeled onion into a pot and covered it with water, then threw in a little salt & pepper. Got it boiling and then lowered the heat to simmering. Left it to simmer, covered (a big no no), for about 4 hours. I ended up with 2 1-cup containers, 3 2-cup containers and 1 4-cup container of stock, with at least a cup or two leftover that I poured down the sink before tossing the carcass and veggies. And now it shall all live in my freezer until I want to cook with it.
The best part? OH MY GOODNESS, THIS CHICKEN IS FANTASTIC. Like, the best thing ever. I want to date this chicken.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with 12 cups of chicken stock.