Since my last post on the
crockpot roast chicken, I have adapted my technique a bit. Check it out, complete with new pictures.
To start, I stack the whole chicken on top of some veggies. Onions are my favorite, but carrots are good, too. Potatoes and celery also fit the bill.
I season the chicken with salt, pepper, and whatever other flavors I am in the mood for. This one was paprika. I cook it on low for about 8 hours. Once it is done, I now crisp up the skin. To do that, I place it on a roasting rack and broil it in the oven for a few minutes.
That is it! Easy and it tastes great. Now, I like to stretch out a chicken as much as possible. The first night, we eat the legs (most recently, with onions and
hyssop salad).
Then, I save the breasts for something else. I usually use it on
salads or in
leftover cooking.
Now, I put the bones, skin that wasn't eaten, and other scraps into the crockpot with all the veggie scraps I have saved in the freezer for this very occasion.
I fill it with water and apple cider vinegar and let it soak. It is said that doing this extra step helps the nutrients in the bones become more available. I'm not sure if it is true, but I figure it can't hurt. After it has soaked for a while, I cook it on high for a long time (usually until I have time to strain it).
Once it is cooked, I pour it through a mesh strainer into a big bowl and stick it in the fridge. If a thick layer of fat forms, I skim it off. Not because I don't want it, but because I can then cook with it. Free cooking fat!!
I typically end up with more than a half gallon of stock!
All in all, I get a dinner for 2 the first night, a dinner for 2 and lunch for 2 with the breasts, lunch or dinner for 2 with the scraps, cooking fat for a meal or two, and broth for a while! Not too bad for one chicken, huh!
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