This is a meal kind of inspired by a dish my Pops did while he was up here a couple of weeks, helping take care of my crippled ass. My mom, who was here the week prior cooked a lot, and there were leftovers galore. Among the leftovers was half a roasted chicken. Well, chicken is chicken, it can be a boring, blah thing, or it can be elevated into something better than the sum of its' parts. This is one of those cases.
Last Friday, I did a roast bird,sorry no thread on it, I had a little calamity midway through involving knocking my pan of simmering jus with all the roasted neck bones, giblets, kidney, heart, and mirepoix all over me, my stove, my floor, everywhere . . .as a Chef, it was REALLY embarrassing. As a guy with a cane and a walker, maybe I was being a little ambitious. . .either way, the BIRD was fine, GREAT even, and the pan drippings/fond salvaged enough to make a very nice pan sauce, the leftovers of which made it into the recipe to follow.
AND ON TO THE DISH:
What you will need:
Half a roast chicken, any left over chicken, pulled/shredded. You could JUST as easily buy yourself some boneless skinless chicken thighs to brown off then simmer in the sauce, or and chicken part that you prefer. . . breast meat alone, even stewed in sauce will still get dry on ya though. 1 Half Onion, finely diced. 5 Cloves garlic, finely Minced, 1 bag of either Frozen Little Peas, or English peas. Butter, AND OK SUE ME. . . I USED A PREFAB CANNED SAUCE! DEAL WITH IT. Though, if you wanted to make Vodka sauce, it's simply sauteed onion, canned diced tomatoes(pureed), reduced vodka, cream and finished with butter, big whoop).I opted for the FAR more convenient, and surprisingly tasty Bertolli Brand Vodka Sauce.
You can do this dish over Rice, Pasta, Gnocchi, hell. .. you could do it over a big slab of toasted bread, what you do with it, is up to you, it's cooking, not rocket science. This is a recipe/suggestion, not a blueprint.
As with most meals I like, A nice bread to go with the meal is a nice bonus, but not mandatory. For this, it was a simple demi loaf of French Bread.
COOKING VESSEL: I use my "Go to", "One Size Fits All" large sauté pan.
PREP:
Chicken:Pull the chicken, the more meat, the merrier. Mix the dark, and the white, it's fine. leave it kind of coarse, and rustic. It doesn't need to be perfect, but don't shred it into little, tiny, cat food like pieces. The wings, you can leave whole, and just throw 'em in there, but I wouldn't serve 'em, just have them as a Scooby Snack.
The pulled, and reserved chicken, season a little with salt, fresh cracked pepper, a little dried basil, thyme, oregano.
Skins:**IMPORTANT** For the Skin, Try to remove it in as large a pieces as you can, Normally, the whole underside will come off in one piece, as will the skin of the breast section. In the pan you are going to use for the dish, BROWN THE SKIN OVER MEDIUM HEAT. Once the fat starts to really render, keep an eye on it. It can go from beautiful, to burnt quickly! Once the skins are golden and crisp, remove form pan and simply drain on paper towels, and allow to cool.
Onion
ice your onion. Don't leave it too big either, you want it to kind of melt, and get lost into the sauce.
Chicken Stock: If you have pan gravy, or stock from your bird, use it. I used my leftover, fat and all, just heated it up and had it reduced a little more to add more depth of flavor to the finished meal.
READY TO GO!
Bird, pulled and seasoned:
Skins, crispy, and resting:
Stock, just getting on the heat(it will heat and become clear and smell amazing):
Onion, diced
Sauce, ready, LOL
Last Friday, I did a roast bird,sorry no thread on it, I had a little calamity midway through involving knocking my pan of simmering jus with all the roasted neck bones, giblets, kidney, heart, and mirepoix all over me, my stove, my floor, everywhere . . .as a Chef, it was REALLY embarrassing. As a guy with a cane and a walker, maybe I was being a little ambitious. . .either way, the BIRD was fine, GREAT even, and the pan drippings/fond salvaged enough to make a very nice pan sauce, the leftovers of which made it into the recipe to follow.
AND ON TO THE DISH:
What you will need:
Half a roast chicken, any left over chicken, pulled/shredded. You could JUST as easily buy yourself some boneless skinless chicken thighs to brown off then simmer in the sauce, or and chicken part that you prefer. . . breast meat alone, even stewed in sauce will still get dry on ya though. 1 Half Onion, finely diced. 5 Cloves garlic, finely Minced, 1 bag of either Frozen Little Peas, or English peas. Butter, AND OK SUE ME. . . I USED A PREFAB CANNED SAUCE! DEAL WITH IT. Though, if you wanted to make Vodka sauce, it's simply sauteed onion, canned diced tomatoes(pureed), reduced vodka, cream and finished with butter, big whoop).I opted for the FAR more convenient, and surprisingly tasty Bertolli Brand Vodka Sauce.
You can do this dish over Rice, Pasta, Gnocchi, hell. .. you could do it over a big slab of toasted bread, what you do with it, is up to you, it's cooking, not rocket science. This is a recipe/suggestion, not a blueprint.
As with most meals I like, A nice bread to go with the meal is a nice bonus, but not mandatory. For this, it was a simple demi loaf of French Bread.
COOKING VESSEL: I use my "Go to", "One Size Fits All" large sauté pan.
PREP:
Chicken:Pull the chicken, the more meat, the merrier. Mix the dark, and the white, it's fine. leave it kind of coarse, and rustic. It doesn't need to be perfect, but don't shred it into little, tiny, cat food like pieces. The wings, you can leave whole, and just throw 'em in there, but I wouldn't serve 'em, just have them as a Scooby Snack.
The pulled, and reserved chicken, season a little with salt, fresh cracked pepper, a little dried basil, thyme, oregano.
Skins:**IMPORTANT** For the Skin, Try to remove it in as large a pieces as you can, Normally, the whole underside will come off in one piece, as will the skin of the breast section. In the pan you are going to use for the dish, BROWN THE SKIN OVER MEDIUM HEAT. Once the fat starts to really render, keep an eye on it. It can go from beautiful, to burnt quickly! Once the skins are golden and crisp, remove form pan and simply drain on paper towels, and allow to cool.
Onion
ice your onion. Don't leave it too big either, you want it to kind of melt, and get lost into the sauce.Chicken Stock: If you have pan gravy, or stock from your bird, use it. I used my leftover, fat and all, just heated it up and had it reduced a little more to add more depth of flavor to the finished meal.
READY TO GO!
Bird, pulled and seasoned:
Skins, crispy, and resting:
Stock, just getting on the heat(it will heat and become clear and smell amazing):
Onion, diced
Sauce, ready, LOL
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