Roasted Chicken-Part II

In addition to roasted chicken being a fabulous one evening meal, I see roasted chicken as the meal that keeps on feeding! Once we are done eating supper, I put the pan juices (from the roasting pan), the entire leftover chicken, and enough water to cover the chicken in a large stock (soup) pot. I don't bother taking the chicken off the bone or anything. I simply throw the whole thing in. I turn the heat up to high on the stove until the water is boiling, then I turn down the heat and let it simmer for awhile (pretty much until I feel like dealing with it--sometimes as little as 30 minutes, sometimes a couple of hours).

Once my energy is back (after fixing supper and getting one or two kids into bed) or when I am doing something mindless like watching tv and I am distracted by the fact that is 9:00 and I am still working, I take the chicken out of the pot. I usually put it on a large cutting board and get two medium size bowls to help me work. Using a couple of forks (or just my fingers after it is cool enough), I take the chicken off the bones. If you've cooked the chicken long enough, this is easy work, it basically falls right off. I am picky about my chicken--I don't like non-meat parts like tendons or the like, so I make sure I just get meat. (That's one huge advantage of taking the chicken off the bone yourself, you control what meat you keep). Once I'm done, the leftover chicken goes in freezer containers for a later date, making a recipe that calls for cooked chicken a snap!

Then I deal with the leftover water in the pot which has become a rich chicken broth. I use a sieve to strain the broth (again, leaving skin and non-broth matter out). The broth then goes in a large quart class measuring cup and whatever other containers it takes and into the refrigerator. I let it sit in the refrigerator a day before freezing the broth. Before I transfer the broth from the measuring cup to smaller, usually 2 c containers, I skim the fat off the top of the broth using a spoon. As the broth cools, the fat separates and will float on the top. Waiting a day before freezing lets you get more fat off than if you just froze it right after you cooked it.

From the remains of a roasted chicken, you are left with cooked, chopped chicken, ready for a quick and easy meal and lots of chicken broth ready to season rice or make a tasty soup.