Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Once a week, my mother cooks what the family has taken to calling the "faux Thanksgiving dinner." It's a roast chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy — and it's delicious.
So this week, I set out to make the first faux Thanksgiving dinner of my own. The ingredients — 1 medium sized (free range, but not organic because that doubles the price) roasting chicken, a bag of Yukon gold potatoes, an onion, a garlic clove, a bag of frozen peas, and a bag of carrots — totaled $11.
I'm sure most already have a trusted roast chicken recipe, but I'll share mine anyway because it's my mom's and it turns out perfectly every time.
Dice two potatoes, a medium onion, 1 garlic clove, and 2 carrots and put in roasting pan. Salt vegetables and cover with 2 cups of water.
Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, and sage. Trim excess fat off of chicken and roll into six twine-like strips to place over breast area (this will keep the breast moist). Set chicken in roasting pan rack.
Roast in the oven at 400* for 90 minutes.
GRAVY:
After you've removed the roasting pan, take all of the vegetables and purée them in a blender or food processor. Add water until you reach a consistency you want in your gravy.
Add the puréed mixture back to the roasting pan (or a sauce pan). Add salt & pepper to taste, and simmer until you're done carving up the chicken.
My husband and I ate heaping portions of chicken, mashed potatoes, peas and gravy for dinner and still had lots left over. So the following night, I made a stew out of leftover chicken, potatoes, peas, chopped potatoes, onions, carrots, thyme and gravy. Exact same ingredients as the previous night's dinner just left to cook in a Dutch oven on very low heat for an hour. We ate generous portions of the stew, and still had leftovers (enough for a fifth meal, which I had for lunch today).
And with the remaining chicken carcass, I followed James Delingpole's recipe for a simple, delicious chicken stock.
So long as we're living in Obama's America, I figure there are a lot of us out there who could use ideas on tasty ways to stretch our pennies. So bring your suggestions.
Image of whole roasted chicken via Shutterstock.
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Aug '11
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
You have peaked my interest with the pureed vegetable gravy. Never heard of that method before. We always make the giblet gravy, which can be a lengthy process but always worth it.
Sounds like a simple recipe and will add it too my Sunday Fall Dinner menu.
May '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Shucks, and all I did was make Chicken Stock - I should get 4-5 quarts of it.
Aug '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
I'm working on a cookbook called "The Two Chickens Project". The idea is that two adults can eat dinner for a week from two roasted chickens without saying "Oh dear God, not chicken again" by day seven.
I've recently taken to roasting chickens in a Bradley Smoker. Adding a few shreds of smoked chicken to some pasta or mixed vegetables gives the dish a wonderful flavor.
A tip for you: Roast the chicken breast side down for 30 minutes then flip it over. The juices run to the breast and it's really juicy.
Edited on September 27, 2012 at 2:10amRe: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
I only ended up with about 3 quarts on my first try. I guess you get more when you start out with the entire bird.
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Love this idea.
Aug '10
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Leg quarters were .49/lb the other day. My family might be growing feathers after this !
I find that broiling chicken (cut up) really brings the flavor much more than any other method. Broiling has less mess than most methods and you can crisp and season as well as grilling.
For the other white meat, pork butts generously laden (surgical insertion) with garlic cloves and slow cooked or smoked provide days of wonderful eating. I put in a covered roaster with two rough chopped onions and four twigs of fresh rosemary, nothing more. Be sure to retrieve the rosemary from the cooked off fat. Tender, piquant....
time to cook 'round here-------
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Diane Ellis, Ed.
What are twine-like trips?
Apr '11
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
And to think I'm playing Free Cell like it's my life's work to ward of the anxiety.
I'll try cooking next week, these all sound yummy and thrifty.
Dec '10
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Diane Ellis, Ed.
What are twine-like trips? · 4 minutes ago
I had the same question.
Back when Mr. Chauvinist lost his job, I had tips from the generous Ricochet community for how to save on food. One was from Midge, I think (remember Midget Faded Rattlesnake? What happened to her?), for cooking with cabbage.
Well Mr Chauvinist's favorite soup is what I call "Stuffed Cabbage Meatball Soup." And it's so easy...
Saute a large chopped onion and 1.5 cups of sliced carrots in a couple tablespoons of olive oil until onions are tender.
Pour in a large can of Swanson's chicken broth (48 oz?) and a large bottle of V-8 juice (also 48 oz?). Add a pound of fresh green beans which are in bite-size pieces. Let simmer vigorously until beans are tender (1 hour).
Add 1/3 bag of Sam's Italian-style meatballs and 1/2 head of cabbage chopped coarse. Let simmer another 30 minutes. Delicious! About 300 calories per 1.5 cups.
Apr '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Alton Brown's garlic shallot chicken is one of our favorites, and always a good standby when I don't have a lot of time or creative energy to put into dinner. Alton's recipe calls for a whole chicken, but I make it with hind quarters because they're so cheap. Basically you take a buffet dish, heat a little olive oil and season and brown the chicken. Then add some more olive oil and a lot of shallots and whole garlic cloves, along with whatever herbs you have around. (Rosemary and thyme are always good.) Stick it in the oven for an hour and twenty. It's moist and yummy every time. Here's a link:
http://www.food.com/recipe/alton-browns-chicken-in-garlic-and-shallots-386252
Aug '10
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Cooking a liberal:
Take a nice ,plump liberal. Graduate student preferably with a big loan ( it stresses out some of the excess fat ).
Cut off excess hair ( always excess hair ) .
Prepare a stock tank ( not stock pot - tank min 400 gallons) with salted water, one quart olive oil, and a handful of jalapenos . Bring to a boil over large bonfire ( comes in handy later for ambiance ).
First wash the liberal, attempt to remove vitriol and misconceptions ( these spoil under heat ) . Don't bother gutting, nothing there anyway.
Reserve eyes for aspic, liberal eyes are like unborn veal cutlets, unsullied.
Take one hickory slab and wrap liberal onto slab. Lay into water with wood side down.
Boil until tender, remove , discard liberal, salt and enjoy the hickory with a nice Pinot Noir.
Apr '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
I recently stumbled on a rather nice breakfast sandwich we have as an inexpensive treat-- ~12 eggs, ~12 slices of bacon, ~12 English muffins (or home-made rolls), about half of a 2.5 pound block of cheese.
Cook bacon in your Foreman grill, and once the first batch's drippings are ready, tip about a tablespoon into a ramekin that's about the size of your muffins. Crack an egg into the ramekin, pop the yoke, microwave for a minute. (YMMV on time, it will look fairly cooked.)
Put bacon inside muffin. Stick a fork into the microwaved egg, lift on to the bacon. Slice a square of cheese off, lay on egg. Put top of muffin. Repeat, adding a little bacon grease to the ramekins as needed, until you ruin out of an ingredient.
Starting with the coolest of the bunch, wrap in a slice of paper towel, wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze. As needed, throw in microwave for 30seconds. Let heat equalize until you can pull off the plastic without burning yourself, enjoy.
Apr '11
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Diane Ellis, Ed.
What are twine-like trips? · 45 minutes ago
"Trim excess fat off of chicken and roll into six twine-like trips to place over breast area (this will keep the breast moist)."
I think she mistyped twine-like STRIPS, i.e. to form the fat into ribbons and lay them across the the breast area. I'm not clear if breast is up or down. I'm sure she'll be along soon to clarify.
Apr '11
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
First wash the liberal, attempt to remove vitriol and misconceptions ( these spoil under heat ) . Don't bother gutting, nothing there anyway....
Boil until tender, remove , discard liberal, salt and enjoy the hickory with a nice Pinot Noir. · 1 minute ago
Oh, jeez! Laughing so hard.
Apr '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Another microwave option-- fried rice burritos.
Box of flavored rice mix, eggs, two packs of tortillas, mixed pack of frozen veggies, shredded cheese, favorite salsa. (I buy the shredded stuff on sale and freeze it for melting-- we buy good cheese for slicing.) Leftover meat chopped small if you'd like. I make this for Lent, and with whatever was on sale.
Make the rice, adding the veggies to taste-- ones that need to be cooked longer to be tender, add earlier; if you want peas and carrots, spinach or something, you can wait and add them after the rice is done.
While the rice is simmering, scramble the eggs. (I use six to eight, but I like LOTS of eggs in mine.) Add meat when eggs are done. Add rice when rice is done.
Let it dry out a little, then spoon on to tortillas, sprinkle with cheese, put a line of salsa at the bottom, carefully wrap into preferred burrito shape, use a strip of paper towel to secure it, put in gallon freezer bag. Fill bag, lay flat to freeze.
Microwave about 45 seconds, eat, enjoy.
Apr '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Oh, and leftover chicken works really well in that Ragu Alfredo sauce, which can be found on sale for less than a dollar at times. Add frozen veggies. (<3 broccoli)
When I can get chicken thighs on sale and they've got to be cooked SOON, I put them on a cookie tray, sprinkle with lemon pepper, garlic salt and cheap Parmesan from a plastic bottle, and bake.
Can you tell I love my chest freezer, and don't want my husband to get bored with leftovers for lunch?
Nov '11
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
Salivating on my keyboard, Ummmm-ummmm.
May '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
The water I boil up the bird in (I cut off the legs for Shake 'n Bake Chicken) has already had the bones from every poultry meal since the last round of stock boiled up in it. I call it Poultry Pre-Stock.
Diane Ellis, Ed.
I only ended up with about 3 quarts on my first try. I guess you get more when you start out with the entire bird. · 2 hours ago
May '12
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
I don't have the land, or the garden, but if I could I would go whole hog, and make stock from every bone out of every meat-based meal (Split Pea Soup, Lentil Soup made from Lamb Stock, Beef Barley Soup), then grind up the bones for bone meal for the garden.
I read somewhere that Bonemeal used to be used by expectant mothers for the calcium.
May '11
Re: Five Meals & a Pot of Stock for $11
I store all my chicken carcasses in the freezer until I've accumulated enough to make stock. I use a 20qt stockpot and make a lot at once. I usually take about half of the stock and freeze it in 1 qt increments by pouring it into a 1 gallon freezer bag and flattening them out. You can stack a whole bunch this way. The other half of stock I reduce down by about 60% until it's a sauce-like consistency. I take the reduction and pour it into ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen take the cubes out and store them in a freezer bag. You now have ready made "sauce cubes". They are indispensable for when you want to throw together a pan sauce.
I recently inherited my grandmother's pressure canner and plan to can a lot of stock as well.