Take one chicken

Clementine and spiced butter based chicken

As our regular readers will know, I absolutely love chicken.  I would go so far as to say it is my favourite meat. There really is so much you can do with a chicken, so many different meals; from a regular roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables, a stuffed chicken with mushroom or clementine and spiced butter, a risotto, stuffed pastas, pasta bakes, one pots, creamy gnocchi, chicken and pearl barley soup, fried chicken with many different tastes and flavours and then, my absolute favourite, wings.  There are many wonderful wing recipes in the world and you will have seen many, many on this site.

One of the very best things is how one whole chicken can last 3 or 4 different meals. Whole chickens are also much better value than buying the different parts. 

Chicken schnitzel

Here are a few suggestions for how to use 1 large (2½ kg) chicken for 4 people for 4 meals, or use a 1kg chicken for 2 people for 4 meals. 

Day 1, take the 2 breasts off of the whole chicken and make chicken schnitzel, parmesan and lemon crumbed chicken or easy crispy chicken or if you want something a little more healthy then how about chicken breasts in master stock.  If you buy a larger chicken then the breasts can then just be cut in half.

Gunpowder chicken

Day 2, take the thighs off and make gunpowder chicken, peri peri chicken or charred chilli chicken, as none of these dishes use huge amounts of chicken as they are bolstered by being put on naan, buns or served with rice and vegetables.

Tikka masala

Day 3, take the remaining chicken such as the drumsticks, nuggets and any remaining breasts to make a curry like Cape Malay curry, butter chicken and tikka masala.

Chicken risotto

Day 4, take the chicken carcass and make a great chicken stock to make chicken noodle soup, chicken risotto or chicken and pearl barley soup, all made so much tastier with real chicken.

Whilst that may seem like a huge amount of chicken, you don’t have to eat it all in one week, you can freeze the carcass and any leftover chicken. A whole chicken is also very cost effective which is perfect for when you are at the end of a heavy month.

I often cook the whole chicken and then cut it apart and use it in my dishes as leftover cooked chicken instead of using raw, this then of course means I can make chicken mayo sandwiches for lunch, is there anything better?

This is how we joint a chicken

There is no doubt that jointing a cooked chicken is much easier than cutting it raw.  However, so long as your knife is sharp, it is perfectly doable.  Whether cooked or not, jointing follows the same process.

 Start with the wing. 

Cut through the skin around each wing and then run your knife around again until you reach the joint. Turn the chicken on its side and once you are sure the flesh has been cut through, use your hands to break the joint, you may need to use your knife if any part gets stuck.  Remove and put to one side.  Repeat with the other wing.

Move on to the leg.

Cut through the skin around one leg to as this should then help to ease the leg away from the body.  Cut deeper now until you reach the joint. Turn the chicken on its side and cut along the

joint, Break the joint with your hands, then use your knife to cut off the leg.  Repeat for the other leg.  Set both aside. If you want the thigh and leg separate, cut the flesh around the joint and use your knife as before to separate.

A note here.  Where the thigh joins the backbone, underneath, you will find the cooks pleasure, the oyster on both sides.  Be sure to remove these, this is as simple as running your knife underneath them.

To remove the breasts, run your knife along one side of the breastbone from one end to the other.  Turnover and run your knife along of the ribs, as close as you can to free the breast.  Alternatively you can leave this on the ribs or on the crown.

You should now be left with the bones which you should put into a food bag and either refrigerate or freeze.