Cut costs by cutting up chicken

Unemployment is high. Consumer confidence is low. It's time to start cutting. 

Whole chicken, that is. 

Buy a broiler, butcher it yourself, and you'll save a few bucks. That's because whole birds cost less per pound yet yield far more mealtime possibilities than a sleek pair of boneless breasts.

"You can make a chicken into two to four meals by parsing it out," said Alison Wilson of Suffolk. "That's a truth."

Wilson should know. She, her husband, Scott, and their nine children raise and process hundreds of chickens each year on their Full Quiver Farm pastures. One day last week, Wilson, a slim, sharp knife in hand, stood before an enormous butcher block table in her farmhouse kitchen.

She lifted a glistening, white-skinned bird off the cutting board and noted that by the end of this year's broiler season she will have cut up, oh, maybe 1,000 chickens. In about the time it took her to finish that sentence, Wilson had flicked the knife this way and that, removed one wing, flipped the bird over and started on the other.

Without a pesky reporter asking questions, she could finish the entire job in less than a minute.

Of course, it wasn't always this way. Wilson began economizing by buying whole chickens in bulk a few years back "when we had four or five kids," she said.

With no clue about how to cut one up, she turned to books and the internet. For her first attempt, she propped instructions on her kitchen counter and did the best she could.

Wilson prefers to put whole or cut-up chicken in a crockpot with a few vegetables and some seasoning.

In just a few hours, she has plenty of tender meat to turn into chicken tacos, salads and casseroles. The broth, which has been simmering with the bones, takes on a more complex flavor than canned and can easily be turned into a satisfying soup.

Wilson's secret ingredient is apple cider vinegar, which she adds to the slow cooker to draw minerals and flavor out of the bones, making for a healthier, richer broth.

The key to cutting up a whole bird, she said, is to work slowly at first and to use a very sharp knife. Not expensive, just sharp. And don't expect perfection.

CUTTING UP A WHOLE CHICKEN

Step 1: Removing the wings

Place a thawed, whole chicken on its side on a clean cutting board. Lift up one wing. While lifting the wing away from the body, use the tip of a freshly sharpened knife to cut through the skin and then the joint where the wing meets the body. Be careful not to cut into the breast meat.

Turn the bird over and repeat with the other wing.

Step 2: Popping the hip joint

Grasp one of the drumsticks and lift the bird, allowing it to dangle onto the cutting board. The weight of the bird exposes an empty cavity between the body of the bird and the leg quarter. Cut through the skin stretching between the body and the leg quarter. Stop when the knife blade reaches the meat.

Put your knife down. Grasp the leg quarter in one hand, and hold the body with your other hand. Bend the leg quarter back away from the body of the bird until the joint pops.

Step 3: Removing the leg quarter

Start cutting at one end of the thigh along the edge where it meets the back, slicing toward the joint. Repeat at the other end of the thigh until your cuts meet in the middle at the hip joint. Cut through the joint to release the leg quarter completely.

Repeat steps two and three to remove the other leg quarter.

Step 4: Removing the neck and back from the breasts

You'll notice that removing the wings resulted in a pair of holes that makes it easy to remove the neck and back.

Reposition the chicken with its breast side down on the cutting board. Thread the blade of the knife through the holes. Cut toward the back of the bird to sever the backbone from the breast. You will be cutting through the tiny bones that are the ribs.

At this point, the neck will still be attached to the bird. Pull the backbone up and away from the carcass, grasp the neck, twist it and pull it off.

Step 5: Skinning the breast

With the breast skin side up, start at the thickest end and lift the loose skin. Using the tip of the knife, scrape through the thin membrane that attaches the skin to the meat. Continue lifting the skin and scraping until the skin is removed. Use gentle strokes to avoid cutting the breast meat.

Step 6: Separating the breasts

The cartilage that separates the breasts makes a perfect guide for cutting them into neat, even pieces.

Starting at the thickest end of the breast, meat side up, make a shallow slice into one side of the cartilage, pressing your knife ever so slightly inward to follow the line of the cartilage. It will take more than one pass of the knife to fully remove the breast from the cartilage.

Repeat on the other side.

Step 7: Removing the chicken tenders

Look on the interior side of the breast for a small flap of cartilage. This marks the end of the chicken tender. Simply pull it away from the breast and voila! A perfect chicken tender. Repeat with the other breast.

Step 8: Admiring your work

Although your first few tries might not yield such pretty cuts, in just a few minutes you will have a nice assortment of chicken pieces, several dinner possibilities - and a few more dollars in your pocket.

RECIPES

Alison Wilson’s Crockpot Chicken

Whole broiler
Vegetables on hand, such as onions, carrots, celery
Garlic
Seasonings, such as salt and pepper
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Remove a whole broiler from the freezer and place it in a slow cooker.

Add whatever vegetables you have on hand – onions, carrots, celery – and some garlic.

Season with salt and pepper (I use a no-salt seasoning blend) and cover with water.

Add ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar, and cook on low for 12 hours.

Debone the chicken, and use the meat for casseroles, taco fillings, salads. Use the broth as the base of a hearty chicken soup. For a creamier broth, puree the vegetables into the liquid.

Chicken Waldorf Salad
Makes: 4 servings

1/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1/3 cup nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 medium red apple, diced
1 cup halved red or green grapes
1 cup sliced celery
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted if desired

Whisk mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl. Add chicken, apple, grapes, celery and ¼ cup walnuts. Stir to coat well.

Top with the remaining ¼ cup walnuts and serve.

– Source: Eating Well, July/August 2011

Chicken & Corn Quesadillas
Makes: 4 servings

2½ cups pre-cooked or leftover chicken
1 14-ounce can corn, drained
4 scallions
3 tablespoons sliced jalapeno chilies from a jar
1 small bunch fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper
3½ ounces sharp cheddar cheese
3 ripe tomatoes
6 flour tortillas

Remove any skin from the chicken, and tear it into small pieces with your hands or finely slice it with a knife.

Put the chicken into a bowl and add the corn. Thinly slice the scallions, roughly chop the jalapenos and most of the cilantro leaves, then stir into the mix. Season with salt and pepper.

Grate the cheese, and slice the tomatoes.

Put a tortilla on your work surface, cover one half of it with a little cheese, then some of the chicken mixture and a few slices of tomato. Sprinkle with more cheese, then fold the other side of the tortilla over to make a semicircle shape. Set aside, then repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling.

Heat the oven to 275 degrees, ready to keep the quesadillas warm.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add a quesadilla to the pan, and cook for 2 minutes, or until the underside is golden and toasted. Turn it over using a spatula, then cook for another 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melting and the quesadilla is crisp all over.

Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest.

Cut each quesadilla into three triangles, pile onto a platter, then serve immediately, garnished with the rest of the cilantro.

– Source: “What to Cook & How to Cook It,” by Jane Hornby

Story: Lorraine Eaton, (757)446-2697, lorraine.eaton@pilotonline.com