Chicken Journey: Roast the Backs!

 

Last week we talked about How to Break Down a Chicken. After breaking it down, we froze the thighs, wings and breasts but the chicken backs and wingtips we roasted right away. A little salt and pepper and onto a baking sheet for 400 deg F for approx 2 hours, then let them cool and removed back meat. Though you would be hard pressed to find backs for sale at the store because they are generally tossed, there actually is more meat on them than you would expect. A couple of our favorite uses for the back meat: chicken soup, chicken pot pies, chicken shepherd pie, chicken and cauliflower gratin. Watch for some good recipes coming up.

As for the bones and wingtips, they make a fantastic stock. Pop them into a pot, cover with water and simmer until dark. The bones have even more flavor once you’ve roasted them!

Depending on the number of backs you are roasting, you may or may not have a good amount of liquid left in your pan. We poured and scraped the pan liquid into a cup and skimmed the fat off. The brown liquid left will make for a super fantastic gravy. Use it right away or freeze until needed. DH was adamant that we save the chicken fat after straining it well. I’m a little skeptical about this part LOL. We poured it into a mason jar and popped it into the refrigerator. DH assures me that we will find a good use for it. Did you know that duck fat is $8.00/kg and has a variety of uses including confit?

Anyone have a good use for chicken fat?

This post was a joint effort by my DH who blogs at ebabble and of course me!

This post links to Mouthwatering Mondays, Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Works for Me Wednesday since it seems to go with them all.