Save yourself time and money by getting the most from your roast!
There is something so pleasing about getting a bargain, and when we cook we can do the same – baking a cake while the oven’s on for a casserole so that we save on the electricity bill, for example.
Make the most of the time and effort you put into roasting a chicken by getting two or even three meals out of it. You’ll feel proud of yourself and ticked two dinners off the weekly list at the same time.
Meal one: roast chicken
Filling the home with the aroma of a chicken roasting is a wonderful way to get everyone hungry for dinner. (If you are watching your weight, strip your serving of the skin after roasting, to reduce your dinner’s calorie count.)
If you buy a free range or organic chicken you are likely to get a bigger bird which might seem more expensive but it should give you enough meat for a second meal, making up for the extra cost with the bonus of better flavour.
Two tips: don’t forget that chicken needs to be fully cooked – the juices running out clear when the leg is pricked with a skewer. Also, it’s worth leaving the bird to ‘rest’ for about 15 minutes after you’ve taken it out of the oven, before you carve it.
Storing the leftovers
You probably won’t want chicken again the next day, so you need to store the leftover meat safely to avoid food poisoning.
When you have carved for your roast dinner, leave the remaining meat and carcass to cool thoroughly, preferably not leaving it out for more than an hour or two. The meat will keep better off the bones, so strip it off and store it in a freezer bag or sealed plastic container, in a fridge that has a temperature between 0 and 5 degrees C.
Don’t leave the leftover meat for more than a couple of days.
Meal two: chicken stir-fry
Although chicken sandwiches or curry are favourite leftover solutions, chicken stir-fry is a great midweek meal because it’s a tasty, proper supper that takes so little time – rewarding you for the effort of stashing away those extra helpings in advance.
Because the chicken has already been fully cooked, you can add it after you’ve thrown in your garlic, chilli, spices and strips of favourite veg, and you’ll have a fabulous dish for the family ready in about 10 minutes.
(Bonus) Meal three: chicken rice
If you’re really racking up those thrifty cook bonus points, why not make some homemade chicken stock after you’ve stripped off the leftovers from the roast?
Take the chicken’s carcass (the bones and any small scraps of remaining meat still on them) and add it to 4 to 6 pints of water – depending on how large the bird was. Improvise some other stock ingredients depending on what you have in the fridge and what you fancy – small amounts of chopped celery, carrots, parsnip, herbs, whatever you fancy, avoiding potato as this would break up and make the stock too sludgy.
Bring the stock to the boil then simmer for about 3 hours. Strain the stock and discard the veg and bones. Leave it to cool then either freeze the stock or store in the fridge for a day or so before using it to cook rice in. This makes a tasty side dish or a main course with salad.