El Día Del Pollo

[Don Cuevas]

I guess this post should go in the Galley.

I was in Pátzcuaro with no particular motive and I realized I could buy some chicken parts to make caldo de pollo in the pressure cooker. (Now that we have a large chest type freezer, I can store many containers of soup or whatever.) I have soups that really need decent, homemade chicken stock and not the instant chicken powder or cubes from Knorr-Suiza.

I went to the Pollería Gaby, one of several fresh chicken shops in the interior Hall of Meat and Chicken in the mercado. There, the genial ladies fixed me up with a goodly assortment of chicken feet, necks, backs, a few gizzards and a leg or two. I also bought a bone-in chicken breast. With their keen knives, they removed skin and excess fat. That seems to be the custom here, both in the pollería and our regular carnicería.

Then I recalled that I could also make chicken schmaltz und grebenes. (Rendered chicken fat cooked with onions with the "cracklin'" saved for various cooking purposes. So, I bought about 700 grams of nearly pure chicken fat.

Soon after I got home, I went to work cooking everything but the chicken breast. That's reserved for today.

My pressure cooker chicken stock recipe called for 2 lbs of chicken parts, 6 cups of water, some chopped celery (which I didn't have), 1 cut onion, 6 peppercorns (!six?), a few sprigs of thyme and some bay leaves. Yes, and salt.

I added 6 cloves of garlic and a couple of slices of fresh ginger root.I essentially doubled the ingredients, as I had about 4 pounds of chicken parts.

Lock on the lid, set the pressure to HIGH, turn on the burner. In about 20 ninutes, it came up to pressure. The manual said to cook it for 30 minutes, but because of our altitude, I set it for 45.

At the end of that time, I let it cool "naturally", without venting. When it cooled a bit, I strained it through a colander and pressed down on the remans with a spatula. It looks great and even has a fair bit of fat on top.

The hard part was to find the most uniform plastic freezer containers so as to fit best in our pregnant refrigerator before the next step to the freezer.

Meanwhile, the chicken fat was rendering slowly in the 4 qt pressure cooker base. The fat melted quickly, and I added two good sized onion, sliced. The process took over an hour, with occasional stirrings.The product is essential in Easter European Jewish cooking, for example, Black Radish Appetizer/Salad/"Conserve". The latter term is a misnomer IMO.
Or in knishes...oy. Don't get me started on knishes.

Concurrently, or at least subsequently, I made Escabeche de Verduras. But that's another story.



I plan to poach the chicken breast in some of the stock...hasta luego.

And, by the way, I've found a source of pretty decent cucumber worthy of pickling. I have about two gallons now in the third day of brining and fermentation has begun. It takes place slowly in this cooler summer climate, which is a good thing.
Might as well link to a so-so picture of the main pickle tank.
lh3.ggpht.com/_Dp8GJpYQxRg/THTm0xirwTI/AAAAAAAAjks/j2019KorS3Y/s640/IMG_8439.JPG

[fumobici]

That Escabeche de Verduras looks wonderful, how do you use it or is it just eaten straight?

[Deleted]

Yes, it does look excellent.

I am addicted to chicken broth, so I rarely have it. Since I don't really care for coffee or tea, I think I might use it as a hot breakfast beverage this winter, however.

[bixaorellana]

Gosh, that made me want some chicken broth now.

Can we look forward to seeing the escabeche de verduras recipe in the pickle thread soon, please?
(the cauliflower in the market are particularly nice right now)

[lagatta]

I need my caffeine, but chicken broth is wonderful to warm one through the day in wintertime, and a great base for nutritious meals.

I keep thinking El Día del Pollo should be some kind of national holiday, with chicken dances and a parade with people in chicken suits.

[Don Cuevas]

Aug 25, 2010 14:58:34 GMT fumobici said:

That Escabeche de Verduras looks wonderful, how do you use it or is it just eaten straight?

I'd almost forgotten about this. I've been watching my Kosher style dill pickles mature.

Fumobici; it's sort of a Giardiniera Mexicana. One could eat it straight, but it's used more as a relish to accompany meats or dress up sandwiches.

Bixa; there are recipes, but I don't use them. I had to keep adding vinegar and water and salt and sugar to make up enough pickling brine.

Some recipes I used in the past had way too many different kinds of vegs in it. It's hard to maintain the fresh, crisp-tender aspect. Some have mushrooms, which I don't like in this. Some have green beans. I used only cauliflower, carrots, onions, garlic and Jalapeño chiles. The pickling brine is approx 2:1 white vinegar and a little sugar (optional; white or piloncillo—brown), with salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, allspice berries and cloves (both optional.)

The brine is heated to the boilng point, simmered a few minutes, then
the peeled and diagonally sliced carrots are dropped in, then the sectioned cauliflowers, then some small white onions (cebollitas).

I wanted to keep the chiles whole, but there were only 5 fat jalapeños, so I cut them lengthwise and depithed and seeded them. About 15 chiles would be more typical. It's important to at least slit the chiles before searing/sauteeing them.

Rather them prefry everything in oil, as some recipes would have you do, I only seared the chile strips in a little olive oil. Then they are added to the rest as it comes off the fire.

Feeble attempts were made to sterilize a few appropriate jars, and after mild frustration, I fit everything in two jars of different capacity.

This was pretty mild. Usually, the chiles are more numerous and dominate the whole.

It can also be made instead with dried chiles chipotles mecos, and whole small heads of garlic are added. That is some serious $hit. It looks serious, too, but good, althogh we never can seem to get anyone to eat them.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks for that, Don Cuevas. I am going to incorporate your guidance and try again. I'm thinking back to the time I made rajas en escabeche which were no better at all than the canned version.

Question -- you write:

The pickling brine is approx 2:1 white vinegar and a little sugar (optional; white or piloncillo—brown), with salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, allspice berries and cloves (both optional.)

Does that two to one ratio mean two parts vinegar to one part salted water?

[Don Cuevas]

"Does that two to one ratio mean two parts vinegar to one part salted water?"

Yes, that's approximately correct. Taste until you get what you prefer.

[lagatta]

I thought this thread was about chicken. I have an organic chicken (they were on sale this week at a very good price, from a very good local producer). But it is bloody HOT! Not that I'm complaining; I love heat. But I don't feel like turning on the oven, nor cooking anything very complicated. Ideas?

[bixaorellana]

You could cut it into pieces, season it, sear on both sides in a little olive oil in a heavy pan, then cover & cook it slowly. It really does soak up flavor nicely that way, and would give you some nice cooked chicken to eat cold over the next few days. What about chicken paella or something on the lines of this tajine.

You could also take your cue from the OP ~~ boil the chicken, which will give you stock for freezing, plus lots of pull-off-the-bone chicken for chicken salad sandwiches or stuffed tomatoes, tacos, or for quick reheating with olive oil and herbs to accompany a hot-weather meal.

[lagatta]

Yeah, I think I'll sauté it and stew it, as a tagine or a dish with fresh ginger. As simple as possible, but flavourful. It is too good a chicken to boil it for stock, though of course I always save bones for stock. Mmm tacos. As you know I do have a very good source of fairly authentic tortillas, nice and pillowy.

¡Feliz Día Del Pollo!

[bixaorellana]

¡Igualmente, my little chickadee!