With the mass re-introduction of free-range and barn-reared chickens has come an increase in the availability of boiling fowl. These are often overlooked by the home cook partly, I suspect, because of uncertainty as to what to do with them, and partly through not knowing they exist.
Boiling fowl are most usually hens that are beyond egg laying age. Look for them in the frozen food department of your supermarket or have a word with your local butcher, especially if he sells halal or kosher meats.
These chickens are nutritious, full of flavor, but also tough, which makes them next to useless for roasting, which is no bad thing. Roasting is a very expensive way of preparing food and should be left for the more expensive cuts of meat in my view.
Boiling these hens achieves two things; it makes them tender and it preserves nearly all the nutrients and vitamins available in the fresh ingredients. It also saves you money by stretching one bird to several different meals. It's very much 'chicken on a budget', which is why canny chefs use them extensively for some very fancy dishes.
Follow my recipe below and at the end of it you will have all the meat from the carcass plus a quantity of very valuable stock that can be used in the preparation of any number of nutritious meals.
Ingredients
1 boiling fowl
1.5 litres (6 cups) water
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of (lemon) thyme
1 onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, bruised* and unpeeled
1 carrot, unpeeled and sliced
2 rashers bacon
*thump them with something!
Method
Put all the vegetables in a large pan with a close fitting lid. Put the chicken on top, cover and cook over a moderate heat for 10 minutes.
When you take the lid off (be careful of the steam) you will see that the chicken has plumped up considerably. This is the point at which chefs in the first half of the last century used to transfer the bird to the oven for 'roast' chicken - a luxury, if somewhat 'chewy', dish in those days.
You, on the other hand, are going to add the water and simmer the bird, upside down and partially covered, for 30 minutes per 500g (1lb) of weight. You may need to top up the liquid from time to time.
During this process some foam will be created and a lot of fat given off. Skim this off the top with a metal spoon but don't worry overmuch if a little gets left behind.
At the end of cooking time, allow the chicken to cool off enough so that you can handle it, then strip off all the meat. Discard the skin and bones.
The meat should be transferred immediately to the fridge or frozen for later use**.
Strain the stock and clarify it using my basic method. Then boil it briskly to reduce it by half. Chill it and you will be able to easily remove any leftover fat from the surface of the liquid.
The finished stock can be stored in the fridge for up to three days, or frozen in cubes and used as needed.
**The flesh will be both tender and tasty. You can use it in any recipe calling for chicken including pancakes, pies, pasta, risottos, soups and stir fries.
