Chicken Feet!

Chicken feet.  Seriously!!  Chicken feet were historically used to make broth and their use makes the BEST broth!  The use of chicken feet makes a thicker, heartier broth.  The thought of using chicken feet for anything other than chicken locomotion really grossed me out at first, but I talked to some old timers and researched it a bit and finally tried it.  Now I wouldn't think of making chicken broth without adding feet (also add a tablespoon or so of vinegar to help get minerals out of the bones and into your broth).

Our feet have the membrane peeled and talons and callus pad removed, so they are ready to use.  Note that chicken feet regularly puncture the packaging; because chicken feet are very stable, compromised packaging does not hurt the product. 

Below I've pasted several websites that describe how to use the feet.  There are a lot more - just Google "chicken feet broth"

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_stock_from_chicken_feet/
http://nourishedkitchen.com/chicken-feet-stock/
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2010/07/chicken-feet-in-my-soup-sick.html

Baked Goose or Duck in Mushroom Wild Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 wild ducks or 1 tame duck, cut into quarters (or 1 pheasant or 1 guinea fowl)
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cans cream of celery soup
• 2 cups halved fresh mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked wild rice
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Prep:
Clean and cut birds into quarters. In a large Dutch oven, place all ingredients. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 3 hours, until rice and meat are tender.  We usually place in a cockpot and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours until the meat is tender and rice is done.  Remove bay leaves.
Adapted from Wild Game Cooking Made Easy
Ingredients for Basic Chicken Stock:

• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
• 2 carrots, scraped and cut into large pieces
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 4 quarts water
• 1 leftover chicken carcass and pan drippings or stewing hen or necks and backs

Prep:
Place all ingredients in a large stockpot. Allow everything to sit, with the heat off, for 30 minutes. Turn the heat on high, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer the broth for a minimum of 6 hours-the longer the broth simmers, the richer it will be.
Strain the liquid, discarding the vegetables but reserving the carcass. Place broth in a container, cover tightly, and refrigerate. When it is chilled, skim the fat from the surface.
Pick off the remaining meat from the carcass, and either return the meat to the broth for chicken soup or use it to make something else( such as Chicken and rice).
Adapted from The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook

Chicken Dumpling Soup

This is a great recipe to use with pasture raised chicken necks and backs or a stewing hen.

Chicken Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 pounds chicken necks and backs or stewing hen or leftover roast chicken frame
• 8 cups water
• 2 large carrots (sliced)
• 3 large celery stalks (diced)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 6 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Chicken prep:

Put the chicken into a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, and add all the "chicken" ingredients, except for the milk and flour.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

After one hour of cooking, add 2 1/2 cups more water.

When chicken is tender, remove from the broth and allow to cool until it can be handled. When cool enough to handle, remove meat form the bones and cut into bite-sized pieces. Set the meat aside.

Whisk the milk and flour together until smooth, and then pour it into the boiling broth. Continue to whisk as the broth thickens.

Once the broth thickens, add the meat.

Dumplings Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk( or combination)

(While making the dumplings, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.)

Dumpling Prep:

Combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients, using two knives, until it's about the consistency of cornmeal.

Add a small amount of the milk at a time, gently tossing the mixture with a fork to uniformly moisten the dry ingredients.

Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times. Form the dough into golf ball-sized pieces and flatten them to 1/2-inch thick.

When all the dough has been formed into dumplings, gently place the dumplings into the boiling liquid one at a time. Cook for 10 minutes, uncovered, frequently ladling broth over the dumplings to submerge them and help them cook evenly.

Finish by baking (without the lid) in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve.

Adapted from: Chickens Magazine(Summer 2010)

Medium Spicy Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• Stewing (soup) chicken or pack of necks & backs or leftover chicken (or turkey) frame(s)
• 2 to 2.5 gal water
• 6 carrots, diced
• 3 onions, diced
• 8 to 10 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
• 8 celery stalks (1/4 slices)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large sweet red pepper, diced
• 8-oz jar of pickled mild pepperoncinis (sliced) with juice OR 8-oz jar of salsa
• 3 cups cooked brown or white rice (You can also experiment with barley, potatoes, wild rice or noodles to build up the soup. If using noodles, cook them separately and do not add to the main soup pot or they will eventually disintegrate. Instead add them to each individual bowl of soup as it is served.)

Simmer chicken with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper in 2 gal on water in a large soup pot for 2 to 2.5 hrs, until the breast is tender when poked with a fork. Remove chicken pieces and set aside to cool.

When the chicken is cooled, remove the meat from the bones, cut into bite-sized pieces and return to the pot. (if you are using an old laying hen (stewing hen or soup chicken), include the breast meat in the soup, but if you use a broiler, the cooked breast can be used for making chicken salad).

Add the sweet pepper, tomatoes, pepperoncini or salsa, cauliflower and cooked rice to the pot of broth and meat.

Simmer on med-low heat for 1 hour. Can be served with chicken salad sandwiches.

Cool the leftover soup and then freeze in covered plastic containers for quick, delicious future meals.

Adapted from the summer 2010 issue of Chickens Magazine (from Hobby Farms)

Gumbo with Andouille and Stewing Hen

Ingredients:

• 1 Stewing Hen (aka Soup Chicken) or 1 package Necks & Backs or leftover chicken carcass
• Salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.
• 1/2 to 1 pound Andouille sausage, chopped
• 2 cups okra
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 3 pods garlic, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 tsp thyme
• 2 tomatoes, fresh or canned
• 3 Tbsp fat or oil
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup stock
• Shrimp, oysters, crab (optional)

Cook chicken in water with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper until tender. Remove meat from bone in slivers. Save stock. Leftover turkey, ham or duck carcass also works instead of chicken. In a large pot, saute sausage. Remove sausage from pot and saute okra, bell pepper, garlic, onion, bay leaves, basil and thyme in sausage drippings. Stir frequently to prevent burning or sticking. When tender, add tomatoes that have been pureed in blender or finely chopped. Let this simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken and stock. Let gumbo mixture simmer.

Make the roux in a separate (cast iron if possible) pan. Heat fat or oil over medium heat until it is just about to smoke. Add flour, stirring constantly . It should take 3 to 5 minutes to turn dark brown. Take care not to burn. When the roux is done, remove from heat an let cool for 15 minutes. Slowly add 1 cup on hot stock., stirring so it won't lump. Add this to the gumbo.

The optional shrimp, crab and oysters can also be added at this point if desired.

Season to taste with salt and cayenne pepper. Simmer 2 to 3 hours. Serve over rice. If the okra is not used, sprinkle 1 tsp of file in each bowl after the gumbo has been served.

Serves 12.

Adapted from the River Road Recipes II cookbook.