Post by teophrastusbombastus on May 6, 2023 0:24:16 GMT
Rehydrated Chicken
Ever got some roast chicken leftovers drying out in the fridge until you end up throwing them out?
Here's my recipe for re using those chicken leftovers even if they are already a bit dry!
If they got beyond dry onto the next stage forget it, of course...
Equipment:
For some reason, for this, I started using the heaviest, most rugged, thickest pan / skillet I had in the inventory.
And never tried it on anything else.
It is None of those anti-adherent stuff I like to use for so many other things.
I think it is "cast iron" type.
Ingredients (base)
Water: enough to fill at least half the pan / skillet.
I usually cook just 1 dose and use a minimum of 250 ml and a maximum of 500ml.
Olive oil: enough to go around the meat together with...
Margarine: enough to complete the olive oil.
Roast chicken leftovers: select from whatever is available.
Spaghetti: a handful, dunno, 30, 40, 50 sticks of it? For 1!
Ingredients (my seasoning alternatives)
Lemon Juice: a few drizzles if it comes on one of those little bottles
or
Cumin in powder or seeds: some say it is easy to over cumin things but I don't seem so certain
or
Curry: I find it easier to over curry than over cumin
or
Oregani: around here it almost always means the dried stuff in tiny pieces inside small flasks.
I go more frequently for the oregani or the cumin variants...
Ingredient (additional optional)
Grated bread: a not too thick spread over the pan / skillet.
Ends up being as much as needed.
Reserve water - I use a 1/2 l measure cup.
This is a two phase thing.
Drop a pool of olive oil onto a pan and few slivers of margarine.
Just enough to go around the available / chosen chicken leftovers - including no bones, I think; but skins, yes.
Idea is to cook them a bit on fat before throwing the water in...
For phase "dry" give it low intensity fire or they will stick to the pan in no time.
And keep tuned in to checking if the chicken is wanting to stick, in which case stirring it out of it's trend is of essence.
It will not be long until the chicken changes colour slightly and shines a bit from the fat.
It is time for the "wet" phase...
Drop the water in and give throttle to the gas because this is a "reducing" phase.
I put the fire on maximum but it probably depends on the stove each one uses.
Select a bundle of spaghetti for use, hold it above the pan with both hands and snap the whole thing in two before dropping them on the pan.
In my case, this is necessary for the uncooked spaghetti to fit in the pan.
I suppose dry commercial spaghetti sticks will be more or less same length in great portions of the planet, so you may have to break it to fit too.
Depends on pan diameter too, of course... but for this thing it is good idea to use something that hasn't much more volume than the ingredients.
After the pasta is in we can settle for a quieter bit while the whole thing reduces.
Some water reduces by evaporation and some other reduces by soaking the pasta.
The "wet" phase being quieter does not mean the thing needs no more action.
This reducing phase is the time to add the seasoning. One of my four suggestions or another option you may remember.
Simply put, the cooking ends when the water runs out.
So, although phase two is quieter you need to keep watch of water level and cut the fire as soon as the water runs out, at the latest.
Slightly sooner will leave a bit of sauce.
For the variant with grated bread the ideal time to put it in seems to be when the water reaches the pasta level.
The phase when you no longer see water covering the pasta but you see there is still some below.
Beware the grated bread will very quickly soak that residual water and make sure you stir the whole thing to spread the grated bread evenly.
If it goes well it produces a sort of dredged spaghetti; must be excellent to clog blood vessels...
Although, the grated bread may have another use in the recipe.
If you feel the water is taking forever to "disappear", the grated bread will surely speed the process.
So, it may be used to counter having used too much water.
Optionals and alternatives:
Not much left to say here.
Sometimes I use some spiral format pasta instead of spaghetti.
A kind people usually use in salads around here.
Or the tubes; macaroni.
Never used any other kind of meat but I suppose it'll work too.
Probably will work better with birds.
Duck or turkey; the in-laws decided skipping on Thanks Giving and the turkey became leftovers?
Give it the rehydrating treatment...
Ever got some roast chicken leftovers drying out in the fridge until you end up throwing them out?
Here's my recipe for re using those chicken leftovers even if they are already a bit dry!
If they got beyond dry onto the next stage forget it, of course...
Equipment:
For some reason, for this, I started using the heaviest, most rugged, thickest pan / skillet I had in the inventory.
And never tried it on anything else.
It is None of those anti-adherent stuff I like to use for so many other things.
I think it is "cast iron" type.
Ingredients (base)
Water: enough to fill at least half the pan / skillet.
I usually cook just 1 dose and use a minimum of 250 ml and a maximum of 500ml.
Olive oil: enough to go around the meat together with...
Margarine: enough to complete the olive oil.
Roast chicken leftovers: select from whatever is available.
Spaghetti: a handful, dunno, 30, 40, 50 sticks of it? For 1!
Ingredients (my seasoning alternatives)
Lemon Juice: a few drizzles if it comes on one of those little bottles
or
Cumin in powder or seeds: some say it is easy to over cumin things but I don't seem so certain
or
Curry: I find it easier to over curry than over cumin
or
Oregani: around here it almost always means the dried stuff in tiny pieces inside small flasks.
I go more frequently for the oregani or the cumin variants...
Ingredient (additional optional)
Grated bread: a not too thick spread over the pan / skillet.
Ends up being as much as needed.
Reserve water - I use a 1/2 l measure cup.
This is a two phase thing.
Drop a pool of olive oil onto a pan and few slivers of margarine.
Just enough to go around the available / chosen chicken leftovers - including no bones, I think; but skins, yes.
Idea is to cook them a bit on fat before throwing the water in...
For phase "dry" give it low intensity fire or they will stick to the pan in no time.
And keep tuned in to checking if the chicken is wanting to stick, in which case stirring it out of it's trend is of essence.
It will not be long until the chicken changes colour slightly and shines a bit from the fat.
It is time for the "wet" phase...
Drop the water in and give throttle to the gas because this is a "reducing" phase.
I put the fire on maximum but it probably depends on the stove each one uses.
Select a bundle of spaghetti for use, hold it above the pan with both hands and snap the whole thing in two before dropping them on the pan.
In my case, this is necessary for the uncooked spaghetti to fit in the pan.
I suppose dry commercial spaghetti sticks will be more or less same length in great portions of the planet, so you may have to break it to fit too.
Depends on pan diameter too, of course... but for this thing it is good idea to use something that hasn't much more volume than the ingredients.
After the pasta is in we can settle for a quieter bit while the whole thing reduces.
Some water reduces by evaporation and some other reduces by soaking the pasta.
The "wet" phase being quieter does not mean the thing needs no more action.
This reducing phase is the time to add the seasoning. One of my four suggestions or another option you may remember.
Simply put, the cooking ends when the water runs out.
So, although phase two is quieter you need to keep watch of water level and cut the fire as soon as the water runs out, at the latest.
Slightly sooner will leave a bit of sauce.
For the variant with grated bread the ideal time to put it in seems to be when the water reaches the pasta level.
The phase when you no longer see water covering the pasta but you see there is still some below.
Beware the grated bread will very quickly soak that residual water and make sure you stir the whole thing to spread the grated bread evenly.
If it goes well it produces a sort of dredged spaghetti; must be excellent to clog blood vessels...
Although, the grated bread may have another use in the recipe.
If you feel the water is taking forever to "disappear", the grated bread will surely speed the process.
So, it may be used to counter having used too much water.
Optionals and alternatives:
Not much left to say here.
Sometimes I use some spiral format pasta instead of spaghetti.
A kind people usually use in salads around here.
Or the tubes; macaroni.
Never used any other kind of meat but I suppose it'll work too.
Probably will work better with birds.
Duck or turkey; the in-laws decided skipping on Thanks Giving and the turkey became leftovers?
Give it the rehydrating treatment...
