Status

[desperance]

Four pages done. Um, four to go? Ish? Something on that order? Maybe...?

There shouldn't be other news, but there is: I have roasted the ruin of a chicken carcase (and cannot now remember why I had cut the meat from a raw chicken - which is a difficult process, and wasteful - but I do know exactly why I froze the fleshy bones: it was for this, exactly), and am nibbling on the crispy skin bits while I roast a butternut squash in the same oil. Tomorrow, there will be soup. I may carry on with this crazy roasting-one-thing-at-a-time splurge, and roast some carrots to add to the soup. Now I come to think of it, I might plug in the slow cooker and leave all these things in overnight, so come morning there is nothing to do but blitz...

On, on. Why can the emperor not take off his shirt? A waiting world needs to know...

Comments

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

"Why can the emperor not take off his shirt?"

Because the empress would see his "I love Butch" tattoo.

[badbookworm.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, crispy skin bits. They should genetically engineer a chicken that is entirely skin.

On second thoughts, that would be creepy. Creepy but delicious.

[(Anonymous)]

I have read several articles recently (and lots of SF stories long ago) about lab-grown tissues, with the implication that this would supply "meat" to supermarkets without all that nasty slaughter stuff getting in the way.

My suspicion, alas, is that this would be "meat" without skin, "healthy" "meat". But you are of course quite right. About both aspects, the creepiness and the yum. (And now I keep thinking about those breeds of dog with the excessive folds of skin hanging everywhere...)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Damn you, LJ! That was me, all logged out, for no observable reason...

[badbookworm.livejournal.com]

Perhaps those dogs are delicious also?

[cinderberry.livejournal.com]

Is it because he's not wearing a shirt in the first place?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Not that, no. He is wearing a shirt of stone. But no more spoilers...

[jeremy-m.livejournal.com]

If you're going to specialise in stories about exotic shirts, perhaps one day you could write something around the way that 'iron' and 'ironed' sound so similar, at least in Jamaican, that people can't reliably parse the great reggae song "I'm gonna put on my iron shirt". Or maybe not.

Chick-chick-chick-chick-chicken!

[gauroth.livejournal.com]

Aha! Do you roast your carcase and then boil it for stock? I do tend to buy a chicken for dismemberment (it's a)cheaper than buying breasts or legs separately and b)rather cathartic) but I always simmer the Remains raw for stock, picking off the cooked bits when they're done for curry or chicken mayo, as my Mama did.

Roasting the carcase instead, I suspect, would give a richer stock.

Tomorrow evening I'm going to use my lovely jellied stock and chicken bits to make risotto. It's one of those delicious dishes that use up extras like stock and chicken bits and an end of Parmesan and a splash of white wine that taste utterly wonderful.

The rest of the wine, of course, is the cook's perk.

Re: Chick-chick-chick-chick-chicken!

[(Anonymous)]

Yup. Depends on a number of factors, but if I have raw chicken-bits for stock, I usually do roast them first; ditto lamb or beef bones. As you say, I find it enhances the richness and the flavour.

And then sometimes I slam everything into the slow cooker and literally forget about it, so that I go downstairs next morning - this morning, f'rexample - and find that soup has pretty much made itself overnight, yay...

Also, risotto. Om-nom-nom. One of the best improvisations of my life, I was at a friend's house after Xmas and he said "Chaz, wanna cook dinner? We've got the remains of the goose..."

So I rummaged through his cupboards, and we had goose-and-mushroom risotto, and it's a meal I still remember with huge fondness.

And yes, I think you have your proportions exactly: a splash for the risotto, and the rest for the chef.

Re: Chick-chick-chick-chick-chicken!

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Aaargh! Please will LJ stop logging me out when I'm not looking...?