Poultry

Using all the Chicken

Cooking has never been easier. You can buy the portions you require of just about any product. No need to know anything about the whole animal, bird, fish or - even the whole vegetable. It';s all very time-saving but not very cost effective.

What's worse is that children are growing up without any understanding of where food comes from. If they don't see it in the home, where will they find it? Not only does buying portioned food reduce this understanding but it also usually means that meals are planned on a one by one basis. It's rare to find a household where a range of meals are planned to link in terms of the work and the use of the produce. At its simplest this is - for e.g. a meal of roast lamb followed by one of shepherds pie. Then you could look at all the different ways of using a side of lamb, but that requires a largish family.

Let's consider instead - the chicken. Even a household of two can make full use of a chicken. It's all a case of planning properly and you can use every part of the bird economically and deliciously. Rather than being boring it can be a gastronomic highlight, particularly with some of Silvana's family secrets.

A good example is the Chicken Polpettine Lasagna, in that you use the carcass for the broth, you use the scrap meat for the polpettine and you still have the best parts of the chicken for two different main courses.

If you are cooking for six, you can make three full meals (entree and main course) from 3 medium size chickens

For example, main courses - Chicken Breast Livornese, Chicken Legs Florentine, Chicken Polpettine Lasagna in broth; entrees - Risotto or Soup using the chicken stock.

You can also make a meal for six from a chicken of one and a half kilos with the Chicken Lasagna or Risotto or Soup as a first course and a Fricassee of Chicken or Involtini of Chicken as Main course.

Bone the chicken or [cut into pieces on the bon

Keep breasts and legs aside for Main Course

Make chicken stock with the carcass of the chicken