For most of us, shabbas chicken is ubiquitous. It might be dressed differently but it is generally sitting on every shabbas table throughout the world.There are many ways to make great chicken but are you making the most of yours? If you are really trying to stretch every shekel one chicken is enough to make almost an entire shabbas for a family of four if you plan it right.Recently a friend of mine showed me the absolute best way to make your chicken last.It is pretty simple- start by buying a whole chicken and then begin to break it down. Cut off all of the pieces with dark meat and the wings and put them aside. Then take the breast off the bone and slice it down the middle into one or two flat pieces. What is left is a carcass with a little bit of meat on it and the neck.Now, take the different pieces and put your shabbas meals together.For Friday night use the body of the chicken for soup and roast the dark meat in a pan in the oven to be eaten with the main meal.
TIP: for chicken soup in the summer you need to be very careful when the weather is hot, soups left out to cool can become breeding ground for bacteria. Best way to keep it cool is with two small frozen bottles of water. If you make soup early in the day and want to cool it fast take the two frozen bottles and put these into your soup- it will cool really quickly. (This also is a good idea after dinner)
For shabbas lunch- pound the chicken breast, cut it into strops bread and fry it for schnitzel or throw them on the grill and use them for a chicken salad.It’s a bit of work but really makes the most of your chicken.I would love to hear how you make food last.Feel free to leave an idea in the comment section or contact me on twitter @sarahnadav