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Food

Chicken.

(19 Posts)
Calendargirl Sun 22-Sept-24 12:52:01

We’re having roast chicken today.

But have just said to my DH “Oh, I would love to be having boiled chicken.”

Did anyone else ever have them?

When I was a child, my dad reared chickens for a living, it was back in the days when chicken was a real treat, not the ubiquitous food in every supermarket it is now.

When the hens were old and past laying, they would be killed and sold off for food processing.

A good ‘boiler’ needed to be old, the stock it was boiled in made delicious broth, and the chicken itself was served with white sauce with nutmeg.

Absolutely delicious, so tasty.

Modern roast chicken is tasteless in comparison.

Frenchgalinspain Tue 24-Sept-24 19:18:29

A classic Spanish Chicken al Chilindrón from Áragon:

This is a dish prepared in a pressure cooker ..

A high quality organic chicken ( I have butcher slice and the skin removed )
Chicken stock / to cover
1 onion
1 green pepper (bell)
1 red bell pepper
2 tomatoes ( peeled and de-seeded )
4 cloves of garlic sliced finely
a tsp of flour
1 glass of white wine
Extra virgin olive oil
A Tsp of vinagre ( cider or white )
salt and black pepper to taste
fresh parsley sliced finely

Not fancy but tasty on a chilly grey day.

Spice it up to one´s liking and preferences.
SERVE with a hot baguette or bread of choice.

Witzend Tue 24-Sept-24 19:39:32

I’ve read more than once in Barbara Pym’s novels (set in e.g the 50s) of boiled chicken ‘smothered in white sauce’ being served to guests, usually when a clergyman was going to be among them - it was evidently the done thing to give them ‘a bird’. Plain white sauce does sound boring though - you’d think they might have perked it up a bit!

I do remember as a child people talking of ‘boiling fowls’. I don’t think we ever had one, though, and roast chicken was a real rarity - it was relatively expensive then, and my mother never liked chicken anyway.

crazyH Tue 24-Sept-24 20:16:13

Yes - back then, my mum reared chickens and would actually see them being slaughtered (sorry) and de-feathered . The taste was amazing.

flappergirl Tue 24-Sept-24 20:21:34

Yes Calendargirl! We used to have boilers for the same reason as you. They were absolutely delicious and I used to salivate as it simmered away in the large pot on the stove top. Mum also used the broth for soups and stews. Ours was usually served with white sauce (no nutmeg though), leeks and mashed potato. Yum.

Calendargirl Tue 24-Sept-24 21:19:59

I was going to post how good the meat was, it was so tender, tasty and moist, but I know many on GN do not seem to like the word ‘moist’!

But it was. Roast chickens are so dry in comparison.

petra Tue 24-Sept-24 21:31:20

Calendargirl
I wonder if they know it’s Susie Dents favourite word 😂

Calendargirl Tue 24-Sept-24 21:36:04

petra

Who is Susie Dent?

🤷‍♀️

gulligranny Tue 24-Sept-24 21:54:38

You can get the same effect if you cook a chicken in a slow cooker with some stock, especially if you then turn it breast downward and let it cool in the stock. Beautifully moist and falls off the bone.

Jaxjacky Tue 24-Sept-24 21:56:17

I’ve simmered a whole chicken before, not a broiler bird, but I’m darned if I can remember why 🙄.

Susie Dent is a lexicographer, regular on Countdown and other programmes.

foxie48 Tue 24-Sept-24 22:25:01

My sister lives in Spain and cooks puchero a simple boiled chicken with chick peas, vegetables and smoked pork fat. It's delicious. You have the stock served as a soup with rice and a few chick peas, then the chicken, vegetables and chick peas
Hearty filling fare cooked in one pot.

NotAGran55 Tue 24-Sept-24 22:27:45

I don’t eat meat, but I’m guessing that the modern version on restaurant menus these days would be poached or sous vide? 🤔

Esmay Wed 25-Sept-24 05:18:53

Apart from my fish and chip Fridays -I'm on my pre Christmas healthy diet at the moment.
It's vegetarian .

Read this post and I'm longing for my favourite warm -me -up boiled chicken with a ton of vegetables soup .
Fantastic if you don't feel well and great for warming you up when you come in from the cold .
Come November it will be my stand by .

teabagwoman Wed 25-Sept-24 06:28:03

I used to cook boiling fowl, so much more tasty. I sometimes cook a whole chicken in my pressure cooker now. Very moist chicken and excellent in salads and sandwiches.

GrannyGravy13 Wed 25-Sept-24 07:30:17

I can remember our chef (parents were publicans) steaming chickens, then finishing them off in the oven.

Moist tasty meat with the addition of super crispy skin, yummy

Floradora9 Wed 25-Sept-24 21:45:31

I have never eaten chicken skin because of the fat content am I missing something ? Crackling is another thing I never came across growing up in Scotland . I still could not eat in now .

Griild Mon 07-Oct-24 20:58:01

"I've never tried boiled chicken with white sauce and nutmeg, but it sounds like a nostalgic and flavorful meal!"

paddyann54 Mon 07-Oct-24 22:05:51

I poach chicken breasts in stock then use the stock to make a sauce My OH tells me it’s delicious.I wouldn,t know as I don’t and never have eaten fowl.of any kind

Allira Mon 07-Oct-24 22:54:44

teabagwoman

I used to cook boiling fowl, so much more tasty. I sometimes cook a whole chicken in my pressure cooker now. Very moist chicken and excellent in salads and sandwiches.

I remember when I was not long married and decided to cook coq au vin for a special occasion and buying a chicken (fowl) from the market.
What I didn't realise was that it needed drawing. Rubber gloves on, I had a go but felt like dumping the whole thing in the bin, but couldn't afford to do that so had to persevere.