Aunt Helene's Chicken Soup

 

Yesterday I decided to extend my pulled pork skills to pulled chicken.  I had had several conversations with my brother about this idea, which was his idea.  He actually is an impressive cook.  As impressive as me?  Weeeelll....  But when we join forces some gaps are filled in for me.  I told him about the frozen chicken problem, and he said just go ahead and put it in water and cook it and yum, soon it will be fall off the bone pulled chicken.  Or roast it after that if you like.  

OK, I tried it.  Results?  I would say fair.  First of all, look at the above dish of pulled chicken.  Does that look sumptuous?  It was a lot better looking than mine.  At best, pulled chicken look like, "Can we go to KFC now?"  Which I'll admit, I did.  But besides fried chicken, on Tuesdays, at least around here, KFC also has fried chicken livers, which they say are "regional."  As if chickens don't have livers in New York City.  And, yesterday was Tuesday.  

Off to the freezer.  I put four chicken quarters into my Instant Pot on sauté with about two quarts of water.  Then I added about 2 tablespoons of salt, an eighth of a cup of vinegar, maybe two tablespoons of sage, and ?  My brother was right there on the phone and told me that adding curry would be good and maybe turmeric.  I didn't have curry.  Then I went looking for my accountant.  Some time later I returned and found the Instant Pot on the "keep warm" setting.  This is one of the nice things about this device, although I had forgotten about it.  Then I set it back on sauté in order to bring it to a boil, and then set it on slow cook for five hours.  

So, as you may be able to see, there were some issues.  The first one was OK because the Instant Pot has a feature to rescue neglected food.  Otherwise?  I don't like to think about it.  Issue two.  Is it a good idea to slow cook chicken for five hours?  Well, that depends.  In five hours that chicken was cooked to pieces.  The broth was pretty good.  So if making broth was the object, yes, that would be a start.  But I would say, if broth is what you're trying to make, it isn't done.  Not to perfection.  Continue to cook until you just can't find the bones anymore because they have dissolved into the wonders of brothy goodness.  And long before that the cartilage will have vanished.  This probably will take 24 hours, unless one pressure cooks it, and that takes about three or four hours.  Then strain this broth and remove the remaining skin and meat.  But this is where I take issue with what happened here.  I was actually trying to make pulled chicken.  

So, the pulled chicken I made looked kind of mushy and soggy.  Usually if I decide to make broth I don't take whole pieces of chicken to do it, I just save some bones of already cooked chicken and use that.  To cook meat into broth seems a little pointless.  

I removed the bones and skin and cartilage and tore up the chicken, and had about a quart of pulled chicken.  I gave Mrs. Billingsley two cups of the broth.  I was surprised at how she devoured it.  It's not typical of her to show much interest in food.  It was good because she needs her nourishment and this was coming close to Jewish chicken soup of legend.  Really yummy.  She looked suspiciously at the pulled chicken.  What did I intend to do with that??  "I'm not sure."  

The pulled chicken and the leftover bones and skin were refrigerated and the broth was put in a half gallon Mason jar in the refrigerator.  How do you know if the broth is perfect?  When it's chilled, it turns into a gel.  Well, today I didn't have chicken jello, but still, it was congealed some.  Should I put it back into the Instant Pot with the bones and skin and try to achieve perfection?  I'm not planning to.  I think I will use the leftovers in my next attempt at broth, along with some other leftovers, but not the whole pieces of chicken.  

What will I do with the pulled chicken?  I suppose BBQ sauce or chicken salad or chicken soup.  

So next time I'm not planning to slow cook the frozen chicken for five hours, but I suppose I will pressure cook the leftovers and broth for about three hours.  

The problem I see with making the pulled chicken that I made is that it is just like canned chicken.  Far be it from me to disparage canned chicken.  It makes nice salad, nice chicken soup, mediocre BBQ.  But to intentionally make canned chicken seems pointless because it's so much easier to just open a can of canned chicken.   I was trying to make BBQ or else roasted chicken that had been thawed by slow cooking.   There is a happy upside to pulled pork or pulled chicken.  It's a lot easier for Mrs. Billignsley to eat because of dental issues.  But don't think she can't eat fried chicken.   She can absolutely manage fried chicken.