Chicken feet for stock

About a week ago, I asked about ways to use the leftover rotisserie
chicken. Amy Ross and others suggested I make stock and use that to
make soup.

Today, my wife went to the grocery store and brought home a couple of
roasting chickens. At that store, the whole roasting chickens still
have the feet attached. She must have turned up her nose because the
butcher asked her if she wanted him to remove the feet. He then told
her that they add very good flavor to the stock. Since she knew I was
going to make stock, she broght them home.

So, are the feet good for making stock?

What's the procedure? Bake them with the chicken?

Also, what are good spices to use in making chicken stock? Or is that
something to be added later when making the soup?


--
For email, use

In article , LurfysMa
wrote:

About a week ago, I asked about ways to use the leftover rotisserie
chicken. Amy Ross and others suggested I make stock and use that to
make soup.

Today, my wife went to the grocery store and brought home a couple of
roasting chickens. At that store, the whole roasting chickens still
have the feet attached. She must have turned up her nose because the
butcher asked her if she wanted him to remove the feet. He then told
her that they add very good flavor to the stock. Since she knew I was
going to make stock, she broght them home.

So, are the feet good for making stock?

What's the procedure? Bake them with the chicken?

Also, what are good spices to use in making chicken stock? Or is that
something to be added later when making the soup?

For a good chicken soup add an onion, ten carrots or three or four
chunks of butternut Squash and some parsley or cilantro. Simmer the
soup for at least four hours. Remove all this from the soup and strain
it. Refrigerate the soup so the fat forms on the surface and can be
skimmed off. If you like you can puree the vegetables and return them
to the soup along with chicken meat cleaned from the bones.

In article ,
Carol Frilegh wrote:

In article , LurfysMa
wrote:

About a week ago, I asked about ways to use the leftover rotisserie
chicken. Amy Ross and others suggested I make stock and use that to
make soup.

Today, my wife went to the grocery store and brought home a couple of
roasting chickens. At that store, the whole roasting chickens still
have the feet attached. She must have turned up her nose because the
butcher asked her if she wanted him to remove the feet. He then told
her that they add very good flavor to the stock. Since she knew I was
going to make stock, she broght them home.

So, are the feet good for making stock?

What's the procedure? Bake them with the chicken?

Also, what are good spices to use in making chicken stock? Or is that
something to be added later when making the soup?

For a good chicken soup add an onion, ten carrots or three or four
chunks of butternut Squash and some parsley or cilantro. Simmer the
soup for at least four hours. Remove all this from the soup and strain
it. Refrigerate the soup so the fat forms on the surface and can be
skimmed off. If you like you can puree the vegetables and return them
to the soup along with chicken meat cleaned from the bones.

Too many carrots.

It's really best to make the stock separately IMHO, then add the other
soup ingredients (such as carrot and squash) after the fact.

Otherwise the veggies get overcooked and have little to no flavor.

Making stock is all about extracting the essence. ;-) I will add the
meat back to it if I'm using whole chicken to make stock/soup such as
drumsticks or wings but if I'm making a bone stock, the bones get cooked
down enough to be crushable and fed to the animals along with whatever
little meat is left.

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

LurfysMa wrote:
About a week ago, I asked about ways to use the leftover rotisserie
chicken. Amy Ross and others suggested I make stock and use that to
make soup.

Today, my wife went to the grocery store and brought home a couple of
roasting chickens. At that store, the whole roasting chickens still
have the feet attached. She must have turned up her nose because the
butcher asked her if she wanted him to remove the feet. He then told
her that they add very good flavor to the stock. Since she knew I was
going to make stock, she broght them home.

So, are the feet good for making stock?

Yep. But some additional other bones and meat would offer an improvement
in depth of flavor.

What's the procedure? Bake them with the chicken?

You can brown them for additional flavor, or just start them in cold
water. Add a mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions, maybe turnip). It
looks like you have four feet to play with, so I'd use maybe three ribs
of celery, two or three carrots and a medium onion, all cut into
one-inch chunks. A little parsley, if you'd like. A bay leaf. Six or
eight peppercorns. That's it.

Simmer for a couple hours making sure the feet stay covered with water.
The stock will be very gelatinous but not very fatty. Don't boil it or
it'll be cloudy (an aesthetic judgement). The stock will become solid
upon cooling. The feet will be useless for anything else, throw them
out. The veggies will have surrendered all their flavor. I'd chuck them,
too. You'll have maybe 3 or 4 cups of a very basic stock, since there's
no meat or additional bone in there.

Also, what are good spices to use in making chicken stock? Or is that
something to be added later when making the soup?

No other spices for stock.

Pastorio

In article ,
"Bob (this one)" wrote:

it'll be cloudy (an aesthetic judgement). The stock will become solid
upon cooling. The feet will be useless for anything else, throw them
out.

Pastorio

Are you nuts??!! Sprinkle a little salt on those feet and suck the
bones clean! I hesitate to say there's meat on them there feet -- it's
more of something gelatinous. Yum!! You heathen! Oh, wait -- that's
probably me.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 10-20-05 with a note from Niece Jo.

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
In article ,
"Bob (this one)" wrote:

it'll be cloudy (an aesthetic judgement). The stock will become solid
upon cooling. The feet will be useless for anything else, throw them
out.

Pastorio

Are you nuts??!! Sprinkle a little salt on those feet and suck the
bones clean! I hesitate to say there's meat on them there feet -- it's
more of something gelatinous. Yum!!

I agree. As long as there's still something left. The gelatin is a very
sensuous mouthfeel. Silky, almost like a rich fat, slightly sticky. I've
tried to feed them to people, most of whom either sneered or gagged.
More for me. On occasion, I've dipped them into a tomato sauce and
picked them clean. Once in a garlicky mayo like aioli.

One time, maybe 1979 or so, sitting out back of one of my restaurants
and eating, away from the madness, guy came along and saw what I was
eating (maybe 6 or 8 feet, salt and pepper) and he asked if he could
have one. Suit and tie kinda guy, frayed a bit and not completely clean.
I gave him one and he told an amazing story about his parents coming
from Russia and how they raised and slaughtered chickens for sale and
kept the feet, combs and wattles for themselves to eat. They sold
everything else. He said he hadn't had a foot in years and he cried
while we sat there, remembering. Talked about his sister who lived in
Canada, his mother who had just died and his father who had been gone
since the late 50's. We sat there and ate the rest of the feet. I went
inside to get more stuff; I wasn't hungry, but he was. We sat out there
for a good hour, eating, talking, laughing. I had one of my guys wrap up
a good package of food for him, including maybe a dozen feet. Later, the
kitchen folks said they'd dropped $25 in the bag, too. My kitchen
manager said, "And we only took $10 out of the register to put in
there." Wonderful day...

You heathen! Oh, wait -- that's
probably me.

Um, prolly both of us.

Pastorio

"Bob (this one)" wrote

One time, maybe 1979 or so, sitting out back of one of my restaurants and
eating, away from the madness, guy came along and saw what I was eating
(maybe 6 or 8 feet, salt and pepper) and he asked if he could have one.
Suit and tie kinda guy, frayed a bit and not completely clean. I gave him
one and he told an amazing story about his parents coming from Russia and
how they raised and slaughtered chickens for sale and kept the feet, combs
and wattles for themselves to eat. They sold everything else. He said he
hadn't had a foot in years and he cried while we sat there, remembering.
Talked about his sister who lived in Canada, his mother who had just died
and his father who had been gone since the late 50's. We sat there and ate
the rest of the feet. I went inside to get more stuff; I wasn't hungry,
but he was. We sat out there for a good hour, eating, talking, laughing. I
had one of my guys wrap up a good package of food for him, including maybe
a dozen feet. Later, the kitchen folks said they'd dropped $25 in the bag,
too. My kitchen manager said, "And we only took $10 out of the register to
put in there." Wonderful day...

You ended my day with a big smile. Thanks for the story.

nancy

In article ,
"Bob (this one)" wrote:

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
In article ,
"Bob (this one)" wrote:

it'll be cloudy (an aesthetic judgement). The stock will become solid
upon cooling. The feet will be useless for anything else, throw them
out.

Pastorio

Are you nuts??!! Sprinkle a little salt on those feet and suck the
bones clean! I hesitate to say there's meat on them there feet -- it's
more of something gelatinous. Yum!!

I agree. As long as there's still something left. The gelatin is a very
sensuous mouthfeel. Silky, almost like a rich fat, slightly sticky. I've
tried to feed them to people, most of whom either sneered or gagged.
More for me. On occasion, I've dipped them into a tomato sauce and
picked them clean. Once in a garlicky mayo like aioli.

One time, maybe 1979 or so, sitting out back of one of my restaurants
and eating, away from the madness, guy came along and saw what I was
eating (maybe 6 or 8 feet, salt and pepper) and he asked if he could
have one. Suit and tie kinda guy, frayed a bit and not completely clean.
I gave him one and he told an amazing story about his parents coming
from Russia and how they raised and slaughtered chickens for sale and
kept the feet, combs and wattles for themselves to eat. They sold
everything else. He said he hadn't had a foot in years and he cried
while we sat there, remembering. Talked about his sister who lived in
Canada, his mother who had just died and his father who had been gone
since the late 50's. We sat there and ate the rest of the feet. I went
inside to get more stuff; I wasn't hungry, but he was. We sat out there
for a good hour, eating, talking, laughing. I had one of my guys wrap up
a good package of food for him, including maybe a dozen feet. Later, the
kitchen folks said they'd dropped $25 in the bag, too. My kitchen
manager said, "And we only took $10 out of the register to put in
there." Wonderful day...

Great story, thanks! :-)


You heathen! Oh, wait -- that's
probably me.

Um, prolly both of us.

Make that 3. ;-d


Pastorio
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

Bob (this one) wrote:

One time, maybe 1979 or so, sitting out back of one of my restaurants
and eating, away from the madness, guy came along and saw what I was
eating (maybe 6 or 8 feet, salt and pepper) and he asked if he could
have one. Suit and tie kinda guy, frayed a bit and not completely clean.
I gave him one and he told an amazing story about his parents coming
from Russia and how they raised and slaughtered chickens for sale and
kept the feet, combs and wattles for themselves to eat. They sold
everything else. He said he hadn't had a foot in years and he cried
while we sat there, remembering. Talked about his sister who lived in

My Uncle Morris was a very Americanized Polish Jew. When Aunt Gracie
made chicken soup, the feet were reserved for Uncle Morris. So was the
flanken.

-bwg

wrote:
Bob (this one) wrote:

One time, maybe 1979 or so, sitting out back of one of my restaurants
and eating, away from the madness, guy came along and saw what I was
eating (maybe 6 or 8 feet, salt and pepper) and he asked if he could
have one. Suit and tie kinda guy, frayed a bit and not completely clean.
I gave him one and he told an amazing story about his parents coming
from Russia and how they raised and slaughtered chickens for sale and
kept the feet, combs and wattles for themselves to eat. They sold
everything else. He said he hadn't had a foot in years and he cried
while we sat there, remembering. Talked about his sister who lived in

My Uncle Morris was a very Americanized Polish Jew. When Aunt Gracie
made chicken soup, the feet were reserved for Uncle Morris. So was the
flanken.

Those chickens had flanken? Big, muscular, furry chickens that mooed,
maybe? LOL

Uncle Morris was a lucky guy.

Pastorio