• Home
• Soups
• Meats
• Seafood
• Eggs
• Sauces
• Vegetables
• Little Things
• Other

roasted soup-birds

various dates

Now that I no longer raise chickens, all I have access to are store-bought chickens and the majority of those are young fryers. I like chicken soup, but not so much the soup-chicken that makes it, especially not if it has been boiled to death and hardly has any flavor left. I prefer my chicken with good chicken flavor and a nicely crisp skin.

To get the best of both worlds, I now simmer frozen chicken legs for about 20-25 minutes in the soup, which is long enough to render some of the fat and flavor, but not enough to cause it to lose all its flavor. After that, I finish the chicken either by oven-roasting or pan-frying. This works best if the skin is still intact.

Don't try with with older backyard chickens that can no longer be served as fryers. They'll be chewy as can be.

A. roasted soup-chicken

It is important that the soup-chicken has not been fully cooked. (Pic1) Once the flavor is gone, nothing you do will return it. But you can enhance the weakened flavors from a partially-cooked chicken. It may not be the same as a freshly-roasted chicken, but it's definitely better than boiled chicken.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 2-4 servings:

• 2 large chicken legs
• vegetables & fruits of choice.
• S&P, spices

Pic1: my 1st attempt at roasted soup chicken — 2019-07-29
This one was already too far gone, but it proved the concept

Directions

2019-10-28

Pic2-4: soup-chicken, roasted and served with cranberry sauce, cabbage, boiled onion, turnip

2019-11-01

Pic5-7: roasting soup-chicken gives it color and flavor and crisps the skin, so much better than boiling only.

2020-06-07

Pic8-10: soup-chicken, roasted and served with soup-vegetables and jackfruit

2020-08-27

Pic5: seasoning
Pic6: roasted soup-chicken leg, served
Pic7: veggie grillers

Boiling the soup chicken:

• Combine all ingredients with up to 4 qts of water in a medium stock pot.
• Bring to a boil. Season to taste.
• Add the frozen chicken legs.
• Reduce heat, cover and simmer over low heat for 15-25 minutes, depending on their size.
  For best flavor, the chicken legs should still be red inside.
• Remove and reserve the chicken.
• Strain  the vegetables from the soup.

Roasting the soup chicken:

• Preheat the oven to 350-380 ºF. (convection oven)
• Arrange the chicken in an ovenproof dish or on the oven-grill.
• Optional:
  • Add the desired amount of soup vegetables.
  • Return the rest to the soup.
• Add additional seasoning to taste.
• Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350-380 ºF to get a nicely brown and crisp skin.
• Remove from the oven.

• If you like garlic, serve the soup with some freshly cut garlic.
• Serve the roast soup chicken as the main meal instead of with the soup.
• Enjoy.

---

b. Roasted soup-duck

I have done the same thing with duck. This was an older duck that required long moist cooking, but roasting it afterwards still improved the looks and flavor.

2016-11-09

 

• Home
• Soups
• Meats
• Seafood
• Eggs
• Sauces
• Vegetables
• Little Things
• Other