I cooked a whole chicken last night, something I haven’t done in a while.
Today’s world is all about buying parts – wings, breasts, thighs – something unthinkable when I was first married (yes, I’m that old). I can still cut up a whole chicken with the best of them, but why bother anymore? It was on sale and the size of a Buick,
so we’ll not only reap many meals from it (hello, soup for the freezer and
chicken salad) but given the bulk of the thing, we’re also probably acquiring plenty
of extra hormones.
Still, I pulled out the giblets prior
to popping it in the oven and thought maybe I’d put the liver aside just for me
since My Guy’s not a fan. But no liver. The little bag had the usual neck bone,
heart, and gizzard, but no liver. I’ll bet the cheapos take out all the livers
since they can sell them separately.
This brought to mind my childhood and
sitting down to fried chicken. I could probably tell you which member of the
family favored which part, right down to the giblets, which were dropped into
that sack of seasoned flour and fried in Crisco along with all the other parts.
These days, I usually buy whole chickens rather than parts since my husband and I will chip away at it. When the kids were home, they were more into parts.
ReplyDeleteIt's a mystery as to whether there will be any innards, and which ones, included until unwrapping - Schrodinger's inards?
So the liver was there until I opened the bag. Magic.
DeleteI don't ever recall getting a sack of giblets with a whole chicken. Turkeys, yes, but not chickens. (OK, but now ask me how many times I've cooked a whole chicken. I think maybe....once?)
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of frying and eating the giblets.
ReplyDeleteIt is a long, long time since I have cooked a whole chicken. With only one person (discounting the cats) in the house that eats chicken it doesn't seem worthwhile. I remember when chicken was a luxury food. How things have changed.
ReplyDeleteLobster used to be considered "poor people's food", too!
DeleteI have cut up many a chicken, but as you point out, not for a long time. They sell chicken livers separately these days? I'll bet you're right.
ReplyDeleteI remember the bag of giblets and liver inside the whole chickens, but haven't bought a whole chicken for many years now. As a teenager I helped with plucking when mum killed a chicken or two for Sunday dinners and she would fry the giblets for the gravy, but I don't remember if they actually went into the gravy or just added flavour to it. The liver would be fried and minced and added to the gravy.
ReplyDeleteI used to be able to cut up a whole chicken. It's been so long, I'm not sure I'd remember how to do it now.
ReplyDeleteLike riding a bike.
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