Rooster prep and recipes?

[BlueBaby]

A couple of day's ago, I had someone come over here to help me to cull 3 roosters. I watched so that I could learn how to do it. Anyway's the roosters went into my freezer the same day that they were butchered. When I decide to take one of them out to thaw in the fridge, what will I need to do? Is there something that they will have to marinade in to help to make them tender? What would be a good recipe for them? I don't have a pressure cooker, but I do have a crock pot.

 

[techbsmith]

Here's how I process mine -

After the cockerel has been butchered and cleaned, I put the cut up pieces of the bird in a big ziplock bag with some buttermilk. I let the bird sit in the fridge for 2-3 days, then take it out, rinse well and either cook or freeze.

Since yours went straight into the freezer, you can thaw, and soak for a day or two. Soaking in buttermilk helps remove any strong taste you might get from hormones or fear if the kill wasn't clean. It also helps tenderize the meat - just be sure to rinse well before cooking.

One of my favorites is chicken and dumplings. I put the bird in a slow cooker, add a touch of oil if it's really lean/low fat meat. Add a bit of salt/pepper to taste and let cook on low for 8 hours (usually overnight). The next morning, I scoop out all of the meat and pick it from the bones. After that, I break the leg bones and add them and the other bones back into the broth, top off with water and turn to high for a few hours to get a really good chicken stock.

For the dumplings - my recipe is an old handwritten one. Measurements are appx.

1 cup buttermilk
2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbl butter

Mix all the dry ingredients, add butter and cream in with your fingers. Add buttermilk and mix until a dough forms. Roll that out on a pastry sheet (I use a silicone mat) with some flour. Roll out until about 1/4" thick then use a pizza cutter to cut into strips about 1" wide, then cross cut at about 1"wide again to make squares.

Strain the broth out of the slow cooker to remove all the bones and put into a pot. Add the chicken and salt/pepper to taste. Bring to a low boil - then add the dumplings in one at a time. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the dumplings have the consistency you want. Take all the extra flour from the pastry sheet and mix with some hot water to add to the mix. You can also use corn starch to help thicken the stock up.

My family loves it when I make this .. it's really a lot easier than you'd think and much better than using canned biscuits for the dumplings, or doing the drop dumpling method.

Hope this helps!

Bill

 

[DwightFletcher]

Thank your so much for the recipe.