I need a spent hen recipe

[pattgal]

Hi there everyone
I need a recipe for some older chicken meat. I tried slow roasting in the slow cooker and I find the meat is still too tough.
someone told me to marinate in white wine and it came out pretty good but the flavor was off
Does anyone know how to cook and old hen and still have it to be not so tough and taste great

 

[Karen09]

I can my meat in a garlic, salt and pepper mix. I boil the chicken in a garlic, salt and pepper (to taste) water, peel the cooked meat off the bird, put in in a pint jar, add some more garlic, salt and pepper (to taste) and pour a chicken water base (from what I cooked it in). Then I process the chicken in a pressure canner for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. I then let the finished can of meat sit for at least 1 month and use in other recipes (stir fries, chicken pot pie, etc...). It is much more tender that way.

 

[BettyR]

Grandma’s Chicken Gumbo

Make a dark roux with 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of oil.
(You can buy ready made roux but homemade is the best)(If you don't know how to make a dark roux Alton Brown has instructions on his show “A Bowl of Bayou”.)

1-1/2 gallons water
1 large hen (an old hen makes the best gumbo)
6 chicken bullion cubes
2 pounds of good smoked sausage (Cut into bite size pieces)
1 large onion (Chopped)
1 bell pepper
2 tablespoons liquid smoke (leave this out if using smoked meat)
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch parsley (chopped)
1 bunch green onions (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the chicken in half and place it in a large stockpot with the water and the rest of the ingredients. Simmer uncovered for about three hours or until chicken is tender and falling off the bone, remove the chicken from the pot place it in a bowl and put it in the refrigerator to cool. Turn the fire off under the pot, allow to sit while chicken is cooling, all the fat will rise to the top.

With a large spoon skim fat off the top of the gumbo.

Pick the chicken off the bone and add it back to the pot and heat it through; season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can substitute just about anything for the chicken. Wild game works very well, squirrels, ducks, geese, rabbits, turkey, quail, pheasant. Just make sure to simmer it long enough to get it tender.

Serve over rice in soup bowls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Southern Living CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

Makes 8 servings
Top-Rated Recipe, November 2001
Southern Living On-Line

1 (3 1/2-pound) whole chicken, cut up
2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
3 cups self-rising flour (I just use all-purpose flour and add 3 tsp. baking powder)
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/3 cup shortening
2 teaspoons bacon drippings
1 cup milk

COVER chicken with water, and bring to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and next 3 ingredients; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour for a grocery store hen or at least 3 hours for an old hen. Remove chicken, reserving broth in Dutch oven; cool chicken. Skim fat from broth; bring to a simmer.

SKIN, bone, and coarsely chop chicken. Add chicken, bouillon, and remaining salt and pepper to broth. Return to simmer.

COMBINE flour and poultry seasoning in a bowl. Cut in shortening and bacon drippings with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add milk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.

TURN dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1-inch pieces.

BRING broth mixture to a boil. Drop dumplings, a few at a time, into boiling broth, stirring gently. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring often, for 25 minutes. Prep: 30 min.; Cook: 1 hr., 30 min.

 

[pattgal]

these sound like very good recipes

Keep em comming
It's always good to have a few on hand. you never know when your gonna need a good spent hen recipe

 

[Leah and peeps]

I agree

 

[TexGardenGirl]

Here's some good info on cooking older birds, even roosters. http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

 

[peeplessinNC]

It will soon be soup weather! This PA Dutch recipe would be a fitting end to an old hen.

Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Corn Soup

1 3-4 lb. chicken
1 onion chopped
1 rib celery w/ leaves, chopped
4 qts. water
2 cups or more fresh corn off cob or 1 10 oz. package frozen corn
2 hard boiled eggs - optional
salt and pepper

Cook chicken slowly (at a simmer) for an hour or more in the water with the onion and celery. Remove the chicken from pot, let cool, then take meat off bones, chop in bite-size pieces and discard skin and bones. Add corn and chicken meat back into pot and bring up to a simmer. Add small dumplings (or rivels as the PA Dutch folk call them) and cook for 10-15 minutes. Taste soup and season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and add in chopped HB eggs if you are using them. Be sure to leave the onion and celery in the soup broth - they add a lot of flavor.

dumplings:
1 cup flour
1 egg
milk to make a soft dough to roll out, cut small dumplings

 

[chicmom]

Well, I boil mine with some celery and onions, and I make either chicken soup, or some nice chicken and dumplings. I could get you the recipe after I get home from work if you like.....I got it from a BYC magazine that had recipes for tough old birds! LOL