Recipie for 1 yar old Freedom Ranger hen...mmmmmmm good!

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Last month I butchered my remaining Freedom Ranger hen from last summers batch of 35. I had originally kept her, another hen and a rooster with the idea of seeing whether I could hatch some 2nd generation Freedom Rangers this spring. Long story short, the rooster became coc-au-vin in November, the other hen was butchered...losing track, I guess around January and made two lovely Chicken Fricasees dinners. This hen, like her sister, was so large that I cut her in half before I froze her.

I just picked up a bottle of Safeway Select's "Cacciatore" Slow Cooker Sauce and decided to try it. Before I left for the gym this morning (9:00ish) , I placed the half chicken in the crock pot on low, added the jar of sauce and walked away. When I came back at noon, I cut the leg quarter off and added a bit of water and a little canned, crushed tomato to the liquid to be sure that the leg quarter and the remaining 1/2 chicken was mostly submurged and walked away again. I flipped the whole thing in the liquid before going back to the gym to teach some more classes at 5:00. Around 8:00 I served it over some angel hair pasta to an enthusiastic family who were all interested in seconds. Just thought I'd share how easy and delicious this was.

I'm tempted to hang on to a few of the Red Rangers I have in the brooder right now to let them reach maturity, because I've enjoyed the flavor and texture of the mature chickens, cooked long and slow, so very much.

 

[camo 75]

Thanks heaps now I know what to do with my unproductive Plymouth hens

 

[redsoxs]

That sounds like something I'd like to try! Thanks for posting!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Thanks heaps now I know what to do with my unproductive Plymouth hens

I have a few 2 year old hens who haven't layed an egg...or more than 1 or 2 in the past two months. They are also destined for the crock pot. Think of this like a fabulous pot roast. You don't buy fillet mignon to make pot roast. You need a tougher less expensive cut of meat. However, the slow moist cooking breaks the gristle down and you are left with a tender, juicy and highly flavorful dish. If you tried it with a grocery store bird or an 8 week old CX the result would probably be mush, but my goodness a mature hen cooked this way is tasty. FYI, when I sectioned the bird at around 3 or 4 hours of cooking, I could tell that the meat was still tough and rubbery. You really need a good 8 hours to produce this dish.

I decided to save the leftovers and freeze them so that I have another mouth watering meal to serve the family on a night when I'm running hard and don't want to spend a lot of time cooking. Unfortunately, that means I can't have any more for lunch today.

 

[Sweet T]

Sounds great, thank you for sharing!