brooklyn1 wrote:
> zxcvbob wrote:
>> I bought a 10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters Saturday, and boiled
>> half of them (along with all the back pieces trimmed from the other
>> half, that I cut into thighs and drumsticks.) I just put a few bay
>> leaves and 2 whole cloves in the water. I used the meat to make
>> tamales filling (haven't made the tamales yet) and I saved all the
>> stock and the lovely pale yellow grease.
>>
>> Tonight I figured I better cook the rest of the chicken before it
>> starts to stink. I started out cooking a few thighs in a nonstick
>> pan, frying them in their own fat. When I got to the next pan,
>> drumsticks, I had a problem because they are round and not enough of
>> them makes contact with the pan. Then I remembered the chicken fat
>> in the fridge.
>>
>> I took all the chicken out of the pan and I put the cold fat in
>> there and heated it up. The kitchen was filled with the wonderful
>> smell of chicken and bay leaves. I put the legs back in the pan and
>> they are cooking now.
>>
>> Frying the chicken in the chicken grease should render all the
>> moisture out of the fat and also give it a "roast" taste (like
>> schmaltz). And the chicken fat will intensify the flavor of the
>> chicken and also should spice it with bayleaf. Win-win.
>>
>> I better go check on it so it doesn't burn...
>
> Pictures.


Use your imagination -- the kitchen is splattered from top to bottom
with chicken grease. :-P (the dogs are helping me clean the floor)
So much water cooks out of chicken these days; I wonder how anybody
makes proper fried chicken without the batter getting flooded and
falling off. (all that juice is why my grease splattered so much)

I strained the fat into a pint canning jar; it's almost full to the
top, and it's a darker yellow now than it started out.

Bob