Seeing as it snowed today, I decided to finally defrost the frozen whole chicken in my freezer for chicken soup. Bogda inspired me by telling me how to make homemade chicken soup. I haven't wrestled a whole chicken in my life. The last time I worked with a whole piece of poultry was when I was thoroughly disgusted by a turkey my mom asked me to clean, stuff and put in the oven.
Having seen the lady on America's Test Kitchen demonstrate how to cut up a whole chicken years ago, and with a little knowledge from KFC, I felt confident in the task. Plus, it finally gave me an excuse to use the Cutco kitchen shears I bought only after the sales rep promised they could cut through chicken bone. Not that I really anticipated cutting up a chicken at the time...
Anyway, the task was difficult and taxing. I felt for my grandmothers who were probably the last members of my family to cut up a whole chicken on a regular basis (with a knife no less!). My back began to ache as I struggled cutting through the backbone, breastplate, and limbs.
I literally turned the little hen inside out by ripping off her skin. I was slightly proud of myself for separating the breasts and putting them aside for "cutlets" as Bogda suggested. She promised that I could get at least three meals from this one chicken.
I have been fascinated by the way people used to get by in simpler times, especially during the Depression. Next I will have to actually kill the chicken and defeather it, then cut it up and cook it. Bogda promises that fresh chickens are much better than the store bought kind. For now I will just have to take her word for it.
***PS*** There are no pictures of the final product because I thought you might want to see some raw chicken in a pot. I mean, we've all seen chicken soup a million times. Raw chicken? Not so much.
