cockerel recipes!

[petal]

Anyone got some great recipes for my cockerels besides roast dinner??!!

[RichmondHens]

We tend to roast the big boys and if not eaten as a "roast dinner" then when cold strip the meat off the bones to make curries, stews etc. Also boil the bones up to make soup or stock. We quite often freeze the meat in portions enough for two and freeze left over soup and stock too.

With bantams we skin them rather than pluck (too small to be a roast therefore no need for skin), joint up and make casseroles. Add a generous slosh of wine or cider, herbs, onion, mushrooms, carrot and celery and you have a decent basic casserole. This is also a good way of dealing with old hens, who are too tough to roast and need a lot of long gentle stewing.

[Hilary B]

Depends a lot on age. I'd agree that skinning is easier than plucking if you don't actually want the skin (and apart from roasting, who does?), but quite simply, there is almost nothing you CAN'T do by way of cooking a cockerel, other than some would be too old to roast nicely!
One skinned (or plucked if you are enthusiastic), you could cut off the breast meat, the legs and the wings, and use them all for different dishes, there must be a thousand recipes in any decent cookbook!

[motherhen]

I've got loads of recipes but cannot remember them without my notes but one that I used to use a lot is a German recipe.
I usually roast it off a bit to reduce the fat content, but in a dish with a lid, in the bottom you put chopped bacon, apple and sliced mushrooms and then chicken stock and I add wine ( what a surprise ) the meat cooks up lovely and moist, if you open the lid near the end of cooking time then the skin will crisp.
When Mum had old hens at home she used to boil them with veg until cooked and then use the cooked meat in other recipes. I seem to remember a lovely Chicken and Leek pie YUM YUM.

[Nicos]

To be honest- I think it depends on the age of the bird.
If it's about a year ormore then I'd casserole them to help tederize them.
If they are the 'usual' 6 months then I actually prefer the gently roasted in a covered dish sitting on a bed of chopped onions with a sprinkling of tarragon, salt and maybe a little chilli.
I love the 'creamyness' of the meat so would prefer not to have the flavour altered too much.

[Snadger]

The ones I've done i've 'spatchcocked' That way i can make sure i haven't left any of the entrails inside and they cook quicker this way methinks.

[chris]

Erm, i've just put my dunce hat on. So I'm allowed to ask this

Is there any difference in taste between a cockerel and a hen? What are they mostly in the shops - cockerels?

[RichmondHens]

Not really. The taste depends on how the chickens are raised, rather than what sex they are. Slow growing free rangers taste much better than the barn reared quick growing hybrids that are mass produced for the supermarkets. The cheap chickens that you get in supermarkets can be either boys or girls as they are raised specifically for the table and reach their table weight before they are sexually mature.

Slow growing pure breeds (or first crosses of) which a lot of backyard keepers produce, including myself, take five or six months to get to a decent size, and by this stage the girls are reaching POL. If you are breeding dual purpose birds,eg Light Sussex, then often the girls are sold as egg layers while the boys are kept on and fattened for the table. I don't feel quite right culling a POL hen for the table, and usually sell mine on as egg layers and just fatten the boys for meat.

[squibbs]

Our last 2 cocks were skinned and the breasts turned into breaded chicken strips with the help of my daughter - the ones she didnt eat went in the freezer. The legs were covered in barbeque sauce for me.

[chris]

Just thought, there's a video on youtube (can't access here in work, grr!) of Gordon Ramsey showing you how to joint a chicken up. I use that method everytime we buy a chicken now (rather than buying prepared skinned breat fillets). Legs/wings are prepared and can be roasted when using the oven and taken to work for lunch/as a snack

Carcasses are saved up (frozen) until we've 2/3 and then we make stock with them (from frozen.. got that idea from HFW).

[4Shoes]

Found thread with help of Mr Giggle... Is a bit dated

Had to help out the neighbour last night to dispatch a number of cockerels and the old parent one. Last time I got one of the older cockerels, it was very gamey and quite stringy. Been doing some reading and the answer seems to be prepare bird and store in fridge for a week to allow it to tenderise.


Any other ideas on how to cook?
Thinking slow cooker to make stock and soup with juices curry or something with meat.

Any more exciting ideas perhaps with a red wine marinade.

[bikermike]

coq au vin is the traditional french way (basically stewed in wine onions mushrooms and garlic)

so called as it's a way of cooking the older stringier bird. Elizabeth David would be my starting point

[Snadger]

As mentioned eight years ago, spatchcocked on the Barbie!

[4Shoes]

As mentioned eight years ago, spatchcocked on the Barbie!

Think he is a bit too mature for that. His boys may be well suited.

His brother made brown chicken stock with no additional colouring.

[Scarlet]

Had to help out the neighbour last night to dispatch a number of cockerels and the old parent one. Last time I got one of the older cockerels, it was very gamey and quite stringy. Been doing some reading and the answer seems to be prepare bird and store in fridge for a week to allow it to tenderise.

Hanging, guts in will tenderise the meat. I would often hang a bird for 5 or 6 days in cool weather. Two weeks for turkeys prior to Christmas. Though older birds, like old wild game the meat can be past its best. Even slow cooking won't make much difference though removing the large leg tendons when preparing can help. Home reared birds (IMO) are gamey, chickens that are sold for a fiver are barely 6 weeks old, their meat is white, tender and a bit bland - something that most of us have grown used too....you can't compare it to a slow growing table bird reared for that purpose. Feeding well prior to slaughter, finishing pellets and then a week on corn can help but the taste is still very different to a cheap bird in the local supermarket. That said, I wouldn't bother with "old parent birds" they don't make a great dinner. Old hens that have been used for laying get to live after they've finished laying.

Best way to cook the tough bits of any old bird ( legs and wings) wild goose as well as chickens is confit( again IMO ) Don't be put off by the oil, you can cook several small batches in the same oil if you don't want to use too much oil and then store cooked chicken in the fridge/freezer if you've made extras.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ch...s-and-escarole