Acheson’s Kitchen Know-How
BY KNOWING how to butcher a chicken, you can get numerous
dishes out of it. Use the carcass and back to make stock, the
oysters to make a stew, the thighs in Acheson’s braised thighs
in vinegar dish, the drumsticks for fried chicken, the breasts for
baking or poaching, and the gizzards, neck, and liver to make
dirty rice.
IF YOU BUY a vinegar with a live culture (like Bragg’s), when
the bottle is almost empty, you can start a universal vinegar
(meaning a vinegar composed of lots of different liquids). Just
refill the bottle with beer or leftover wine and cap it with
cheesecloth and string. A few weeks later, you’ll have vinegar
ready to go.
THE KEY to having meat not stick to a hot pan is to coax the fat
out gently; don’t blast it on high heat, do it on medium heat.
When the metal is hot it becomes porous and captures the fat,
and that, ultimately, is what will allow the meat to release (and
is how you will know it’s done on that side).