Poached Chicken

Aired on: October 2, 2006

This base dish will serve double duty for two delicious recipes:

Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce over Chive Egg Noodles and French Chicken Stew.

Try one dish tonight and then store the remaining 4 cooled chicken breasts in the cooled chicken poaching liquid in the refrigerator. Tomorrow's dinner can be whipped up in no time. If you have any of the poaching liquid leftover from making these two dishes pop it in the freezer and use it the next time something calls for chicken stock, it will be extra chicken-fortified!

Ingredients

4 large whole chicken breasts (about 3 pounds each)
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 onions, halved
2 large bay leaves
A bundle of parsley and thyme
1 lemon, sliced
Salt
A few peppercorns
4 cloves garlic, smashed

Yields: Serves 6-8

Preparation

Place all the ingredients in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Poach for 1 hour; remove from the heat. Let cool completely in the liquid, then strain. Separate the chicken from the skin and bones and reserve the stock.