Advent's Chicken Pie - Chicken Prep

There were requests for information on how to prepare and cook the chicken to bring to pie making sessions. Below are the directions compiled from a few cooks:

To prepare chicken for pie making:

1. Thaw Chicken
   • Thaw slowly in refrigerator until you cook it late Monday or Tuesday
   • or put chicken in water on Tuesday, to thaw before you "clean" it for cooking.
2. "Cleaning" the chicken.
   • Wash the pieces in cool water.
   • Remove any feather "quills" that may have been left on chicken and cutting off anyting you think should be taken off.
   • Leave the skin and fat on the pieces, but check for bone shards, etc.
3. Put the chicken pieces in a large pot and cover them with water.
4. Heat pot with chicken and water until boiling. Make sure the chicken does not stick to the bottom of the cooker as it heats.
5. Let it boil gently until well cooked (usually and hour or so) The meat should come off the bone easliy.
6. Remove from heat and let it cool, either in the broth, or in another container.
7. SAVE THE BROTH!
   • Strain broth and bring in container seperate from chicken.
   • To strain broth run it through a screen strainer to remove all large particles.
   • Store strained broth in a jar or picture for transport to church.
   • Refrigerate until ready to go.
8. When chicken is cool enough to handle
   • Take off the skin and any fat that did not "cook away". This can be discarded.
   • Remove the chicken from the bones.
   • Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces or smaller.
   • Do NOT put the Chicken and broth together.
   • Bring cooked chicken in a container or plastic zip bag.
   • Refrigerate until ready to go.