After the fava bean pods there were more leftovers to use up: the meat still attached to the bones from making chicken stock from what was left of the chicken whose legs we had with the fava beans. Although most of the flavor from the meat has ended up in the stock, I have always wondered whether you could still do something with the meat. From the carcass (including wings) of a 1.4 kg chicken, I harvested about 160 grams of cooked chicken meat (or about 11%). I used most of the chicken stock to make the sauce that was served with the chicken leg with fava beans, but there was some leftover stock as well. I had also reserved the fat that floated on top of the stock. By using that as well, we really maxed out this chicken. (We had the breast for dinner on another night — no blog post about that though.)

I ended up using the leftover chicken meat to stuff a zucchini, together with oyster mushrooms and topped with cheese. The result was pretty nice, and you could definitely make this with regular chicken meat as well. As expected, the chicken meat leftover from making stock doesn’t have a lot of flavor, but the texture is fine and adding the leftover chicken stock helped. You may get a better result by roasting the carcass and picking the meat rather than making stock as well, but then you won’t have stock for the sauce like I did. I served this with roasted potatoes and it was a nice meal. Here’s what I did…

Ingredients

For 2 servings

1 zucchini

160 grams (6 oz) cooked and shredded chicken

150 grams (6 oz) oyster mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thickly

6 Tbsp leftover chicken fat from making stock (substitute with olive oil)

1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

500 grams (1.1 lbs) potatoes

sliced cheese (I used Gouda)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 shallot, minced

250 ml (1 cup) chicken stock

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 225ºC/440ºF (fan forced).

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Reserve the seeds.

Brush the zucchini inside and out with 2 Tbsp of chicken fat.

Peel the potatoes, cut them in quarters, and toss with 2 Tbsp chicken fat.

Arrange the zucchini and potato wedges on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Roast for about 20 minutes at 225ºC/440ºF until the potatoes and zucchini are golden.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of chicken fat in a frying pan. Add the shallot and sauté until translucent.

Chop the reserved zucchini seeds and add to the shallots.

Add the sliced oyster mushrooms and season with salt.

Sauté over medium heat until the mushrooms are cooked, about 6-8 minutes.

Add the shredded chicken…

…the thyme…

…and the chicken stock (which I had reduced separately, but that is not necessary).

Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture is almost dry (this will happen more quickly if you reduced the chicken stock separately).

By now the zucchini should be coming out of the oven. Stuff the zucchini with the chicken mixture…

…and top with the cheese.

Return to the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 5-10 minutes.

Serve the stuffed zucchini with the potato wedges.

Flashback

It is a coincidence that today’s flashback has a similar theme to Silva’s and Marina’s posts for today: fusilli with runner bean ‘pesto’. The main ingredient in this pesto-like sauce is the runner beans, with just a hint of basil and garlic to prevent overpowering the delicate flavor of the beans.