While buying a whole chicken and cutting it up won’t save you any time, it will save you money. Most supermarkets charge more for pre-cut chicken pieces because the work is already done for you. Pre-cut chicken pieces are great for certain recipes that may call for a large amount of a certain cut, such as chicken wings or baked chicken thighs; however, cutting up a whole chicken allows you to plan for smaller meals or for recipes that call for various different cuts such as a cassoulet. You can even use the chicken carcass and wings to prepare soup stocks.

You may find cutting a whole chicken into pieces a little difficult, but the more often you do it, the easier it gets. Before you get started, you will need the proper tools to make this task a little easier. Some people use a very sharp one blade knife, while others find it easier to use kitchen shears or chicken shears. You will also need a non-slip surface that can be easily cleaned.

Now that you have the basics, let’s get started on cutting up a chicken.

Place the chicken breast side up on a chopping board. Start by pulling one of the legs away from the body and cutting through the skin and meat until you reach the joint in the thigh and hip area. Place your fingers behind the joint and pull the leg out until you feel the joint pop out. If the joint is too tough to come out, cut through it until you reach the bone that attaches the leg to the chicken and then break it apart carefully. Cut the chicken around the joint and remove the leg. Try not to cut through any bone, as you may end up with shattered bone pieces in your food. Repeat this step for the other leg.

Once both legs are done, you will need to separate the thighs from the drumsticks. Again, find the joint that joins the thigh and the drumstick and then pop the joint apart with your hands.

The next step is to remove the wings. To do this, you will need to place the chicken on its side. Pull one wing out from the body and pop the wing out at the shoulder joint. Repeat this step for the other wing.

Place the chicken breast side down and cut through the cartilage of the breastbone, which can be found at the head of the bird. Using your fingers, press the center of breastbone from the skin side until the bone pops out and then pull the bone outwards. You will then be able to easily remove the bone and cartilage.

Once you are done cutting the chicken, don’t forget to thoroughly wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 minutes. Make sure to disinfect and wash your knife or shears, as well as any surfaces that have come in contact with the chicken.

If you are planning to eat only a few pieces of chicken, freeze the other cuts for later meals. You can also marinate the other pieces in your fridge overnight to use for a meal the next day.

Every week, we answer real questions from readers like you, This is another installment in the Dear Chicken Farmer series.

If you’ve got a question about chicken or chicken farming in Canada, send us a note to Dear Chicken Farmer and we’ll do our best to answer it.

Dear Chicken Farmer:

Is bruised chicken okay to eat?

No, it isn’t harmful to eat as long as the chicken is cooked to the proper internal temperature (74ºC for parts and 85ºC for a whole chicken). If it happens often, I would consider talking to your grocer about it. You should also know that blood spots or bruises are not a result of how the chickens are raised.

Check back next week for more questions and answers, or take a look at past questions.

It’s that time of year where we reflect on how grateful we are for the experiences we’ve had over the past year, and look forward to all of the new and exciting things to come. We’re taking a short hiatus over the holiday season, but we’ll be back in the New Year with more delicious recipes, expert guest bloggers, and informative industry tidbits. From all of us here at the Chicken Farmers of Canada, we wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday season. See you in the New Year!

Merry Christmas everyone! Turkey is definitely my favourite Christmas meal. I know I work for Chicken Farmers of Canada but come on…I have to give this one to turkey. Every year when I order my turkey I think of my favourite Christmas movie “A Christmas Story” and the part when the unruly hounds from next door traipse through the house into the kitchen and devour the Christmas turkey. I watch this movie at least twice during the holiday season and that scene includes some of my favourite lines from the movie. “The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone, all gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey Hash! Turkey a la King! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone, ALL GONE!” That would indeed be a very sad moment. I can’t imagine a Christmas without turkey and all of its fixings. My family is picky. When I am the one in charge of making the turkey I am reminded that under no circumstances am I to make something different. I like to play with the stuffing recipe and add cranberries and perhaps roasted nuts, etc… I look at cooking and the whole culinary experience as an adventure. With a little of this and a little of that you can completely change the taste of something and create something wonderful for your taste buds, however my family isn’t interested in a taste explosion of any kind when it comes to turkey. They want the same recipe they have every year. Mind you it tastes wonderful as it is and it’s very easy to make. Just remember to not overcook the turkey. Use a meat thermometer and baste it regularly. For 10 people, with leftovers, you need about a 15 lb turkey and about 8 cups of stuffing (1/2 cup of stuffing per pound), but I like to make a little extra. Make sure you don’t pack in the stuffing. You should stuff it lightly and cook any extra in a separate oven proof covered casserole with some extra chicken broth. Enjoy! I wish you a very merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year! My Christmas Turkey 15 lb Turkey 7kg Stuffing 10 cups cubed bread pieces 2.3 L -  buy 2 loaves of fresh bakery bread and let sit out on  the counter for a day or two then cut up into cubes 1 lb fresh sausage 454 g 1 medium onion, diced 1 3 stalks celery, diced 3 2 cups cremini mushrooms, sliced 500 mL 1 large russet potato, diced 1 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced  2 ½ tsp rosemary 2.5 mL ½ tsp sage 2.5 mL 1 tsp thyme 5 mL 3 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped  45 mL 2 cups good quality, low sodium, chicken broth 500 mL 1 extra large egg, beaten 1 3 tbsp unsalted butter 45 mL sea salt and pepper, to taste Gravy Pan drippings 2 cups  good quality, low sodium, chicken broth 500 mL 1 tbsp butter 15 mL 1 tbsp flour 15 mL Sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C).
2. Sometimes turkeys come with giblets and the neck. The giblets are usually in a bag inside the cavity. Remove them and the neck. Place turkey in roasting pan.
3. Place cubed bread in large bowl.
4. Remove sausage meat from casings. Heat large skillet on medium high. Add sausage and break up into small pieces. Cook until completely cooked through and there is no trace of pink. Drain off fat and add cooked sausage to bowl of bread.
5. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, mushrooms, onions, and celery and sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until golden. The salt makes the vegetables sweat and helps to caramelize them. Add garlic and sauté for another few seconds.
6. Add cooked vegetables to bread and sausage.
7. Add herbs to bread mixture. Mix together and add chicken broth, about ½ cup at a time, and mix, until the bread softens slightly. You don’t want the bread to be mushy or too wet as it will absorb some juices from the turkey as it cooks.
8. Add egg and mix well. Spoon stuffing into turkey cavities being careful to not overpack it as the stuffing expands. After you have finished stuffing both cavities you can truss the legs or tie them with kitchen string.
9. Roast the turkey in the oven until a meat thermometer (in the thickest part of the thigh and not touching bone) reaches 185°F (85°C) and 165°F (74°C) in the stuffing.  Baste the turkey regularly while cooking, about once per hour. When cooked, remove turkey from oven, cover and let sit for approximately 15 minutes before carving.
10. While turkey is sitting. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
11. Add 1 tbsp of flour and completely mix with the butter.
12. Add pan drippings to butter flour mixture and then add chicken broth.
13. Bring to a slow boil and thicken.
14. Add salt and pepper to taste.
15. If you want it thicker you can reduce the sauce by gently boiling it for longer. This will also concentrate the flavours.

For more turkey information and recipes, visit the Turkey Farmers of Canada web site at http://www.turkeyfarmersofcanada.ca/

Back hosting another episode of our exclusive video podcast is Theresa Albert, bestselling cookbook author and Food Network personality. She’s partnered with us to help get busy Canadians back in the kitchen, cooking simple, healthy and delicious meals. Short on time and need to prepare dinner fast? In this episode, Theresa shows us just how easy it is to whip up a casserole in no time. She also gives us a bit of information on conventional versus organic chickens. Be sure to check out her blog post “Is Organic Better?” for more information and to get the full recipe for her delicious Ole Smokes, Dinner Already? Casserole.

The number one question that I get when I tell colleagues and friends that I am working with Chicken Farmers of Canada is “so what is the difference between organic and conventional chicken anyway?”  There is so much confusion around this issue that I have to say that I am no expert on it but I do have a little information and an opinion to share. Chicken is the #1 protein in Canada and it is eaten around the world for its delicious ability to carry the flavors that the cook wants to convey: from salsa to curry to mild pot pie. In a perfect world, we would all know who grew our food, know that they were feeding in a wholesome, natural way and how it was treated. In a perfect world each of us could find and afford chicken that was fed what it naturally eats…grains, greens and proteins (bugs and worms). I have been on both farms; those that raise chickens “naturally” and a “conventional” farm. Of course, in a perfect world, I personally would prefer that my food be raised by an artisan who has the time and space to let my dinner roam, peck and grow.  Those chickens that got their own bugs instead of prepared mixtures of feed can have a richer, earthier flavor more pleasing to my palate. I would also prefer that every mother breastfeed her baby rather than provide “formula.” But, that is not always realistic, possible, available, or controllable. So, what is next best? Having found the typical, traditional Canadian chicken barn to be a warm, clean, spacious place I am comfortable with saying this is “next best”. I know that no chickens in Canada are given hormones to make them grow faster (and this seems to be the biggest myth netting the biggest sigh of relief from my querying friends and colleagues). I also know that there are options available to me from fully organic to “free-range” to  “artisan” or “natural” to conventional and make my choices depending upon my mood, my pocketbook at the moment and the dish I am making. Consumers have a choice:

• “Antibiotic free” or “raised without antibiotics”, which means what it says
• “Organic” chicken (which is also antibiotic free and vegetarian grain fed, and the birds may have access to the outdoors)
• “Vegetarian grain fed” (or something similar, which means only that there are no animal by-products in the feed
• “Free range”, which means that the birds have access to the outdoors
• Other niche products that take these kinds of considerations in mind.

For example, if I am roasting a whole chicken, I personally prefer it to be organic. I prefer the flavour of a roasted organic chicken and it’s juicier to boot. Given that it is a whole chicken, the price isn’t too bad as it isn’t cut up into pieces.  But for many of my recipes, chicken is a quick weekday affair that needs the breasts only and a quick turn on the ‘Q or in the oven. Conventional chicken is a good, solid, reliable and affordable bet.  That’s what you will find here in my “Ole Smokes, Dinner Already? “ Salsa Chicken dish. Learning as much as I can about our food is truly my raison d’etre and learning about Canadian chicken is turning out to be a huge pleasure.

Ole smokes Dinner already? Recipe By: Theresa Albert Serving Size  : 4 Preparation Time 5 minutes 1 bunch asparagus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon? dried oregano 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves ¼ cup plain nonfat yogurt ½ cup salsa Rinse and trim asparagus and lay into the bottom of a large, rectangular casserole dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with asparagus.  Lay chicken breasts on top. Mix together yogurt and salsa and spread evenly over chicken.  Bake, uncovered in 350f oven for 40-50 minutes until internal temperature reads 165F or 74C. Serve with corn chips and additional salsa. NOTES : Experiment with different salsas, we like a smoky chipotle version!

Well, here we are, jumping full swing into the holiday season! The malls are filled with shoppers frantically fighting the busy crowds to find that perfect gift for their friends and loved ones, while others are carefully planning their festive menus! With all the excitement of the holiday season, we often need to take a step back and consider those who are less fortunate and, those who will go without gifts and more importantly, without enough food. Did you know that in March of 2009, food banks across Canada helped over 794,738 Canadians? This is an 18% increase since 2008. In fact 37.1 % of Canadians using food bank services are children under the age of 18. These statistics were a real eye opener for me! So what can you do to help? Well, there are many ways that you can make donations to your local food bank. 1. If you are running short for time, cash donations can be made on-line through your local food bank web site. 2. Donating non-perishable food items can be done very easily at your local grocery store. They usually keep food drop off bins or carts near the check-out lines. So next time you are grocery shopping, make sure you pick up a few extra items to donate. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Canned foods such as fish, meat, vegetables, fruits, soups, fruit juices
• Whole grain cereals, pastas, rice and dried legumes
• Peanut butter, cooking oils
• Baby diapers, baby formula
• Personal hygiene products, household products

3. Food banks are always looking for volunteers, so call the food bank in your area to find out how you can volunteer. Let’s not forget that the holiday season is a time for giving not just to those we love but to those who are in need. There's no reason for anyone to go hungry.

Cute toy snowman standing in front of evergreen trees in the snow, on white background.

Traditionally when we cook chicken we use the breasts, thighs and legs in our favorite recipes. But did you know that chicken gizzards are a popular food to cook with? As chickens don’t have teeth, the gizzard acts as the secondary stomach, grinding food before digestion.  Although you may not think they would be appetizing, chicken gizzard dishes are quite popular all over the world. Gizzards are readily available in grocery stores and can be found in the meat and poultry sections. With all the versatile methods of cooking chicken gizzards, you may be surprised how delicious they can be. Tending to have a chewy texture, chicken gizzards have a subtle flavour, which has been described as being similar to chicken livers. But with all the varied ways of cooking gizzards around the world, the possibilities for flavour enhancements are endless. In a popular dish found in Chicago, for example, gizzards are dipped in batter and deep-fried. Many of the southern states fry up gizzards and season with plenty of Cajun spices. You can also find gizzards in crawfish bakes and gumbos. Grilled gizzards are a popular street food in Haiti and Southeast Asia, while in some regions in France, chicken gizzards are served in a popular walnut salad. Poaching gizzards is another popular method of cooking, as well as stewing them for soups. Some countries even pickle their gizzards! So next time you’re at the supermarket, pick up some gizzards. Jump on the bandwagon and start experimenting with chicken gizzard recipes of your own!

When all is said and done, we are usually left with a heap of meat and some mashed sweet potatoes at the end of each and every holiday. Often, I feel so full of food that I don’t even want to look at these leftovers for at least a month. But they’re there and they’re cooked! What on earth am I going to do with them? Well, when life gives you chicken carcasses and beef bones, you make pot pie! Now, I am not a big fan of pastry, neither making it nor consuming its fat, so I prefer just to top my filling with some biscuit dough made with mashed sweet potatoes. Luckily, this works blissfully well with either chicken or beef and it is as easy as it is tasty. Simply pull the meat from the bones and chop up any bits and stir into whatever gravy you have left over. Pour this mixture into foil or glass pie plates. Now for the dough: The trick with the dough is to handle it as little as possible, using a light touch. Top the meat pie with raw, uncooked dough and freeze. Once frozen, wrap well with plastic wrap and foil and stick them back into the freezer. (If you wrap right away the dough will stick to the plastic and it will be hard to peel off) There! You don’t have to look at your leftovers for a month or two and by then, you will be craving them once more because you will have spent the month of January “being good”. Or, maybe that’s just me…

Sweet Potato Biscuit Topping 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 cup whole milk 1 tablespoon honey 2 cup baked, mashed sweet potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes) 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen Combine flours, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a separate large bowl, mix together milk, honey and mashed sweet potato until evenly combined. Grate frozen butter through the large holes of a box grater and toss with dry ingredients until butter is coated. Add milk mixture and mix lightly until dough comes together. Turn out mixture onto a floured surface and knead just until it comes together. (The dough will not be smooth.) Divide into two circles and use a floured rolling pin to roll dough to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Place dough on top of meat pie mixture and freeze immediately. Once solid, wrap in plastic and a layer of foil. Stores well in freezer for up to 2 months. To bake: Place directly from freezer into a 375F oven uncovered for about 1.5- 2 hours depending upon the depth of the pie plate.

The Ottawa Business Journal has joined forces with the Ottawa Food Bank to help fight community hunger this holiday season. They're challenging businesses across the National Capital Region to run company food drives to collect non-perishable goods as part of their Drive Away Hunger campaign. CFC has joined the campaign and is conducting a food drive to help fight hunger.  Since CFC is in the business of providing a food commodity, we are broadening our level of commitment to the Ottawa Food Bank, with whom we have a current partnership, donating an average of $5,000 of proceeds from the sale of chicken sandwiches and salads at our yearly Great Canadian Chicken BBQ. Sadly, the hunger problem in the National Capital Region is worse than ever -- 43,000 people seek monthly assistance through food programs supported by the Ottawa Food Bank, and 40% of those receiving assistance are children.

The Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) participated as an exhibitor at this year’s Canadian Cardiovascular Congress (CCC), which was held at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta from Saturday, October 24 to Tuesday, October 27, 2009. The CCC was a great success with 3093 delegates in attendance, including Registered Dieticians, cardiovascular specialists and many other health professionals. This is not the first time CFC has participated as an exhibitor to this event, although this year, many of the exhibitors focused on cardiovascular medical equipment and drugs. I had the pleasure of being part of this event on behalf of CFC. I also had the opportunity to speak to many people who told me that they love chicken and are always looking for new ways to prepare it, which was great to hear because wise food choices, such as lean chicken, are also important in maintaining a healthy heart. So needless to say, visitors to our booth were pretty excited to receive a copy of CFC’s latest recipe booklet Chicken, A Good Choice! The booklet is not only colourful but filled with great information such as, tips for weight loss and eating a balanced meal. The recipes are fantastic! In fact, I can’t wait to try the recipe for the Gin and Tonic Kabobs with Mint Tabbouleh and the recipe for Grilled Chicken with Fig, Grape and Walnut Salsa. Of course, the recipe booklets weren’t all we had to offer. CFC, with the help of a Registered Dietician, has a series of 6 nutrition fact sheets that offer very helpful information for living a healthier lifestyle based on specific needs. A weekly food journal is also available to help track your daily food consumption. All of these were available at our booth and were very popular. Overall, I’d have to say that the event was a great success!

Having a teenage daughter is a lot like having a two year old. Both are prone to mood swings and demanding moments, both are likely to be ready for sleep after you are and both need to watch their iron intake. As an infant, most babies are born with iron stores to get them through to the time when they are ready to take in solid foods. As a teenage girl, puberty means that the body needs external sources like never before. Both ages can also exhaust parental patience but that requires a whole different kind of advice! Complicating matters, many teens decide that they want to become “vegetarian” often as a (n erroneous!) way to control weight but it can throw the chief household cook for a loop. A cast iron skillet is your best weapon. (Not to use to clonk them, but to cook in!) It turns out that whatever you cook in a cast iron skillet does pick up some iron and transfer it to the food. Especially if there is any kind of acid (tomatoes, vinegar, lemons) in the food being cooked. So that stir fry of tofu and veggies prepared in cast iron skillet and finished with a splash of rice vinegar could contain decent amounts of iron. Some teens will agree to keep chicken in their “vegetarian” diets because they love it and know it is good for them as well as being a lean protein. It is good to note, too, that chicken legs contain higher amounts of iron over chicken breasts, but both are good sources. 100 grams of chicken breast meat contains 7% of the daily requirement, while the same amount of dark meat contains 10%. So, putting these two techniques together means that stir frying chopped chicken thigh meat in a cast iron skillet is the best of both worlds. If only getting my 2, ah, I mean, 13 year old into bed before 10 pm was as easy…

Do you consider yourself a chicken connoisseur? Well here’s your chance to test your chicken knowledge. It's part two of our game where we feature three close-up photos of favorite chicken recipes. See if you can guess what the chicken dishes are by leaving your guesses in the comments section. We’ll post the answers and give the corresponding recipes in the comments section next week. Are you up for the challenge? Dish 1 Dish 2 Dish 3

Theresa Albert, bestselling cookbook author and Food Network Personality, is back hosting another episode of our exclusive video podcast. We’re partnering together to show Canadians just how easy it is to have delicious home cooked meals in no time. In this episode, Theresa shows us what to do with chicken leftovers- making versatile chicken quesadillas. Ready in about ten minutes, the possibilities are endless – all you need is some chicken, cheese, veggies and some creativity. Use ingredients that you’ve already got in your pantry or try sprinkling in your favorite herbs, customizing your recipe.