A month of dinner menus for our house this June

June brings more variety in the garden for me to plan with. The beginning of the month will still have plentiful salad greens, spinach and mustard greens. Later in the month, these spring vegetables give way to snow peas, Swiss chard, beet greens, new potatoes, strawberries and blueberries.

I was feeling nostalgic for old-time favorites as I planned this month's menus. Included are two dinners from my mom's 1957 cookbook. In addition, for the months of June, July and August, we think it's fun to plan a dinner almost entirely from our garden. I'll begin that little tradition at the end of the month. June is also the month for me to clean out the freezer. I believe there's some frozen cooked turkey, cranberry sauce and lots of soup stock to use up. Time to make room for freezing some summer produce.

Summer means simpler meals and lots of cookouts and barbeques. 

Here's what we're having this month.

week of June 1 through 7

1  soft rosemary polenta with quick marinara, marinated lentil-barley salad (double batch for June 4)

2  roast chicken (freeze 1 container of meat for June 19, make chicken stock w/meat for June 9), steamed spinach, biscuits and gravy, rhubarb sauce

3  leftover chicken dinner, green salad, leftover rhubarb sauce

4  lettuce wraps with leftover lentil salad, Asian-style greens, garlic and noodle saute (great way to use garden greens)

5  Retro Night -- Tuna Bake with Cheese Pinwheel biscuits, lemon-buttered carrots, creamy rhubarb jello

6  meatball sandwiches, spinach salad, leftover jello

7  burritos (refried bean -- double batch and freeze for June 20, rice, corn, peppers, sour cream), green salad, fresh fruit

week of June 8 through 14

8  grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, green salad, canned pineapple chunks

9  chicken noodle soup, pumpkin muffins, green salad

10  baked bean casserole from the freezer, steamed garden greens, brown rice, rhubarb pie

11  Breakfast-for-dinner -- Corn-meal griddle cakes, ham slices, fresh fruit cup

12  Retro Night -- Home-style Macaroni and Cheese, green salad, roasted carrots, leftover rhubarb pie

13  Mexi-style rice and beans, green salad, strawberries

14  hot dog cookout, pasta salad, rhubarb jello salad, s'mores

week of June 15 through 21

15  Father's Day (plans are still up in the air)

16  turkey, garbanzo & tomato soup, garlic bread (from freezer French bread), green salad, plum pie (use freezer plums/crust)

17  waffles with fruit topping

18  bean patties (double batch and freeze for June 25), sauteed garden greens and garlic, herbed brown rice, strawberries

19  Retro Night -- Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie, green salad, strawberry shortcake

20  refried beans (from freezer), Spanish rice, green salad, leftover shortcake

21  hamburgers, pasta salad (with canned tomatoes, olives, green veggies from garden), fresh strawberries

week of June 22 through 28

22  Breakfast-for-dinner -- Crispy-crumb Eggs, Cowboy Coffeecake, sliced bananas and strawberries

23  turkey, cranberry, cream cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, green salad

24  veggie quiche, herbed brown rice, fresh strawberries, green salad

25  bean burgers from freezer, microwave corn bread, sauteed garden greens and garlic

26  ham salad sandwiches, fruit, garden vegetables, chocolate-banana bread

27  marinated lentil-barley salad over greens, fruit cobbler

28  hot dog cookout, fresh strawberries, green salad, s'mores

week of June 29 through 30

29  sloppy lentils on buns, sauteed garden greens with garlic, strawberry sorbet

30  Garden dinner -- green salad, new potatoes, strawberries and blueberries, steamed snow peas, French bread (from freezer) and cheese

How to cut up a whole, roasted chicken

Beautiful platter of chicken pieces, isn't it? I roast whole chickens every few weeks, and use this method to cut the whole chicken into serving pieces.

So, on facebook the other week, we had a conversation about preparing a "company" dinner with what was in the kitchen already. For me, that meant using a whole chicken for the main course. (Great sale a couple of months ago on whole chickens.)

Many of us buy whole chickens, as this can be the least expensive way to buy chicken (aside from occasionally finding a great deal on chicken leg quarters). How to make a whole, roasted chicken presentable for guests, is the challenge.

There's always carving a chicken in the same way that you carve a turkey, taking slices off the bone. But I prefer to use this method of cutting a whole chicken into serving pieces. It just looks tidier upon serving.

I saw this done on a cooking show a while back. And I thought to myself, "hmm, that looks easy enough. Surely I could do this." And it is. I've been cutting up our whole chickens this way ever since, and been delighted with how neat it looks, as well as how much more chicken meat I'm able to use. (I wasn't getting the bones picked completely clean before, when I was making soup from the entire carcass.)

This is most easily done with a freshly oven-roasted or outdoor-grilled whole chicken, as the joints are loose and allow for easy positioning to make the cuts and breaks. But you can also do this with a rotisserie chicken, using a sharp, heavy knife and just a little more upper arm strength.

The cooking show, where I saw this done, cut the whole chicken into 4 large serving pieces. I found, for our family, that cutting this into 8 smaller serving pieces worked better. I'll show you both ways. Either way, you end up with the back section for soup scraps.

Cutting into 8 portions is ideal for families with small children, who can't eat the larger pieces, or, for individuals who would like a variety of meat at one meal, or, like for us, just don't want a huge amount of meat at any one meal. (Whole chickens seem to have gotten larger over the years.)

I'm not overly skilled with this, yet it only takes me about 10 minutes, total, to cut a whole, roasted chicken into serving pieces. And I don't need any special tools, but a chef's knife and cutting board. No poultry shears or any other cutting equipment. Here it is.

How to cut up a whole, roasted chicken for serving

After roasting, remove the chicken from the oven, and tent with foil. Allow to rest for 20-25 minutes. Don't rush it. Your work will be that much harder if you try to cut it up fresh out of the oven. A hot bird is more difficult to handle.

Step 1:  Cutting the leg/thigh portions off the chicken

cutting through the skin at the place where leg is attached to the body

Move chicken to a cutting surface. Using a heavy, chef's knife, cut the chicken in the joint-space between the leg and lower portion of the breast. This is a natural breaking point in the bird.

pressing the leg quarter out and down to cut it away from the bird easier

Cut the skin, press the leg out and down, and cut at the joint between thigh and body. Cut close to the bird, removing the entire thigh, along with the drumstick. Do this on both sides, and set leg quarters aside.

Step 2:  Cutting the back off the body

making that cut just below the wing

Now, set the bird on its side, so that the breast faces to one side, and the back to the other. Just below the point where the wing attaches to the breast, begin cutting the back away.

cutting the breast away from the back

Turn the bird over, and make the corresponding cut on the other side, just below the wing. You'll leave the breast portions completely intact. Set the back pieces aside for soup-making.

the entire breast without the back

Rest the breast portion on the cutting board, without the back attached. Trim off any extra skin and fat.


Step 3:  Cutting the breast into two halves

splitting the breast into halves

Place the double-breast on the cutting board, skin side up. With chefs knife, begin cutting the breast into two portions at the top, along the center breast bone. You'll have to break/cut the wishbone. Press down on the breast as you cut the whole in half.

the split breast with large breast bone to be removed

As you reach the end of the breast nearest the cavity, you should be able to wiggle the large part of the breast bone and cartilage right out of the chicken. Pull this out carefully and set aside with back pieces.

the "extra" bits -- meat and bones for making soup

Finishing cutting the breast into two parts. Pull out any loose bones on the underside, as desired. You should be able to pull most of the rib cage out from the underside. (There may be a small bone or two remaining in the breast after you finish.)

4 large portions, 2 leg quarters and 2 breasts

You now have 4 large serving portions, two leg quarters and two breast portions. For large eaters, this may be just right. For moderate appetites, or when wanting to give the option of different types of meat to your diners, you can cut these 4 pieces in halves, resulting in 8 smaller serving pieces.

Step 4:  Turning 4 pieces into 8 servings

leg quarters can be cut into 2 portions, thigh and drumstick

The leg quarter consists of both the thigh and drumstick together. Find the joint between thigh and lower leg.

leg and thigh

Pull at this joint. It will mostly come apart, and will need just a small cut at the joint to separate the leg quarter into drumstick and thigh.

breasts can be cut into 2 smaller portions each

Cut your breast pieces sideways, in half, leaving the wing attached to 1 half.

8 small servings from 1 whole chicken

Voila! Eight nice serving portions. Before serving, I tuck the skin around each piece, as it just makes a tidier serving package. Cover with foil and pop the platter of chicken pieces into a warm oven while everything else is finishing up. Easy-peasy done!

Bones in the serving portions

Thighs 
When cutting the thigh and drumstick apart, the thigh bone often comes loose. I just remove it, and tuck the skin around and under the thigh meat, to make one tidy little serving piece.

Breasts
There are a couple of small breast bones that often remain in the breast meat. If I turn the breast over, I can easily remove these bones, along with a bit of cartilage, to make easy-to-eat serving pieces.


In addition to being a tidy way to serve a whole chicken, this cutting method allows for super easy soup preparation. The meat scraps on the backbone are easily accessible for removing. Then I simmer the remaining bones in water, with seasonings and vegetables for the broth.

Nice and tidy serving pieces and super easy soup-making -- that's my kind of kitchen task.