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Oh...did your mind go there...well don't Here is the deal. Every other week I bake my self a whole chicken. (I live alone and lasts me a little less than a week) Every time I pullout the heart, kidneys, and neck... I just know they are good for something but I am not sure for what. I'd boil them... but they usually fall apart when I do (especially the heart/liver) As kid we made gravy with it.... but gravy is not so paleo.

So what do I do with the random tidbits that pullout out of my chicken? I hate to see them go to waste.

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 BTW, my mind didn't "go there", you put it "there". Then, in the funny way these things work, I had to pull my mind out of your chicken pull out question so I could give it a legitimate answer – FED at LiveCaveman.com Sep 8 2011 at 0:05
Make a paleo gravy type sauce. – Katherine Sep 8 2011 at 0:05
Don't forget to add the gizzard too! When I cook the heart, gizzard, and neck my favourite is the neck and hubby goes for the heart and gizzard. I throw onion, celery and carrot into seasoned water (salt/pepper) along with the spare parts and simmmer them until tender. Dog usually gets the liver- it's kinda small. – henny Sep 8 2011 at 0:12
If I don't plan on eating them, I give the giblets and neck raw to my dog. She loves 'em :) – Nemesis Sep 8 2011 at 1:18
don't have pets... we used to feed them to the cat – Erin H Sep 8 2011 at 14:50

5 Answers

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Who told you gravy wasn't Paleo!??! Change the verbiage and you've got yourself a thick dense tasty sauce :) Do a slow simmer with all the goodies in stock. Remove when tender and pick the meat off the neck and finely chop the other bits. If there's any foam on top of the stock skim it off - if you do this during the simmer process you shouldn't have any. Soften some carrot, onion, celery, garlic with some fresh sage, puree, add to the stock as it will work as an amazing thickener (if you don't want to use arrowroot), toss the tidbits in, let it slowly reheat checking the seasoning. Put over chicken.

Do the same thing but save the bits and pieces for when your chicken is close to being eaten and make a soup out of the carcass. I like to cook veg in the pot while I'm making stock and those are the veg that I puree and add back in. I add fresh veg to the pot and will cook until just tender. Kind of a double whammy of vitamins.

A little white wine would be good in there as well :)

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That was going to be my answer. Why is gravy not paleo? gravy thickened with with flour is not paleo. – peter Sep 8 2011 at 3:41
I think that's one of the problems people run into when trying to re-adapt recipes, kind of a "what now" and that's where PH comes in handy :) Coconut flour is Paleo so you can get your flour based gravy making a roux with butter. My step-dad, who is Dutch, always used arrowroot powder so I prefer a more clear and less cloudy sauce. Arrowroot is considered Paleo by many not by some. You can reduce, use a fat, and pureed veggies as methods to thicken as well. – jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com Sep 8 2011 at 12:23
I'll try the pureed idea as soon as my blender is fixed. Allergic to coconut so the flour idea is out – Erin H Sep 8 2011 at 14:51
I think you'll like it - just be conscience about what veg you add because that colour will dominate. Like, beets will make it a weird pinky brown colour :) Potatoes and other light coloured veggies will keep to more of a regular "gravy" look. – jesuisjuba - paleorepublic.com Sep 8 2011 at 17:03
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You could just eat them. Organ meats are very nutrient dense. And tasty!

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Sautee them in some bacon grease! – vdh1979 Sep 8 2011 at 0:26
Aren't they usually grizzly and boney? – Erin H Sep 8 2011 at 14:51
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How about pureeing the organs and mixing them into sauces, stocks, soups, etc.? You could freeze the pureed organs into ice cube trays and save them for such circumstances.

I could also see ground chicken parts being added to other meats/spices/herbs as part of a sausage blend. Chicken heart breakfast patties? Chicken liver links? The possibilities are endless!

Or, if you want hearken back to your non-paleo days of yore, just go for the gravy. You could always use blanched almond flour, coconut flour, or some "safe starch" like tapioca flour to thicken instead of wheat flour.

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I keep them in the freezer with all my leftover bones and throw them in the stock pot when I'm ready to make bone broth. Also, save up enough chicken hearts and you got a rawkin' kebab!

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never thought of just throwing them in the stock bot. How do you get them from falling apart and making floaters of grizzle texture? – Erin H Sep 8 2011 at 14:52
hasn't been a problem but i suppose if that gizzard explodes then it's skim, skim, skim. – Rockgrrl Sep 8 2011 at 15:17
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Saute and eat them, or if you don't like the texture, grind or chop them up and mix them with other meat or sausage to eat them. Or throw them in the pot with the carcas to make broth.

I don't particularly like the kidneys so I usually eat the liver and heart.

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