Frank. If a chicken's been around too long you can smell it, and if you

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   rancidity is more obvious at higher temperatures. Rancidity can occur without bacteria if the freezer where the meat was stored wasn't cold enough or if the product was kept there for a very long time, such as more than six months for uncooked chicken, or more than three months for cooked chicken. (By the way, I don't like to focus on this unpleasant stuff, but I do want you to get your money's worth when you're buying chicken.) Are chickens given hormones? Never. I remember when I lived on the West Coast, there was a small company that advertised that its chickens were grown without hormones. I thought this was unethical, because it implied that other chickens were grown with hormones. The fact is none are. Can I cook frozen chicken, or do I have to let it defrost first? In a pinch, go ahead, but allow extra cooking time. For the best texture and tenderness, however, you're better off starting from refrigerator temperatures; you can be more sure of getting an evenly cooked product. How long can I keep chicken at room temperature? From the point of view of food safety, you're taking a risk if you leave it outside the refrigerator for more than two hours. Unfortunately, bacteria grow and multiply at temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, and they flourish at room temperature. To avoid food borne illness, all foods of animal origin should be kept either hotter than 140 degrees or colder than 40 degrees. If you know you won't be returning home directly after shopping, bring along an insulated bag or box to keep cold foods cold until you can get them into the refrigerator. Do I need to rinse chicken before cooking? Advice on this has varied over the years, including the advice Frank gives. The latest research shows that from a health point of view, washing is not necessary. Any microbes that you'd wash off will be entirely destroyed by heat when you cook the meat. It's actually far more important to wash your hands, your cutting board, and your utensils since they won't be sterilized by cooking. How do I get the best flavor? That depends on whether you're after a mild and delicate flavor, or a strong and robust flavor. The younger the bird, the milder the flavor. A game hen, which is five weeks old, will have the mildest flavor of all. A broiler, at seven weeks, will still have a quite mild and delicate flavor; a roaster, on the other hand, is usually about five weeks older than a broiler and it will have a much more pronounced "chickeny" flavor. (Frank and I enjoy chicken at all ages, but if we had to choose on flavor alone, we'd Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   most often go for the roasters.) For a really strong, chickeny flavor, see if you can find fowl or spent hens or stewing hens. These birds are around 18 months old, which means they're going to be quite tough, but if you use them in soups or stews, they'll add an excellent flavor. I've had chicken in the freezer for a year. Is it still edible? From a health point of view it would be ok, but the flavor and texture will have deteriorated and it just won't be particularly tasty. I stored chicken in the freezer for a year once as an experiment, just to see what it would be like. It wasn't awful, but it was kind of flat and tasteless. I remember wondering if this was what cotton tasted like -- although to be fair, it wasn't really that bad. Why are bones sometimes dark? Darkened bones occur when the product has been frozen. Freezing causes the blood cells in the bone marrow to rupture and then when the chicken is thawed, these ruptured cells leak out and cause visible reddish splotches on the bones. When cooked, these discolorations will turn from red to almost black. Is it true that breast meat is the least fattening part of a chicken? Yes. Breast meat has about half the fat of thigh meat. If calories or cholesterol are important to you, choose the breast meat. Frank watches his cholesterol and I've never seen him go for anything but breast meat. Is it better to cook a chicken quickly at a high temperature-or slowly at a low temperature? Both work, but with high temperatures, you run a greater risk of uneven cooking, with the wings and legs becoming overcooked before the rest of the bird is done. Usually we recommend a moderate temperature of 350 degrees for whole birds and 375 degrees for parts. If you are in a hurry and want to use a higher temperature, then shield the wings and legs by wrapping them with aluminum foil if they're starting to become too brown . How much should I allow for shrinkage when cooking chicken? For each 3-ounce serving of cooked poultry, buy an extra ounce to allow for shrinkage and an extra two ounces to allow for bone. If I want to use different parts of the chicken from what the recipe calls for, how do I go about making substitutions? This table should help: Name of Part Approximate No. to Equal One Whole Chicken Whole breasts 3 Half breasts 6 Whole leg (thigh and drumstick) 6 Thigh 12 Drumsticks 14 Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   Wing 14 Drumette (upper part of wing) 24 When using cooked chicken, allow one pound of whole uncooked chicken for each cup of cooked, edible chicken meat. How do you truss a chicken? HERE HAVE ILLUSTRATION SHOWING HOW What's the best way to carve a chicken? HERE HAVE ILLUSTRATION SHOWING HOW Some of your recipes call for roasters. I don't live in an area where Perdue chicken is sold, and I haven't been able to find roasters in the stores. What exactly is a roaster, and can I substitute a broiler? A Perdue Oven Stuffer Roaster is a 12 week old bird especially developed for a broad breast. Roasters are bigger than broilers, and have a more favorable meat to bone ratio than broilers. Because they are older birds, they also have a much deeper, richer flavor. You can use broilers in roaster recipes, but plan on the chicken's being done sooner and having a noticeably milder flavor. Frank, by the way, is the man responsible for creating the roaster market. Back in the early 1970s, when few people had ever heard of a roaster, he was the one who worked to breed these broad-breasted birds, and who put the effort into advertising so people would learn about the new product. He surprised his colleagues by how determined he was in his developing and marketing efforts. One of the men who worked with Frank told me that he was amazed that Frank, who will hang onto an old pair of shoes to save $50, was willing to spend millions to let people know about the product, and further, he did it without a qualm, because he had such belief in it. If you haven't tried an Oven Stuffer Roaster and you're visiting the East Coast, try one, and you'll see why Frank believed in it so much. Chapter One: CHICKEN FOR EVERYDAY Napoleon's cook once bet that he could cook chicken a different way every day of the year. The cook found that this was an easy bet to win, and I can see why, having looked at the recipes in Frank's files. Chicken's versatility seems almost endless. Perdue Farms home economists have been developing chicken recipes since the early 1970s and as a result, Frank has more than 2000 chicken recipes. If only Napoleon had chosen to bet with me, I could have won even if he'd said the bet was for six years! In this chapter, you'll find some of Frank's and my favorites for every day cooking. But there are different kinds of every day cooking, so I've divided the chapter into three sections to take care of three different every day situations. The first section, Fast Food Chicken from Your Refrigerator, is for when you're in a hurry and want dinner on the table in the shortest possible Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   time. None of these recipes takes more than 15 minutes, and many are ready in five. However, you will find special tricks to make the food more interesting than just heat and serve. The second section, Perdue Plus Five, is for when you don't mind if dinner isn't ready for another hour or so, but you want your part of the preparation to be as brief as possible. The recipes in this section use only five ingredients in addition to chicken, salt, and pepper, and all of the recipes are simple to preparenthough they may take a while to cook. The third section, Family Favorites, is for relaxed times. When you don't mind spending some time putting together something your family will really like, try this section. FAST FOOD CHICKEN FROM YOUR REFRIGERATOR (PHOTO: The most valuable player on the TV Football-party table might be Perdue Done It![TM]) Frank loves to tell people that they can pick up delicious, fast-food chicken within easy walking distancentheir refrigerators. "When you're hungry and in a hurry," he says, "you don't need to rush across town for great chicken. You can just walk (slowly) to your refrigerator and pick up my Perdue Done It![TM] chicken." Although fried foods are notoriously high in fat, particularly fast food ones. Perdue Done It![TM] is an exception. Frank flash fries the Perdue Done It![TM] products. They are in oil for seconds only. Further, to assure the chicken is as low in saturated fat as possible, Perdue uses only polyunsaturated soybean oil. In the recipes that follow, I've used generic nuggets, cutlets, tenders, and other fully cooked products. However, try for the Perdue Done It!® if you live in the Perdue marketing area, which is the East Coast and some of the Mid Western states. The Perdue nuggets, cutlets and tenders come from white meat fillets, while some of the other brands are pressed and formed from dark meat chicken and don't have the best texture or flavor. TENDERS, AND NUGGETS Chick on a Biscuit: Split hot baked biscuits. Fill each with a breaded chicken nugget and a thin slice of ham; top with mustard. Chicken Mexicali: Top cutlets or tenders with prepared salsa and avocado slices. Chicken Parmesan: Top partially heated cutlets with spaghetti sauce and sliced mozzarella cheese; broil briefly to melt cheese. Super Caesar Salad: Quarter heated nuggets and toss with croutons, Romaine lettuce, and Caesar salad dressing. Holiday Crepe: Heat breast tenders and place on a warm crepe. Top with cranberry sauce and roll up; serve with sour cream. Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   Japanese Meal-in-a-Bowl: Prepare Japanese-style noodle soup (ramen) as directed. Add heated chicken breast nuggets or tenders, sliced scallions and a dash of soy sauce. (I often put this in a Thermos and bring it to Frank at his office when he's working late.) Nugget Sticks: On metal skewers, alternately thread 4 to 5 chicken breast nuggets with 2 inch pieces of bacon. Heat in oven as directed on nugget package. Dip into prepared chutney or sweet-sour sauce. Stir-Fry Snack: Stir-fry wings in a little oil with red bell pepper strips, scallions and sliced water chestnuts. Season with soy sauce. Serve over rice. Substantial Sub: Split a loaf of Italian bread lengthwise. Pile on heated breaded chicken cutlets or tenders, provolone cheese, sliced tomato, sweet onion, pimentos and shredded lettuce. Douse with bottled salad dressing and dig in. Tenders Under Wraps: Brush Boston lettuce leaves with prepared hoisin sauce or Chinese-style duck sauce. Place a heated tender or 2 nuggets and a piece of scallion on top. Roll up lettuce around tender, securing with a toothpick. PRECOOKED HOT & SPICY WINGS Chicken Antipasto: Arrange hot & spicy wings on platter with slices of provolone cheese, sliced tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts and olives. Out-of-Buffalo Wings: Warm hot & spicy wings and arrange with celery sticks around a blue cheese dip. Combine 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese and 1 minced scallion in a small bowl. Speedy Arroz Con Pollo: Prepare a box of Spanish rice mix as package directs. During last 10 minutes of cooking time, add 1 package hot & spicy wings, 1 package thawed frozen peas and 1/2 cup sliced olives. Cover and heat through. PRECOOKED BARBECUED WINGS Tostados Platter: Arrange heated wings on platter with wedges of avocado and tomato, chunks of cheddar cheese, crisp taco chips and a bowl of prepared taco sauce for dipping. Wings 'n Ribs: Serve hot wings on platter arranged with small barbecued spareribs and thick-cut French fries. Pass additional bottled barbecue sauce on side. ROASTED CHICKEN AND CORNISH HENS Aloha Salad: Halve a fresh pineapple and cut fruit into chunks. Toss with chunks of roasted chicken, toasted almonds, and chopped scallions. Blend in mayonnaise flavored with curry powder and spoon back into pineapple shell to serve. Cheesy Chick: Prepare packaged stuffing mix as directed, adding 1 cup Get any book for free on: www.Abika.com

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   shredded Jarlsberg or Swiss cheese. Stuff whole roasted chicken or Cornish hens with mixture; heat until warmed through. Chicken Frittata: Shred roasted chicken or cut breaded chicken into cubes. Add to beaten eggs, along with mushrooms, onions, and any leftover vegetables. Cook mixture quickly, forming into an open-faced omelet or frittata. Chicken Normandy: Arrange cut-up roasted chicken or Cornish hen meat in a shallow baking dish and scatter thinly sliced apples around pieces. Cover and heat until hot and apples are tender. Stir in a little light or heavy cream and warm to serve. Chicken Reuben: Thinly slice roasted chicken. Pile on sliced rye that's been spread with Russian dressing. Top with prepared sauerkraut, a slice of Swiss cheese, and another slice of rye. Grill or pan fry sandwiches until cheese melts. Chicken Sesame: Brush roasted chicken or Cornish hens with bottled salad dressing; sprinkle surface with sesame seeds and heat as directed. Fabulous Fajitas: Slice roasted chicken into strips. Saute in oil, adding lime juice, garlic, and ground cumin to taste. Roll up in warm flour tortillas and top with chunks of avocado, chopped scallion, and cherry tomatoes. Pasta Pizazz: Saute pieces of roasted or breaded chicken with sliced zucchini, chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, and garlic. Add a dash of heavy cream and toss with hot cooked spaghetti or noodles. Power Pita: Slice roasted chicken and stuff into a whole wheat pita bread.