I remember waking in the middle of the night in my funky St Kilda flat and thinking to myself, umm, this is not good.
Initially I thought it was a gastro bug and prepared myself for the usual.
24 hours later I had nearly given up on life and was welcoming death, living on my own at the time I thought I might just be found in a few days if I was lucky. If you have ever had food poisoning you will know what I am talking about. The culprit had been a chicken fillet that I had not defrosted properly, being in a hurry to eat, I half defrosted this piece of soon to be poison in the microwave and then figured it can't be too bad, and I just cooked it, half defrosted and half frozen.
Stupid. Everyone knows you need to defrost chicken carefully.
Except my hairdresser. She was telling me about her super easy working Mums meal - you get the chicken from the freezer, put it straight in to the slow cooker... I told her she was risking her life each time she cooked that meal.
I started telling people about how crazy my hairdresser was and they nearly all responded with comments about doing the same thing at one time or defrosting chicken in the microwave - which maybe is ok if you do it a special way or something.
Some people mentioned how they have cooked a roast chicken - from frozen!
Three years ago I got food poisoning again - not my own cooking this time - and again I could just about see the door bell hanging on heavens door. Fecking chook again. This time around I had Mr H there who returned from a day out with the girls to find me on the bathroom floor looking half the size I was the day before.
I hardly ever cook chicken these days and never cook a roast chook, I leave that for my Mum to do when she visits.
How about you, has a chook ever nearly made you meet your end? What are your house rules for cooking a chook?
My only experience with raw chook was years ago when you used to be able to buy the chicken inc neck and feet! My mum would cut off the feet and then chase us around the house with them. Lifelong aversion to anything raw was the result...
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ReplyDeleteI panicked all day yesterday whether or not I had turned the slow cooker, full of chicken casserole, before I went to work. I even contemplated closing the shop to duck home and check. The last thing I wanted was chicken festering in a cold slow cooker all day. Thankfully I had. Phew!
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a cooker either, and in the rare occasions that I do - the chook is fresh or I'm not cooking it! My sister and I simultaneously got food poisoning once from the Pancake Parlour! She rang my phone at 3am claiming that this was her last good bye - this was it - I responded with my own death farewell. At the time it was horrible, looking back now, that conversation was quite funny xx
ReplyDeleteIt really does feel that way. You just don't think your body can possibly empty itself any more...and then it does.
DeleteWe have a roast chook every Sunday night. Aussie Farmers deliver it freerange and fresh on Saturday morning and we roast it at 230 degress for 50 min - dressed only in a decent smattering of Maldon salt! SO delicious -I'd love you to try it yourself! My girls LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteWe then have chicken meat for packed lunches on Monday and if I am feeling virtuous I make a stock with the bones...
Having said all that I am now remembering a chicken/Subway/Perth/food poisoning incident....urgh!
Oh you poor love. (This is why we are vegetarian.) I hope you're feeling better soon. xxx
ReplyDeleteWe love a chook. Roasted slowly with 40 cloves of garlic. Yum. But there have been several chooks on our travels that have caused grievous bodily harm.
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