How to Milk a Chicken: Chicken Butter

There's a long-standing joke among some friends about "chicken butter"—a substance which makes perfect sense after a good meal and several glasses of wine, but obviously doesn't exist. Yet truth is stranger than fiction, and one of those friends eventually stumbled across this recipe for (what else) Chicken Butter. The legend was now reality. Plus, I knew I wanted to try making it myself! So when I had those two Tablespoons of rendered chicken fat, I put them to use to make this intriguing little spread:

I've paired my chicken butter with slices of radish as the French would do, but it would certainly be wonderful on a sandwich, smeared over cornbread, or swirled into cup of butternut squash soup. The sweetness would pair well with other raw veggies like carrots and cauliflower, too. So the next time you laugh at something and think, "Now, that was silly", think again. You never know what you might find!

Chicken Butter

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons rendered chicken fat
4 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon (heaping) real maple syrup

Have a all ingredients at room temperature. Mix together in a small bowl until completely smooth and very creamy. Store any leftover butter in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for up to three months.

Notes: I used regular, salted butter for my recipe, so did not use additional salt as indicated in the original recipe. The rendered fat by itself has a lovely, delicate flavor, which is what must make it so wonderful for cooking. In fact, my research revealed that New York delis used to have jugs of liquid schmaltz on their tables for customers to pour over their food, much like syrup in a pancake house :-)

>o<