Chicken – How to cook chicken franks

If you use only the breasts, you can use the rest to make a broth/stock hybrid using meat and bones. You can also roast the rest of the bird and shred the meat to save up to put in soups, pot pies, chicken salad, or with a one-pot pasta meal.

Besides a standard roast, try butterflying (otherwise known as spatchcocking) your chicken. I do this regularly. The result is, in my opinion, much more flavorful than roasting the regular way.

Cooks Illustrated has many recipes that use chicken thighs. You may want to investigate those. You can also simply look into googling recipes for the different parts of the bird.

Finally, remember to freeze your bones and, when you get a quantity of them, make stock. It will be far tastier than store-bought stock and you can control what goes into it.

Sausages are pretty forgiving. As long as you don't burn them or leave the center raw, they should come out OK. Since they're pretty fatty (at least the good ones are) there's little chance of drying them out, so when in doubt, cook them a little longer. They'll feel firm, not squishy, when they're done.

The easiest way to cook raw sausages is in the oven (at 350-375°F, 180-190°C or so). If you're doing it on the stove, I'd brown them first in a little (very little) oil, then add some water, or beer, or wine, or whatever you happen to have (not much - just enough to cover the bottom), cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until done. Feel free to cook some vegetables in the pan along with the sausage.