BDN interviews Dumas about carving, preparing chicken

The Bangor Daily News interviewed Robert Dumas, who manages the Dr. Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant at the University of Maine, for the article titled “Master these two techniques to prepare cheap cuts of meat.” Dumas discusses the process of cutting up and preparing portions of a whole chicken. “If you have a cutting board and a knife, it’s not terribly hard,” he said. “Taking the leg quarters off or taking the breasts off it’s fairly intuitive.” Dumas recommended braising tougher cuts in a Dutch oven and searing and butter braising tender breasts. Vegetarians can braise tofu, he said. Leftover chicken bones can be used for chicken stock or bone broth. “Making your own stock is probably the easiest thing you can do to make everything taste better,” Dumas said. “A real stock adds a sticky umaminess to a dish that you really can’t substitute with boxed broth.”