Simple Roast Chicken

Click here to see the recipe at EatingWell.com

Okay, as promised earlier this week, a post about my meals from this week. I actually didn’t eat much of what I made…yet. I went to a potluck dinner on Sunday night and took home lots of leftovers. I just finished all of the leftovers yesterday!

I chose the roast chicken recipe in the interest of time. Normally, I would carve and debone the chicken then use the chicken pieces in some recipe. However, I knew that I had to work late on Monday night so that option was out. I remembered this recipe and pulled it out…it looked easy enough and there wasn’t a lot of prep work involved. I cooked the chicken Tuesday night and then stuck it in the fridge until I ran out of leftovers. This was the first time I’ve ever made a whole roast chicken. It really was simple! The hardest part for me was figuring out how to tie down the wings. The result wasn’t pretty…but it worked. I forgot to take a picture of it but think “The Mummy.” Just kidding!

I didn’t make that many changes to the recipe…I used a red onion instead of white and dried tarragon and dried thyme because that’s what I had on hand. I eyeballed the amounts of the dried spices but I kept it small, as the original recipe only calls for three sprigs of each. I probably used ¼ -1/2 tsp of each. All of the herbs and such are stuffed into the center cavity of the chicken. I also used an oil sprayer, like this one (NAYY), to mist the chicken with the oil.
The chicken turned out pretty well! It was a pleasing brown color and the flavor was delightful. To be honest, I’m not sure how much a difference the onion and garlic made to the flavor…I’m not picking up any onion or garlic flavor as I’m eating the chicken. I might not bother with stuffing the chicken the next time I roast a bird. I did notice that there was a lot of fat the pooled under the skin of the bird, so I used a fork to prick the skin all over and then propped the chicken upright to let it drain. Wow. There was a lot of fat/juices that drained out! I want to say that I collected the juices in a small bowl, refrigerated it, then skimmed off the fat. I didn’t. I want to do that next time…and use it for…something. I DID remove all of the skin and subcutaneous fat from the bird. I also confess to sampling the crispy yummy skin before I threw it out…oh, it was SO GOOD. Too good. I’m glad I threw it out. I wouldn’t been able to resist the temptation otherwise!

I still need to carve and debone the chicken. I will confess that I already ate the drumsticks. That was lunch today. Drumsticks are my favorite part…I guess you just never out grow some things! I’m going to keep the bones and small bits of meat to make chicken stock. I have the bones of another chicken in the freezer, so maybe I’ll make that stock in the next couple of weeks.

Last but not least, I thought it would be helpful to post my weekly grocery receipt. This receipt is from last Sunday and I’ll give myself kudos…I did pretty well. I’m still shopping at the Super-Walmart. See this post about my Wal-Mart opinions. Alas, I’m still keeping a tight grip on my finances and Wal-Mart is the best way to keep on that budget.

This week’s expeditures:
1) Store brand vinegar, $0.83
2) Green cabbage, $1.27, ( $0.50/lb)
3) Cilantro, $0.84
4) Red onion, $0.71, ($1/lb)
5) Store brand dried lentils, $0.94
6) 1 lb of bagged carrots, $0.88
7) Hormel Canned Chicken, $1.36
8) Store Brand Canned Chicken, $2.08
9) Yellow onion, $0.69, ($0.68/lb)

Total, including tax: $9.79. The majority of the ingredients was for the Vietnamese Chicken Salad that I brought to a potluck…and I ate the leftovers for the next three days. I’ll blog about the recipe in the future. It’s super easy and really healthy. The only thing that went into the roast chicken was ¾ of the red onion (the rest went into the Vietnamese dish). I already had the other necessary ingredients for the roast chicken on hand.

If you make the roast chicken, I hope that you enjoy it!