Week 2 - A Sunday Roasted Chicken

I love a roasted chicken. I could sit there and pick at those bones all night.
My sister and my Dad are the same way. My Mom must have made a mean roaster for us to all love it this much.

It is one of the easiest things to bake, if all you have is salt & pepper, it will still be great.


I like to rub mine down with unsalted butter then sprinkle either Italian seasonings or herbs de Provence. Salt & pepper, maybe a few cloves of garlic inside and bake.

Must be room temperature and the legs tied.

I put a liquid in the baking dish, either wine, chicken stock or just plain water.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes then turn the oven down to 350 for 1 hour. If the roaster is 4+ pounds then an 1 1/2 more. Instant read thermometer should read 165 in the breasts.

I am making mashed potatoes for The Nudge, lima beans and left-over red cabbage.

After you carve the chicken, save the leftovers and clean the meat from the bones.
You will need at least a cup for the sesame noodles and another cup & a half for the chicken & dumplings. Bag and label them.
The extra limas go into a plastic container to add to the soup for tomorrow night.

To prepare the roaster:
1. Remove the giblet bag and wash giblets, then chicken inside and out and dry the skin totally.
2. Scallion tops, garlic cloves and half a lemon get shoved into the cavity.
I do not bother to salt & pepper the inside, we aren't eating that are we?
3. Arrange the giblets along the outside of the pan
4. Loosen the skin under the breasts and with a lump of butter, place that under the skin and push it all the way to the chicken's tush, pressing down with your fingers to trap the butter in there. Repeat with other side.
5. Spread butter all over the outside and sprinkle herbs de Provence and salt & pepper well.
6. Place in baking pan, tucking the wings under the neck.
7. Chop a large white onion and garlic and spread it all around the chicken where the giblets are.
8. If you have parsley stems, tuck them in here & there.
9. Pour olive oil over vegetables in pan and then lightly on the chicken skin.
10. Preheat oven to 450F.
11. I have a 5 pound roaster so I set my timer for 2 hours.
12. After 30 minutes I lowered the oven to 350.

While my chicken is roasting I clean and slice 2 bunches of scallions and place them in a snack bag.

I also peeled 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes for mashies, and get the limas ready for steaming.

Was a very tasty little chicken meal, perfect for a night of watching football playoff games.
Nothing fussy that The Nudge could eat quickly and not hurt my feelings....lol
I ended up with over 2 cups of pulled chicken for the rest of the week, and a lunch for the The Nudge for tomorrow using all the mashies and the limas I did not stash away for tomorrow's soup.

They did not have escarole at the market so I chose rapini for the warm pasta salad at the end of the week. I will clean a bunch of that and pre-boil them (rapini tends to be bitter and steaming them before sauteing will leach out some of that bitterness), cook the pasta and the lima beans while I am roasting the chicken. Doing 3 things with one cooking vessel is a great time saver, not to mention less pots to wash.

I can sleep knowing I got a huge jump on the meals for the rest of the week and maybe I will make a pear crisp for dessert.