Please don't mock me if this revelation seems like old news to you. I'm standing in the grocery store deli department looking at meat. I had already determined before I came to the grocery store what meals we were having that week and so I knew exactly what I wanted to get. Ground beef for spaghetti and chili - check. Burger patties for burgers - check. Chicken breast, for our weekly chicken dinner - wait...is it seriously going to cost me $13 for 2 chicken breasts? And that's not enough to feed my family of 5, so I'll have to buy TWO packages? Umm..hello chicken people, what's with the raise in prices? How am I supposed to feed my family? Do I need to get food stamps? No seriously. $26 for the meat portion of my meal is not in my budget. My eyes dart back and forth as I try to decide what else we could possibly have when I notice a whole chicken sitting there, nicely packaged and ready for me to take home.
$7.50.
Wait a minute. It's going to cost me $13 for two pieces of a chicken, but I can buy the whole thing for $7.50? Is it just me, or does this seem a little silly to you. I mean, I understand that I'm paying to have them cut it for me...but really? Whole chicken it is. Decision made. I put it in my cart and off I go.
So today is chicken day. I was going to go with my usual - chicken, rice and veggies. But if I'm going to go to the effort of cooking a whole chicken, I might as well make a feast of it. So we go with roast potatoes, yorkshire pudding and veggies. And juice instead of water.
Wowza! What a mom!
The chicken turned out so beautiful moist and flavourful...not to toot my own horn, but: TOOT! TOOT! It was awesome! And my children gobbled it up!
Critic # 1 said, "MOM! I can't wait to eat!" And she wasn't kidding. Normally the chicken is the last thing she eats and it takes some convincing. She ate it up first and fast!
Critic #2 said, "I get to eat meat off the bone! Awesome!" That's his inner cave-man talking.
Critic #3 said, "Bun!"
I will definitely be doing the whole roast chicken again. It wasn't hard. It makes me look like an awesome cook. And they ate it up. Plates clean in less than half an hour is a win in my house.
Chicken Recipe:
2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 onion, quartered
1 whole chicken (3 pounds)
Mix together spices and rub entire chicken. I didn't have the onion, so I used 3 cloves of garlic and 1/4 of a lemon. Put the onion (or garlic and lemon in my case) inside the chicken. Put the entire chicken in a food storage bag and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
Place in roasting pan. Roast at 375 degrees, basting every half hour or so. Cover with foil if the chicken is browning too quickly. (Roast for 20 minutes per pound). Raise temperature to 425 degrees for the last 15 minutes. Let chicken stand 10 minutes before carving.
Raising the temperature for the last 15 minutes worked perfectly for me to make some yorkshires at the same time.
Juicy, Juicy, Juicy.
Potato Recipe
1 package, Little Gems potatoes, quartered
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp ranch dressing
paprika and cayenne pepper to taste
salt and pepper
Boil potatoes until fork tender. Drain.
Mince garlic. Mix Garlic, oil, ranch dressing and spices in a bowl. Add potatoes and stir until coated. Bake for 25 minutes at 425 degrees until golden and crispy. My kids don't like it too spicy, so I hold off a bit on the paprika and cayenne.
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