roast chicken

I am constantly looking for simple, affordable and delicious recipes. I am not interested in food that I can't prepare in under 2 hours. Nor am I interested in obscure ingredients. I shoot to make inexpensive mains -- under $7 with meat, under $3 for meatless. Also, it doesn't hurt if I can repurpose the leftovers. One of my favorite pastimes is finding recipes that meet all my criteria that I can Pin or tear out of a magazine and put in my recipe binder.

A couple nights ago, I found a Barefoot Contessa recipe for roast chicken. What I love the most is that she recommends stuffing the chicken with lemon and garlic and thyme. We'll see how it turns out, but stuffing a few inexpensive yet vibrant ingredients inside the cavity of the chicken just seems logical and it sounds delicious. Also, I am going to use whatever leftovers we have tonight to make a chicken and potato soup for after church tomorrow (using leftover mash potatoes, leftover chicken, some caramelized onions, maybe some carrots, and chicken stock).

Here is how the roast chicken goes:

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken (whole chicken, $5)

Kosher salt (I keep this in stock in the house at all times. I have come to prefer it to any other salt.)

Freshly ground black pepper (I also keep this in abundance!)

1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs (I had this in the fridge from a recipe I didn't use a week or so ago. This is an herb I've come to love and would love to grow!)

1 lemon, halved ($.50)

1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise (I had a couple extra bulbs in the cupboard)

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted (...always keep butter handy!!!)

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced (in stock)

4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks ($2)

4 small potatoes cubed (in stock)

Olive oil (always on hand)

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and potatoes in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

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The original recipe (see the link) called for fennel instead of potatoes. I had potatoes, and I would have had to buy more fennel than I'd use, so I switched them out. This is a typical Amanda move -- cut a simple corner to save 4 or 5 bucks. This particular recipe cost a whopping $7.50 -- almost perfection!