Cat Roasts a Chicken

Look Ma, I'm all domestic-like!

Not really though. I had my first experience with dead animal skin two Thanksgivings ago, when I (foolishly) agreed to brine the 20-lb turkey for my Mom's T-day supper. It was slimy. And disgusting. Do you know how hard it is to lower a 20-lb turkey slowly into a bucket of brine? My kitchen floor knows.

So, this time, I started small - 5lb little sucker. Got it at my fave orchard (yes, chickens too!) and it still had feathers on it when I got it out of the packaging. Gross. I also had to chop the neck off (after a call to Mom...we had a 'what would Julia do?' moment) Here's what it looked like:


So, I dealt with the sliminess and got through the cutting off of the neck (ew) and buttered the little sucker and stuck him in the oven.












Leroy is not impressed by my culinary skills.

And it turned out great in the end actually! I do have to work on my timing, because the potatoes were cold and I forgot all about the corn. Oh well. Yay for chicken!

Here's the recipe I used:

Roast Chicken, courtesy Julia Child via FoodNetwork.com
1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) chicken
1 small yellow onion, quartered
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1/2 cup celery leaves (not a fan of celery, so didn't use this)
Salt and black pepper
Butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups chicken broth
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Wash the chicken in hot water and dry thoroughly. Season the cavity with salt and black pepper and stuff with the onion, lemon, and celery leaves. Rub the chicken lightly with softened butter and season all over with salt and pepper. Tie the drumsticks ends together and set the chicken, breast side up, in an oiled v-shaped rack or on an oiled roasting pan in the oven.

Roast for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees, baste the chicken, and roast for 15 minutes. Add the chopped onion and carrot to the pan, basting them and the chicken. Continue roasting the chicken until the juices run clear, for a total of 45 minutes plus an additional 7 minutes for each pound. (In other words, a 3 1/2 pound chicken would take a basic 45 minutes plus an additional 25 minutes, for a total 70 minutes or 1 hour and 10 minutes of cooking time.)

Remove the chicken and spoon the fat out of the roasting pan. Into the pan, stir in the herbs and blend in the broth and, stirring constantly, boil for several minutes on the stovetop to concentrate the flavor. Correct the seasoning and strain the sauce into a warm sauceboat. Carve the chicken and serve with the warm sauce.


oh yeah, here's the sauce and the giant mutant carrot that hubs got at the farmer's market this morning: