1 Chicken = Roast Chicken + Chicken Stock

Roast chicken is one of those things (like an omelet) that is so simple, but hard to do perfectly. I have found a pretty fool-proof way to make a simple roast chicken. I use the basic recipe and then modify it with what I have in the house.

Roast Chicken–Basic recipe:

• 1 small (around 2lbs) chicken
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Onion
• Garic

Preheat the oven to 400F. Wash and pat dry chicken and place in large pot. I use a Le Creuset casserole ’cause it is a great oven-to-table pan. Place cut onions and cloves of garlic around the sides. Rub olive oil on chicken and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Here is where you can deviate: I had some Brussels sprouts, small red potatoes and some left-over tomato sauce that I made for pasta last week, so I tossed both in there with the onions. You can get creative with the seasoning too–sometimes I throw a bunch of curry powder on the chicken, or tomatoes and olives around with the veg…Really, anything works. Try it!

Chicken on the way into the oven

Chicken, out of the oven

While the chicken and veggies were cooking (all together for about 50 minutes), I added a little water around the pan, and basted the chicken. When it came out of the oven it was a beautiful red color and the veggies were cooked perfectly. I rely heavily on a meat thermometer for chicken, since the cooking time varies based on if the chicken is right out of the fridge, or was at room temperature, etc. I use a simple meat thermometer. For some reason, I never trusted the digital ones, so I’ve always used this one. Dark meat (thigh, leg) is cooked at 165F, white meat (breast) at 160F. After chicken (or any meat) is taken out of the oven, while it sits it will continue cooking, so if the thermometer comes up a little short, let it rest a second, with the thermometer inserted, and then recheck the temperature.

Chicken Soup:

After I carved the chicken, I threw the carcass into a slow cooker with carrots, onion and garlic (I would have added celery too, had I had it), filled it with water and set it to cook over night while we slept. In the morning, I put together some matzo balls (I’m partial to the Maneschewitz mix), and voila, chicken part deux–Matzo ball soup. Turned out it was perfect timing, since I came down with a cold not even 12 hours later–chicken soup to the rescue!

Adding water to the pot with the chicken bones and veggies for soup

The soup after cooking 8 hours overnight

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