Friday, December 11, 2009

One of my favorite comfort foods....

It is absolutely freezing here!   All I want to do when it's like this is cook and bake....or read cooking magazines....or read cookbooks.....or if I can wrangle the tv away from my four year old Ryan, watch the Food Network...all food related, of course!  Speaking of cookbooks,  everyone should have a good basic, go-to cookbook for general reference.  I love The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  You can find just about anything you need for the basics.  Mine was given to me as a birthday gift from my Mom, I think in 1992.  It has split in half and completely tattered, it's my favorite cookbook.  I thought to write about this today because I had to go to it for reference on cooking a whole chicken....

If you don't cook whole chickens, it's time to start.  I see roasting chickens on sale all the time, prices range from $ .49/lb to 1.49/lb.  That's a great deal!  I will buy a couple for my freezer and use when needed.  In addition to it being so economical, it's one of the easiest meals to prepare, you can usually get a couple of meals out of them (especially if you roast two), and it is absolutely the most moist and tender chicken you can make.  I simply rinse the chicken thoroughly, pat dry with paper towel, rub with about a tablespoon of olive oil, and season top and bottom generously with salt & pepper.....that's it.  Roast at 325' for 25 minutes per pound.  Internal temperature should read 170' or higher.  When you remove it from the oven, let it rest with a little foil over the top for about 15 minutes, then enjoy!  The skin will be crispy and the meat juicy and tender.  You can season the chicken any way you like, my friend Deb's Brunswick Chicken stew has really gotten me hooked on smoked paprika, you could certainly sprinkle your chicken with that as well, yum!  Consider throwing baking potatoes in the oven with your chicken and a vegetable and dinner is a done deal.  EASY & DELISH! 

Of course, I recommend removing all the chicken from the bone when you're through with dinner & store in plastic bags, label & date, and into the freezer.  (or refrigerator if you're going to use within a couple of days)You can use that at a later date, for maybe, chicken burritos, tacos, or quesidillas?  Soup?  Chicken salad?  Chicken pot pie....endless possibilities!    Don't forget to save the carcass, it makes for the best stock ever, you can use the recipe I posted last month for the turkey carcass.

Have a good day!

Angie

1 comment:

  1. I love the Fannie Farmer cookbook. This was THE go to cookbook in our house growing up. My mom actually gave me the weathered copy. I adore having it in my kitchen.

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