Just a little while ago, I pulled two roasted chickens out of the oven. Oh, my, are they good. To be honest, I'm not sure I've ever roasted a chicken. I've cooked a lot of them, but never roasted one in the oven. I've been missing the boat! I pulled each of them out of the double bags they came in. Then I washed them down, inside and out. I pre-greased a roasting pan with olive oil. Then I drizzled one bird with olive oil and rubbed it all around. I stuffed the cavity with a sliced up navel orange, squeezing some of the juice on the exterior of the bird first. Then I coated the outside of the bird with this Pollo Asada seasoning mix I had in the cupboard and a tiny bit more garlic.
I tried to put the other bird into the same pan, but it wouldn't fit. So, I had to do a second pan. I did the second bird the same as the first and put both pans in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then I turned the oven down to 400 and let it go for about another hour and 15 minutes. The instructions said an hour for a five pound bird, but both of my birds were more than 5 pounds. Anyway, you'd be amazed at how juicy the meat is. I tried to take a bite of breast meat and the juices ran down my fingers and thumb. Amazing!
I haven't yet dealt with bird #2, but I have about half a gallon bag of meat, hurriedly pulled from bird #1. I also put the carcass in a gallon storage bag. I'll be making chicken bone broth tomorrow.. I'll use the pan drippings to start. I figure I'll put the drippings into a Tupperware container til morning as I'm a bit achy to mess with it all any more tonight. If I put those drippings in the fridge til morning, the fat should rise to the top and I can scrape some of it off. I may pull more fat off later, but I'm sure I'll leave some for flavor.
Anyway, I'm very pleased to have all this chicken meat to store for future meals. I figure I'll store it in 1 or 2 cup batches so I can use it in casseroles or chicken salad or whatever my little mind and my collection of recipe books can come up with. For sure, with the frozen entrees I put up (22 meals) and this chicken, I figure it won't matter to me in the least if the meat cases at the stores are empty til at least March 15th.
In the meantime, I am making it my mission to grab some sort of meat out of the freezer each week and either use it to create another multi-serving casserole or can it. I have worked hard for quite a long time to acquire a stock of meat for times like this.
I told you guys that several weeks ago I had a client haul that one truly gigantic dog bed to the curb. Alissa still has the smaller one and even it is oversized for the size of her. I'm pretty sure it would accommodate two of her. Anyway, sometime between yesterday and today, someone stopped, grabbed the gargantuan dog bed and took it away. I hope it's a blessing to whomever got it. I'm just happy I don't have to navigate around it anymore.
I hope you enjoy your chicken dinners. They sound yummy! When I was little, my mom had a rotisserie in our kitchen. It was quite a bit bigger than a microwave oven, and in our tiny kitchen, it took up a LOT of real estate! Anyhow, she used to cook our chickens on that, and it was well worth the room it took up in the kitchen!!
Posted by: Deanna | February 07, 2022 at 07:36 AM