Some of us buy whole chickens from local farms and cut them up with sharp knives and great courage (that would be you, Sarah). Some of us guiltily continue to buy the already-cut-up, "best parts" natural chicken at Trader Joe's and ignore the voices in our heads. The package of chicken contains three thighs, three legs, and two huge, bone-in breasts (I know...just picture that poor chicken!)
Regardless, I've recently discovered that this package lends itself to two lovely and easy dinners. First, this dinner, using the thighs and legs. And then, later, this recipe for roasted, bone-in chicken breasts, which does make a mess in the oven but is wonderfully juicy and moist. This time I added a potato, a couple of carrots and some garlic tossed with olive oil to roast in the oven as well. An avocado plus a loaf of daily bread equals a delightful dinner and an even more delightful lunch tomorrow. And all the grease in my oven equals a forced cleaning...not, technically, a bad thing.
Note: I don't have an oven-safe fry pan for the second recipe, but it works just as well to fry the breasts in a fry pan and then transfer them to a roasting pan for the oven.
Hi Axon- These recipes look great! I like to buy the whole chickens at TJ's and stuff a mixture of butter, lemon zest, red chili flakes, and pepper under the skin. Sometimes I'll stick some fresh rosemary in the cavity too. You can put potatoes, carrots, and onions around the chicken and bake all together. Plenty of leftovers and the carcass makes lovely stock.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the plucking! That's my favorite (or something) part of our chickens :) The second recipe would work with no bone chicken breasts I assume?
ReplyDeletethese sound delicious, even if you don't bring yourself to buy a whole chicken and cut it up. All you really need is a good pair of kitchen shears like the cutco brand, and just so you're not alarmed if you do try it this way, whole chickens only come with 2 each of the items listed above :P
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