Disappointment and a Chicken Dinner

Sigh...our home search continues, sadly.  Our purchase of the Beacon Hill house fell through after the sellers refused to give us a price reduction.  The inspection revealed so many costly repairs that we needed to ask them to replace the roof, fix some plumbing issues, reduce the price, AND give us a closing cost credit so that we could do some remodeling immediately (the leaky shower, which they should have fixed years ago, had seeped through into the joists and flooring, necessitating a full bathroom remodel).  They were willing to do the repairs but not to drop the price, so we had to move on.  After talking to my favorite contractor and brother-in-law Mr. Finch, I'm more and more certain that we made the right decision.  Better to walk away than to get mired in increasingly expensive renovations.

But!  We made a great chicken dinner on Friday night that helped to ease the pain.  The recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, and they don't call it Simple Roast Chicken for nothin'.  Perfectly cooked, moist chicken in less than two hours!  

Here she is in all her glory.  We used a 7 lb. broiler-fryer from Foster Farms, which was far to big a bird for our little family, but we will use the meat for chicken soup and the carcass for stock.  The recipe is as follows:

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Place oven-safe skillet in oven.

Wash chicken, pat dry.

Rub liberally with olive oil and season with 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.

Tuck wings into leg folds and tie legs together loosely.  (We used a silicone rubber band...easy peasy.)

Place chicken thighs-down in hot skillet (remember to use a potholder!).  

Roast at 450 F for 30 minutes for a 4 lb. bird (45 min. for a 7 lb. monster).

Check breast temperature.  Thermometer should read 120 F at thickest  part of breast. 

Return chicken to oven, turn oven off.  Leave chicken in warm oven for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken and check breast temperature.  Thermometer should read 160F at thickest part of breast.

Let chicken rest for 20 minutes on cutting board before carving to allow juices to redistribute throughout meat.  

See?  Easy.  Now for the sauce.

I removed the giblets from inside the bird's cavity before I washed it, put them in a small saucepan, and covered them with two cups of cold water.  I added some dried Italian herbs and some No-Salt Seasoning from Costco and let the concoction simmer while the chicken cooked.  Result: a nice flavorful stock.  After moving the chicken from the skillet to the cutting board, I poured most of the fat out of the skillet (trying to keep the solid drippings in wasn't easy...I used a shallow spoon to get the fat off) and set it over medium heat.  I deglazed the pan with the giblet stock and Mr. Mac added one minced shallot, a dash of balsamic vinegar, and a shot of fresh lemon juice.  We let the sauce reduce on low heat while the chicken rested, then whisked in a couple of tablespoons of butter to finish.  As the French say, "monter au beurre."

By the time the chicken was done, Mr. Mac and I were starving and Mac Mini was asleep, so we fell upon the chicken wings like hungry cannibals...best wings I've ever had!  The skin was crisp, the meat was juicy, and they were gone in seconds.  Thus fortified, we were able to control ourselves long enough to finish the accompaniments: steamed broccoli with garlic and mashed Yukon Golds with the skins on.  We sliced the chicken breast (one was big enough for us to share...this bird was HUGE), poured the sauce over it, and sat down to enjoy our chicken dinner.  

Next up:  making stock from the chicken carcass, and our search for Earth...I mean, HOME...continues.