soulman disappointing me with lack of bolognese itt. I'll have to make up for it with roasted chicken & veggies w/ pan sauce.
I kind of just looked at a few recipes and chose parts of ones that I liked.
ingredients:
1 whole chicken (4-6lb)
3 leeks, white part only, cut in half vertically and horizontally and washed
4 red potatoes, halved
5 medium carrots, cut into 2" pieces
unsalted butter
olive oil
salt/pepper
1 bunch thyme
3 lemons
2 garlic heads
dry white wine
flour
string/twine
1. preheat oven to 425F. rinse chicken inside and out, cut off excess fat/feathers, pat dry. salt/pepper the inside liberally, then stuff with 1 lemon (halved), 1 head of garlic (halved horizontally, exposing all the cloves), and half of the thyme.
2. melt 2tbsp butter and brush/rub the outside of the chicken with it. salt/pepper the outside as well. tie the legs together with twine and place chicken in roasting pan with the wings tucked underneath (over the roasting pan grate which should be in the roasting pan).
3. toss leeks/carrots/potatoes with 1tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper. pour them into the roasting pan around the chicken. quarter 1 lemon and halve the other garlic head. arrange them around the chicken with the vegetables, and ~20 sprigs of the thyme.
4. put roasting pan in oven for 75-90 minutes or until inside of thigh reads 175F. take shot of fireball because fu it's in my freezer.
5. remove roasting pan from oven. move chicken to a platter and cover with foil. remove lemon, garlic, and thyme from the pan. set aside delicious garlic and throw away the lemon/thyme. put the leeks/carrots/potatoes in a big bowl and cover with foil.
6. for the sauce, put roasting pan on the stove over two burners on high heat. bring to boil for a couple minutes while you stir and loosen up stuff that's stuck to pan. then pour in 1 cup of dry white wine and slow boil for another 2-5 minutes. transfer everything to a small sauce pot and add 1tbsp cold butter, swirling until the butter melts. put back on low-med heat and add a few pinches of flour to thicken. add salt/pepper, zest of 1 lemon, squeeze of lemon juice and simmer until desired consistency. you're supposed to strain the sauce before adding salt/pepper btw but I skipped that part and it was fine.
7. cut up chicken, serve everything.
results: meat was fantastic, very tender and juicy. I was a little unsatisfied with the skin from the bottom. some of it was kinda soggy. most of the skin was crispy and delicious though. the vegetables were awesome and so was the sauce.
by the way that is $15-$20 worth of ingredients. served two sizable meals and still have about half left over.