Roast Chicken and Stuffing

Hey folks. Okay so I can explain this one. Seriously I can. It's been a long week. So where do I start?

I made roast chicken which I do often. I use quite a few different techniques depending on my mood and time. So this time I wanted to share with you how to flip the bird over and brown both sides. So you would think a pro cooker like me would remember to take pics of both sides cooked right. Yah, not so much. I blame the puppy, it's all Malia's fault. I got totally sidetracked by a puppy pulling on my pant legs that I forgot to flip it over and take a pic. So you only get to see this side. I apologize but seriously come watch this little monster puppy for a couple hours and you'll know why I forget to take pics, why my house is a mess and I have laundry piled to the sky. Anyhow I am wicked sorry.

So if that isn't bad enough all my pics have a weird hue to them except the one at the top. I must have set it wrong. Usually I test the pics in the pc before I quit taking pics but again...puppy....pants....licking toes...concentration lost.

I also made a stuffing. This is not my famous one but another. I just wanted to whip up a quick one with some leftover bread. So hopefully you enjoy this. And forgive my lack of proper pics. Honestly this puppy is so cute but she's sending me over the edge. It's almost like having a baby in the house. She eats up all my spare time. Good thing she's cute and we love her. If you missed her pic in her dress here ya go, I have to take some recent ones of her but it's rain city here and she's never clean.

So yah, this is 4.2 pounds of terror. In a tutu. Don't let the tulle fool ya. Honestly, it's like The Terminator in a dress. 4.2 pounds of terminator terror. Yah I know what you're thinking. "She's so cute." Pfft, try walking through the house without ending up with pools of blood around your ankles. The term "ankle biter", yup this is the evil one who coined the phrase. Cats flee in fear. Mini-me has to run full tilt and jump on her bed to save herself. We're honestly just waiting for her to spit pea soup and her head to spin around. Two more weeks and she can get her last set of shots and then I can socialize her more. We are doing some training at home. She sits and she comes, she knows the word no but it's hit or miss whether she listens to it. So I suppose it's progress. One day this week I'll try to get so video of one of her spaz-outs to share with you. You can't help but laugh. It's 100 miles an hour all while growling, going in circles and occasionally jumping and spinning in the air.

Okay so enough blaming the puppy. On to the recipes.

Double Sided Roast Chicken (or flip it, flip it real good chicken):


Ingredients:


Roaster size chicken
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Chicken broth- about 1/2 to 1 cup


Directions:


Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Pat chicken dry, remove any gizzards and whatnot.

Place chicken in a large dutch oven or roasting pan with a lid.

Season with salt and pepper.

Pour some chicken broth in the bottom to help with basting and you can also use this in your stuffing later.

Place in oven and cook for about 15 to 30 minutes on that 450 degree temperature. (time varies depending on size of bird)

Turn temperature down to 375 degrees and cover. Cook for about 1 to 1+ 1/2  hours depending on size of bird.

You can baste every 20 to 30 minutes if you'd like. I used a cast iron dutch oven that has a special lid so I don't have to.

Now remove from oven and remove lid carefully.

Turn oven back up to 450 degrees.

Flip your bird over carefully.

Now remove any excess drippings. I set mine aside to use over my stuffing.

Slip back in oven for 15 to 30 minutes, uncovered.

Remove from oven and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Carve and serve with a smile.

Tips:

 You can baste if you like. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I use a special dutch oven that has a self basting lid so when I don't have time to hover over a chicken I cover it for part of the cooking time.

 You don't have to flip it if you don't want. I just wanted to show this method.

Chicken cook time is generally 20-30 minutes per pound. Generally if your roaster (I buy large ones) is about 5 pounds it will take you about 2 hours to cook. If it's more like 6 pounds then it will take about 2 and a half.

You can truss if you like. For this method I don't bother. I know it's going to be moist as the dutch oven pretty much steams the bird.

You can add other seasonings. Tons of people like use rosemary, thyme or sage. I don't care to but that's just a personal preference.

You can add things inside the cavity for flavor, I did not for this particular one but I've been know to stick some garlic, shallots or lemon in there.

So there you have it folks. This is just one way to do it. I shall post others over the winter. I tend to make roast chicken once a week over the winter. Then I can make soup and things with leftovers.



Baguette Stuffing:


Ingredients:


1 large baguette, cut up roughly and dried out a bit in oven
2 pounds of ground beef
1 1/2 cups celery, chopped roughly
2 to 3 large shallots, minced
3 tablespoons butter
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste
Onion powder to taste
Dried minced onion to taste
2 cups chicken broth (store or home made)
1/2 cup of drippings from roast chicken

Directions:


Cut up your baguette and toast it on a parchment lined cookie sheet in your oven for about 15 minutes. Oven temperature should be about 250 degrees. Remove and set aside once done.


Brown you ground beef in a pan.


In a large stock pot add the butter and saute your celery in it for about 5 to 10 minutes on medium-low heat. 


Add your cooked ground beef to the stock pot with cooked celery.


Add you seasonings. (you can add sage if you like it)


Now add your chicken broth and bring to a hard boil and cook for about 5 minutes.


Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add your bread and stir. Let simmer for another 10 minutes.

Now transfer your stuffing to a casserole dish and pour drippings over top.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Fluff and serve with a smile.

Tips:


You may have to adjust your broth depending on the size of your baguette. Measurements are not written in stone and can be adjusted to your taste. If you like your stuffing dry decrease broth. If you like it super moist you can increase the amount of broth.


You can add other seasonings. I like mine plain. I am not a fan of some spices normally used in stuffing so I leave them out. Feel free to tweak away.


I find lining the casserole dish with parchment helpful.


You could easily sub in sausage for the ground beef. We love, love, love ours with ground beef. It is the bomb made like this.

Here's some more pics, just remember I warned you the color was really off on some of them. 

So hope you liked this one. I seriously need a puppy trainer. Or maybe some time to train puppy myself. Then I could stay focused if puppy behaved. Let's be honest though, something else would happen and I'd get sidetracked and the same things would happen. Life is chaos here at the Bee household. You either embrace it or move. I've got my real estate agent searching for a place on Hawaii now.

Toodles and smoochies. xx