Adventures with a Roast Chicken

Last Sunday, Miguelito and I decided to roast a chicken. We bought a $10 free range bird and seasoned it generously with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and olive oil. We cooked it covered in a 400 degree oven with the breast side down over a bed of baby carrots, parsnips and Yukon gold and red potatoes. After 30 minutes, we flipped the chicken over and cooked it without the lid so that the breast would become crispy and golden.

For the next 30 minutes or so, we prepared our side dish: roasted tomato and arugula salad. We roasted the sweet grape tomatoes in olive oil until they were slightly charred and very mushy.

Then we dumped the tomatoes over a bowl of baby arugula leaves.

The heat from the cooked tomatoes wilted the arugula. I seasoned the salad with some sea salt and pepper.

Miguelito's vintage Wedgewood stove cooked the bird to perfection.

See how crispy the skin is, how caramelized and tender the winter vegetables are.

I have carved a lot of fowl in my time. But this bird was cooked so perfectly that I just had to tear the meat off the bone with a fork.

The sommelier suggested a bottle of syrah.

Divine Sunday dinner.

For dessert, we got two mini eclairs from a neighborhood bakery. We also shared a Norwegian cookie that Miguelito's paternal grandmother gave him.

Unable to finish an entire bird in one night, we saved the leftovers for Monday's meal: chicken pot pie. We shredded the remaining meat and vegetables and added some chicken broth, along with frozen corn, green beans and peas. For a thickener, I dissolved a couple of tablespoonfuls of flour in milk and dumped it into the mix.

We didn't have the time or energy to make our own pie crust. After all, we had to work during the day! So we picked up two ready-made pie crusts from the grocery store. I baked the bottom crust for 10 minutes so that it was firm enough to hold the delicious glop that we'd spoon into it.

Because the filling was fully cooked, we just needed to bake the pie until the crust turned golden brown. Slap your papa--this pie looks so good!

For the Monday salad, we took the easy route by adding some sweet grape tomatoes to baby spinach tossed with French dressing. I wasn't as successful serving the chicken pot pie as I was baking it. So it appeared like a blob on the plate. It was so yummy that Miguelito scarfed down his portion in a jiffy and kept asking me if I was going to eat all of mine.

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