Chicken Grease !

Hi friends!

I hope you all are staying healthy and finding ways to get through these uncertain times. If you don’t know already, I love to cook somewhat healthy at home so I thought it was a great time to share some of the meals I prepare. Usually, I create a lot of my own recipes using what I have in my fridge and pantry but I also have a few go to’s by cooks and chefs that I follow.
This is what I made on Sunday. After all the restaurants and bars closed here in France, it seemed like a comforting meal to help us get ready to hunker down and wrap our brains around the situation.
As of today we are in a total confinement and only able to leave the house for essential trips (grocery, pharmacy and doctors). OH, and it is acceptable to excessive outside too. 🙂 I guess there is no excuse for skipping my weekly run in the woods. Maybe it’s the time to train for a 10K?

Spotify Playlist to get you in the mood for some CHICKEN GREASE! :
Listen Here !

We enjoyed this meal with a beautiful bottle of red wine from the south west of France. Beret Noir (Saint Mont) As you can see from the empty bottle we quite enjoyed it 🙂

Ina Garten’s Roast Chicken
I use this recipe (that’s so easy and delicious)
(If you don’t like fennel you can add potatoes, carrots or any root veggie) But seriously, give it a try… the fennel is so yummy along with the chicken and carrots and the juice that is created while roasting!
•
• INGREDIENTS
• 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
• 1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
• 4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
• Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. (220 degrees C)

1. 2 Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

1. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

This is an easy delicious meal you can prepare with little preparation!
I used all the bones from the carcass to then make chicken stock.
Just throw the carcass in a stock pot along with 2 carrots, one onion, 2 stalks of celery and a little salt. I usually add salt at the end because I had already salted the chicken when I roasted it and there is alway a little skin left that has been salted.

Fill pot with water and bring to boil then reduce and simmer covered for about 2 hours and then remove lid and cook down a little more to reduce and bring out more flavor.

I fill ziplock bags and freeze for later.

It’s so worth have home made chicken stock in your freezer in case you do get sick it’s so comforting!

A few ideas of what to make wth the stock:

Classic chicken Noodle soup (add carrots, celery and some small pasta or rice)
Lemon chicken soup with rice and coconut milk
Thai curry veggies or noodles (add some curry paste and cook down a bit) Add noodles and /or veggies
Make risotto with chicken stock! SO much flavor
Cook rice or polenta with stock too
Escarole and white bean soup
Butternut squash soup
Healthy Alfredo Sauce (from Spark Recipes)
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Toss with fettuccine and peas! Comfort and kind to you waistline 🙂

Bon appetit!