I Roasted a Chicken Upside Down . . .
It's been a very busy and very interesting day.
I've needed to go to the store for at least a week, but going on a weekend is very time consuming. I was going to go on Saturday, but I spent what felt like the entire day cleaning the oven - speaking of which:
Not bad, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, the market I wanted to go to today opens at 7. I thought it was at 9, but was pleased to find out it was two hours earlier! After a morning chat with J I threw some clothes on and headed to the store. One of the things that I've been working on again lately is budgeting. So I had coupons at the ready and chose as many sale items as I could. I saved more than $20. Yay Me!
This was truly a megashop. I really needed pretty much everything, including flour. I've decided that I want to make my own bread. Actually, I'm determined to make my own bread (I can control what goes into it that way). I had flour that was a year past its best by date. And I suppose it might have been OK - but then I found a bag of whole wheat flour that was 10 years old. My friend, T, said, "How did we miss that when we cleaned out your kitchen a couple of years ago?!" :-D I have no idea, but there it was, and out it went. So, I bought some all-purpose flour and also some bread flour. And I was out of sugar. I bought the fixings to make a lasagna, and I got a whole chicken for 99 cents/pound.
And then, I came home and started to cook.
First I made the lasagna. I let it cool and then froze it in individual servings. I got some pork chops and used the Foodsaver to freeze those individually, too. I'm serious - particularly if you are a single person, a Foodsaver is an excellent kitchen item. Then, I decided that I was going to roast the chicken. And, as you can see, I roasted it upside down.
:-D :-D :-D :-D
In my defense, it was packaged upside down and it never occurred to me that that wasn't the top . . . I mean, it's been decades since I've roasted a chicken. J said later that he thought I had it upside down and I was like, why didn't you SAY something?! :-D It came out none the worse for it, though, and I got a good amount of meat off of it that I will be able to use for chicken sandwiches this week.
Then, I figured in for a penny, in for a pound, and decided on the spur of the moment, that I would make chicken stock with the carcass and the bones. I've roasted a chicken before (rightside up, even) but I have never made chicken stock. I figure there has to be a first time for everything. Right? I didn't have any celery, but I did have some carrots, and I put the lemons in that I had roasted the chicken with, and added some Penzeys' Sunny Paris seasoning that I had put on the chicken when I cooked it. Sunny Paris is a very good salt-free spice blend from Penzeys.
I also added some whole peppercorns, a bay leaf, and some dried parsley, and I cut up half an onion, and tossed in the rest of the mushrooms that were left over from making the lasagna. And of course the carcass and bones and skin and drippings. Then I added water up to 1/2 inch from the top of the pot as the recipe instructed.
Then I turned the crockpot on low and put the lid on. I have these Ziploc containers that I'll use to freeze the stock in the morning when I get up. They are 1/2 cup and 1 cup sizes. I think I can skim the fat off the top without any problem, but I don't have any cheese cloth to strain the stock, so I'm just going to have to be careful. If this goes well, I will invest in either a fine sieve or some cheesecloth for future stock endeavors.
Cross your fingers and wish me luck. :-D
Other accomplishments of the day included:
On Friday I was listening to Rickie Lee Jone's eponymous first album. I remember seeing her on Saturday Night Live the first time. I was blown out of the water. This has always been one of my favorites of hers.
I've needed to go to the store for at least a week, but going on a weekend is very time consuming. I was going to go on Saturday, but I spent what felt like the entire day cleaning the oven - speaking of which:
Not bad, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, the market I wanted to go to today opens at 7. I thought it was at 9, but was pleased to find out it was two hours earlier! After a morning chat with J I threw some clothes on and headed to the store. One of the things that I've been working on again lately is budgeting. So I had coupons at the ready and chose as many sale items as I could. I saved more than $20. Yay Me!
This was truly a megashop. I really needed pretty much everything, including flour. I've decided that I want to make my own bread. Actually, I'm determined to make my own bread (I can control what goes into it that way). I had flour that was a year past its best by date. And I suppose it might have been OK - but then I found a bag of whole wheat flour that was 10 years old. My friend, T, said, "How did we miss that when we cleaned out your kitchen a couple of years ago?!" :-D I have no idea, but there it was, and out it went. So, I bought some all-purpose flour and also some bread flour. And I was out of sugar. I bought the fixings to make a lasagna, and I got a whole chicken for 99 cents/pound.
And then, I came home and started to cook.
First I made the lasagna. I let it cool and then froze it in individual servings. I got some pork chops and used the Foodsaver to freeze those individually, too. I'm serious - particularly if you are a single person, a Foodsaver is an excellent kitchen item. Then, I decided that I was going to roast the chicken. And, as you can see, I roasted it upside down.
:-D :-D :-D :-D
In my defense, it was packaged upside down and it never occurred to me that that wasn't the top . . . I mean, it's been decades since I've roasted a chicken. J said later that he thought I had it upside down and I was like, why didn't you SAY something?! :-D It came out none the worse for it, though, and I got a good amount of meat off of it that I will be able to use for chicken sandwiches this week.
Then, I figured in for a penny, in for a pound, and decided on the spur of the moment, that I would make chicken stock with the carcass and the bones. I've roasted a chicken before (rightside up, even) but I have never made chicken stock. I figure there has to be a first time for everything. Right? I didn't have any celery, but I did have some carrots, and I put the lemons in that I had roasted the chicken with, and added some Penzeys' Sunny Paris seasoning that I had put on the chicken when I cooked it. Sunny Paris is a very good salt-free spice blend from Penzeys.
I also added some whole peppercorns, a bay leaf, and some dried parsley, and I cut up half an onion, and tossed in the rest of the mushrooms that were left over from making the lasagna. And of course the carcass and bones and skin and drippings. Then I added water up to 1/2 inch from the top of the pot as the recipe instructed.
Then I turned the crockpot on low and put the lid on. I have these Ziploc containers that I'll use to freeze the stock in the morning when I get up. They are 1/2 cup and 1 cup sizes. I think I can skim the fat off the top without any problem, but I don't have any cheese cloth to strain the stock, so I'm just going to have to be careful. If this goes well, I will invest in either a fine sieve or some cheesecloth for future stock endeavors.
Cross your fingers and wish me luck. :-D
Other accomplishments of the day included:
- Two loads of laundry. There's nothing unusual about this, except that I completely finished the laundry. Everything is folded or on a hanger, all the socks are matched up, and everything has been put away. Well alrighty then! This is another thing I have been working on: Putting things away.
- The replacement of two burned out light bulbs - my porch light, and one of the kitchen can lights. The outside light was a CFL, but I can no longer find those covered with a light bulb shape and I can't stand them just naked and all twisty, so I went with an LED. Not my favorite look with that big plastic piece between the bulb and screw bottom, but I think it's supposed to last for like 20 years. I've been using halogen bulbs in the can lights in the kitchen and main bathroom. They look nice, but once this batch is burned out I'm switching to LED there, too. I'm fine to get on the step ladder to do these things, but part of me knows that it's probably not the best thing for me to be doing . . .
- I got seven skeins of yarn entered into my Ravelry database. I took the pictures forever ago, and they've been sitting on my desk blocking my working and writing space. Everything's uploaded, and as soon as I finish this post, I will be putting them away in the yarnoire in the sunroom. Another win in the put stuff away column.
On Friday I was listening to Rickie Lee Jone's eponymous first album. I remember seeing her on Saturday Night Live the first time. I was blown out of the water. This has always been one of my favorites of hers.
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