By Anna Wills
This recipe isn’t even really a recipe it’s just a reminder that an elegant looking meal can be put together in several quick minutes. And it’s a meal that puts kitchen odds and ends to good use.
To make this roast chicken I took the odds and ends of what I had on hand- an onion, some shiitake mushrooms, a few celery ribs , and a couple of Granny Smith apples. Just about any non-leafy vegetable can be added to the roasting pan.
Try potatoes, peppers, carrots, turnips, or parsnips. The point here is that you can use that last potato or handful of baby carrots that might go to waste otherwise.
I picked some fresh herbs from the garden and then tossed those with the veggies and apples. I laid them in the bottom of the roasting pan. I also stuffed a few of the mushrooms, onions, apples and herbs inside the chicken cavity. I rubbed them skin of the chickens with salt and pepper.
Then I popped the roasting pan into a 425° oven for 15 minutes then lowered the temperature to about 350° and cooked until the internal temperature of the chicken was 165°.
After the chicken was done I removed the chickens to a platter and then with a slotted spoon removed the veggies and apples. I poured off the cooking juices and made them into a quick gravy on the stove top by adding a little bit of white wine and a little bit of cream.
This is a great meal and a good chance to use a whole chicken (or two).
Carve what you’d like from the chicken for the first meal and then pull the cooked chicken to use in dinners later in the week.
By Anna Wills
