Le Poulet

Yesterday evening, I took one step towards my resolution of cooking more!  I roasted my very first chicken. 

Here's a link to the recipe from the fabulous and adorable Jamie Oliver for Roasted Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary Potatoes. 

Isn't he just cute as a button?

BEFORE
Here are the ingredients before the roasting.

And all assembled

AFTER
And viola!  Here is the finished product!  It was tres magnifique! 

The meat was so moist.  The skin so crisp.  And it was refreshing to eat chicken from a roasted whole chicken that was not laden with salt. 

I made a few modifications to the recipe.  First, I added carrots to the potatoes and roasted them both.  The carrots turned out so sweet and just perfect.  Second, I put some fresh thyme between the meat and skin.  The hard parts included parboiling the potatoes.  Putting potatoes into boiling water wasn't as easy as it sounds without causing boiling water to splash a little.  Second, the recipe calls for putting a lemon into the cavity of the bird (and no, I didn't name it although I was tempted).  While I pricked it as directed, I was nervous it would burst while roasting, but it did not!  Third, how do you know its cooked?  I used my meat thermometer and roasted it until the thigh meat was 180.  I know this sounds crazy high, but it meant the bird was only in the oven for 75 minutes, which I didn't think was long enough.  I'm happy to report that it was not dry at all! 

And this morning...I used the carcass (I know, harsh word) and made homemade chicken stock!  Yay!  I think my Julia Child moment is complete. 

Laura