January Thaw, Fading Fast

I woke up WAY too early on Sunday (about 3:30 AM) and could not fall back asleep. I finally gave up and got up.

I stripped the bed and stuck the bedding in the washer. I used a roll of Jimmy Dean pork sausage to make some patties and cooked them as the crescent rolls I opened were baking. I put the whole roasting chicken I thawed out on Saturday into a brine of just salt water.

They said on the morning news we had 3/4-inch of rain last night. Since I didn’t see any lake out back, I am assuming the ground wasn’t frozen and all that water went into my soil. Which is good, because after last summer’s drought, it needed it! It was 41 degrees F. at 7:00 AM and stayed right around there all day.

I ate breakfast, refilled my pill box and put the bedding in the dryer. Next I swept and vacuumed the whole house.

I made up the bed when the dryer stopped. Then I finally got the light switch in the living room replaced (the old one had some of that wine-colored paint still on it. And, I did it without shocking myself!

I cleaned both bathrooms. The one downstairs was more dusty than dirty as I rarely use it.

About 2:00 PM, I started getting the chicken ready for the oven. I had softened a stick of butter and put that in a bowl. To that, I added the zest of two lemons, salt, pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (I got it out of my herb garden, so its sort of been freeze-dried, I suppose.

I put on some rubber gloves and took the chicken out of the brine. I rinsed it off and then patted it dry with paper towels. I lined my roasting pan with tinfoil. It has a rack, of course, but I don’t want to use it this time. So, I laid three celery stalks on the bottom for the chicken to set on. I smeared on the butter mixture, working it in where I could and under the skin in places. Then I cut the lemons in half and squeezed the juice on top of the chicken. I put two rosemary stalks and the lemon rinds in the cavity. And gave the chicken one last smear.

I turned the oven to 425 degrees F. Then I took the rest of my baby redskins (only cutting the bigger ones in half), four peeled carrots, cut in big chunks and three whole medium yellow onions that I just peeled and put everything in a big bowl. I coated them with olive oil and added salt, pepper and dried thyme. I tossed them around to coat them and put them in the roasting pan in a single layer. As an afterthought, I threw in three unpeeled garlic cloves as well.

When the oven was ready, I put the pan in and set the timer for and hour and 15 minutes. Then I washed the brine pot, the butter bowl and the big bowl. I went in to watch some DIY TV shows while my dinner roasted.

When the timer went off, I checked the internal temperature (185 degrees F.) and then pulled it out. I tented it with more foil and the it rest another 10 minutes. I couldn’t help myself, though, and did try one of the roasted redskin potatoes. OMG!!!

The chicken had rested, so I carved a big section of breast and one leg. I added some of the roasted veggies and ate an early Sunday supper.

The chicken was excellent: Crispy brown skin, very moist meat and a nice lemony flavor. But, it was the roasted veggies that took it over the top. Both the potatoes and the onions were perfectly seasoned, with the occasional char from the roasting pan that gave it just that much more flavor.

The carrots were a little tough, but I suspect that was my fault. I think I should have cut them smaller.

Anyway, I ate everything on my plate and went back for seconds on the veggies.

Thank God Melissa called before I ate too much and exploded! We had a very interesting conversation ranging from her grades last semester, through genetics and each of our own personal favorites in food categories (surprising similar, BTW) to finding and repairing historical homes.

We talked long enough for the leftovers to have cooled, so I put them away and cleaned up the roasting pan.

Then I made a cup of coffee for my dessert (and so I could stay up later and, hopefully, sleep through the night before going back to work). I did stay up until almost 11:00 PM.