Leroy the Chicken

The other day at the grocery store I noticed that whole chickens were ridiculously inexpensive, so I picked two up. I figured that for .79 cents a pound, I could get over my poultry-on-the-bone phobia.

I started by looking at allrecipes.com for ideas. Nothing was exactly what I was looking for, so I created my own recipe. I didn't take pictures of the process because I spent too long looking for recipes and had to rush though prep.

First, I named my chicken Leroy. I don't know why, I just felt like I should give him a little dignity. Then I pulled out Leroy's guts, washed and dried him, and plopped him into a pan. It turns out Leroy was a little bit of a slut, so I tied his legs together with string. That'll teach him!

Next I preheated the oven to 450, rubbed the Chicken with Olive oil, Salt, Pepper and Cayenne. Then I sprinkled on some dried Rosemary (from Farmers market last summer) and some fresh Oregano, Thyme, and Dill from my Aerogarden. It's the first I've used my Aerogarden, (a Christmas gift from IL's) so that was exciting. I also shoved a little oregano sprig up Leroy's bum, for tasty tasty flavor.

Then I chopped some Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, Garlic and a crimini mushroom (yes, one mushroom. It's all I had left!) and put them in the pan around the Chicken. Then I poured a can of Swanson Low Sodium broth over the whole thing, and tossed it into the oven. Then I wept, because I always forget which end of the onion to cut first to avoid the tears!

Looks yum, right? Okay, it doesn't look yum unless you're into Salmonella, but it looks like it will eventually be yummy! I was so excited to try my first chicken that I couldn't resist peeking into the oven every 5 minutes to watch bad, bad Leroy brown. Okay, that was a bad pun that I'd been planning this whole time, but I'm not sorry.

Finished:

I will definitely make this again, especially since it looks fancy, but the price is right. This whole dinner cost less than $5. Amazing.

Chicken a la Leroy

1 whole Chicken

1 tbsp Olive oil

1/4 teas pepper

1/4 teas salt

1/4 teas Cayenne pepper

1/2 teas rosemary

Oregano, thyme, and dill to taste

3 potatoes

2 large carrots

1/4 lg yellow onion

3 cloves garlic

1 crimini mushroom (or, you know, more if you got 'em)

Preheat oven to 450.

1. Pull guts and neck out of chicken cavity, and cut off fat flaps (mmm). Wash under cold water and dry. Put in a large pan.

2. Rub your clean chicken with Olive oil, and tie legs together

3. In a small cup, mix salt, pepper and cayenne. Rub mixture all over chicken.

4. Sprinkle on herbs, and shove some up the bum

5. Cut Vegetables into large chunks and place around chicken in pan. Grind some peppercorns over veggies

6. Pour can of chicken broth over everything

7. Cook at 450 for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400 and cook for another 40 minutes or until temperature reads 180.

Ready in about an hour and half!