How to eat an entire chicken, day 3: Chicken pot pie

Such a delay between posts, I know! But I hope that this recipe is worth the wait. It's one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. I first made it for Andrew and Andy during Christmas weekend at W&L. Neville Skyped in and Allison was there, and it was lovely. The last time I made this, Andrew was teaching late and didn't come home until the pot pie was almost out of the oven--about 7:00. The look on his face when he realized that chicken pot pie was waiting for him was just priceless. (I was too distracted with feeding him to take pictures of dinner...)

It's really easy, and you can vary the vegetables based on what you want. I've made it with potatoes before, but I really love carrots, peas and corn. I use Bisquick for the topping plus a couple of extra biscuits, but a puff pastry would also work. Leftovers are yummy, as always. This is especially good when you're using up your cooked chicken and your homemade stock... but you can also cook up some chicken breasts or whatever you have. Classic comfort food, made even better with a side salad.

Chicken pot pie
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dice an onion and 2 carrots, and sautee them in 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet with high edges. Add 1 cup frozen corn and 1 cup frozen peas. After they've cooked for a few minutes, stir in 1/2 cup flour and cook for another minute to make a roux. Pour in 2 cups milk and 2 cups chicken broth, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat, add 1 pound cooked chicken (shredded or chopped). Stir in 1 teaspoon dried thyme and some salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture into a casserole dish. Roll out biscuit dough and cut into a shape that will cover your dish. Bake until the biscuit topping is golden, about 35 minutes.

How to eat an entire chicken, day 2: Stock and soup

You remember Alexander, who went to sleep with gum in his mouth and now there's gum in his hair and when he got out of bed this morning he tripped on the skateboard and by mistake he dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running? Well, I've been having a day just like that today. I even locked my keys in my office on my way out of work. Fortunately, today's recipe was already mostly done, and pretty easy to throw together.

I've been working on a chicken this week: rosemary chicken, chicken pot pie and chicken soup. Although I made them in that order--I roasted the chicken on Monday, made the pot pie on Tuesday and made the soup tonight--I'm going to tell you about the soup first, because you start making the stock the night you roast the chicken.

I just Googled chicken stock, to see what makes it different from broth. Apparently stock is made with the bony parts, and broth is made from the meat. This means the stock has a richer flavor. You could buy either for a soup, but if you're roasting a chicken it's really wasteful not to make your own. The first time I did this, I froze my stock as ice cubes. They live in a freezer bag, and I pull out a couple every time I want chicken stock. It's super convenient, and the stock is almost free to make. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't think it would be too attractive, but it makes your house smell incredible.

Chicken stock
After you've roasted your chicken, carve or pull all the meat off the bones, and save it for later. You're going to want as much of that meat as possible, and it isn't doing you any more favors by going in the stock, so get in there! Put the carcass, bones, innards (from the paper bag inside the carcass when you started) and skin in a pot or Crockpot. Add enough water to cover everything.

Add a whole carrot (peeled with the ends chopped off) and some celery. I like to use the leafy parts that otherwise get thrown out. Peel an onion and cut it in half, and toss that in too. Add a bay leaf and some herbs--maybe some sprigs of rosemary or thyme if you're feeling inspired.

Cook it on low for several hours--all day/night if possible. When it's ready and smells amazing, strain it and discard the vegetables and bones. Especially if you're going to freeze it, pour the stock into the narrowest container you can find and refrigerate it for several hours. The fat will rise to the top and you can skim it off (kind of satisfyingly gross). Freeze it in small portions, refrigerate it to use in all your recipes or make it into soup!

Chicken and rice soup
This is a totally variable recipe, so put in whatever you like in your chicken soup. Some people prefer noodles or potatoes to rice. You can also make it come together much faster if you precook the rice and the vegetables. In that case, just cook it on low for about half an hour or until you get hungry.

Chop 3 carrots, 3 celery stalks and any other veggies (onions, turnips?). Cut your leftover chicken into bite-sized pieces. (I had already made my pot pie by this point, so I had about a cup and a half of chicken.) Put the veggies and meat in a pot with your unbelievably delicious chicken stock, and pour in 1 cup rice. Feel free to toss in more herbs or some pepper; I felt my stock was plenty flavorful, but everyone has different tastes.

Cook on low for several hours, until the veggies are soft and the rice is cooked. I'm doing mine overnight so I can take it to work tomorrow in my Snow White thermos! It matches my Snow White lunchbox, circa 1995.

How to eat an entire chicken, day 1: Rosemary chicken

Some of my readers may know that my ancestry includes thrifty Scottish Presbyterians, industrious pioneers who reached the frontier of Missouri, and Pattawomeck Indians (Native Americans) by way of Pocahontas herself. These genetic roots have left me predisposed to hate wasting anything. Sometimes I have to get Andrew to throw something away for me because I just can't do it myself. Recycling helps. So does making a week's worth of meals out of one cute little chicken. Plus, it is incredibly cost-effective. Andrew and I can eat for about a week on the cost of one chicken, some carrots, celery, onions, two cups of Bisquick and some rice. And we can do it even though both of us are working full-time.

From one chicken (5.64 pounds), I made three meals: roasted chicken, chicken pot pie and chicken soup. Today we're starting with the roasted chicken, which is day 1 of the project. Roasting a chicken shouldn't be scary, but I know I was overwhelmed by it before I tried it. I don't like touching raw meat in general, but really this was okay. (I still refuse to bone my poultry like Julia Child keeps wanting me to.) If you're an experienced chef who cooks chicken all the time, I promise that this is still an exceptionally delicious way to go about it. Rosemary chicken was probably my all-time favorite meal growing up.

Roasted rosemary chicken
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place one whole roasting chicken in a roasting pan. Pull out the little paper bag of innards from the cavity and save it for later (I wrap it up in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge). Stuff the chicken with a carrot, peeled and cut into pieces; a couple of celery stalks; and an onion cut in half. Add several sprigs of rosemary to the cavity, and tuck some under the skin or between the legs. Tie the legs together using butcher's twine (they sell this at the grocery store, but you may have to ask) so they sit above the opening to the cavity, like in the picture.

Bake for 20-23 minutes per pound, or until the interior reaches 165 degrees. Some chickens come with their own little thermometer that pops up when it reaches the right temperature. Let stand 15 minutes before carving.

I serve this with whatever veggies I have on hand. If I'm making rice--I didn't this time--I also make gravy: brown flour in a cast-iron skillet and whisk it in with the drippings from the chicken. Delicious.

After dinner, strip the carcass of whatever you didn't eat. Save the meat in the fridge for later. Put the carcass, bones, skin and the innards from before in a pot to make into your chicken stock. We'll get to that tomorrow...

Comfort food for when you don't want comfort food

It's been a shamefully lazy day. Although I had an absolutely wonderful time catching up with old friends this weekend, I think I caught some unpleasant bug and have been reduced to watching the Olympics all day on the couch while I think about all the cleaning and organizing and job-hunting I should be doing. I didn't get any kind of appetite until almost 3, when I had a tuna salad sandwich for a very late lunch. It's the kind of day where I would love to rationalize ordering pizza or Chinese, but being away from home means I've been eating out for three days, and I was at the point where I really want a healthy, homemade dinner. Even mac and cheese isn't that good for me... But here we are with a blog post, which means I had an absolutely delicious dinner and am now feeling loads better. Tonight's dinner came together in about an hour, and it was so easy.

Andrew and I both went to Washington and Lee, which is known for its many formal events: Fancy Dress Ball, Christmas weekend and about four sorority formals a year. We'd have parties before formals, where everyone would gather at an off-campus house to enjoy appetizers and drinks. I made coconut shrimp before New Member Formal in February, and it was a huge hit. This coconut chicken is basically the same thing, but with chicken instead of shrimp. Andrew loved it--and he doesn't normally like coconut anything! I also dressed up green beans, my favorite vegetable of all time, into a beautiful summertime salad.

My chicken-breading station

Coconut chicken and apricot chile sauce
I found this recipe ages ago via Pinterest (here's the original), and was so excited to finally make it! It's breaded chicken with a hint of sweetness from the coconut. I fried it, but think next time I will just bake it--it takes longer but is much less stressful. The blog where I found this recipe recommended serving it with sweet chile sauce. I just made the same sauce I first used for my coconut shrimp: mix together 1/2 cup apricot preserves, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and some crushed red pepper flakes. Easy! I did this first so the flavors had a chance to mix together.

Cut 2 lb chicken breasts into easy-to-manage strips. The thin-sliced cutlets were on sale, which meant my work was done. Lucky, lazy me! Dip each strip into three bowls, in order:
- 1/2 cup flour and a dash of salt
- 2 eggs and (if you have it) 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 cup bread crumbs (panko if you have it) and 1 cup coconut, blended in a food processor so the pieces are smaller

Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet and fry the chicken strips in batches. Drain them on paper towels before serving. Yum!

Green bean salad with goat cheese, tomatoes and almonds
My mom emailed this recipe to me this afternoon (here's the original), and it looked so beautiful and delicious. What a great summer side dish! The goat cheese melts a little around the green beans, and the almond flavor takes it up to the next level. I used fewer almonds and less garlic than the original recipe wanted. I also used grape tomatoes; the bigger cherry tomato probably wouldn't hide in the bottom of the bowl quite as much.

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake 1/4 cup sliced almonds in a single layer in a shallow pan for a few minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. I used my toaster oven.

Cook 2 lb. green beans in boiling water 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Run cold water over them so they stop cooking. Cut 1 pint cherry tomatoes in half and mince 1 clove garlic. You can also add 2 sliced shallots, but I didn't.

Whisk together 3 tablespoons sherry or white wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and a little salt and pepper. I used red wine vinegar, which is what I had on hand. Add 1/3 cup olive oil. Pour over the green beans, tomatoes and garlic. Serve with the toasted almonds and 2 oz. crumbled goat cheese.

Product placement: I made the dressing in my emulsifier, which is truly incredible if you're at all interested in making your own salad dressings. It whisks oil and vinegar together in no time at all. It's from Williams-Sonoma, and comes with handy instructions for measuring out your own vinaigrettes! My sister-in-law, Anne, gave it to me and it is just amazing (just like she is).