So here's how the whole thing went down. I did 2 weeks worth of dinner planning before I went to the grocery store yesterday. That way I knew what to buy and I didn't have to worry about A coming home and looking at me and saying "what's for dinner?" Which is always exactly what I want to hear after having a crappy work day. The recipe called for a 3.5 lb roasting chicken. Since I was planning on using some of it for recipes throughout the week, I bought a 6.5 lb chicken.
So today, while N was taking a nap, I looked at the recipe and planned everything out. I usually don't eat until after N goes to bed. Especially when A is gone I just find it easier to not have to worry about dinner until N is asleep. Plus during the week I don't get N from daycare until after 5 and we start bedtime routine around 6:45. I like to spend all the time I can with him, not trying to cook dinner. So I planned it out around his bedtime. The cooking time was divided 30 mins then add some liquid, turn the oven down and then another hour. So I planned it so that I added the liquid right before we start his bedtime routine, that way when I came down from getting him to bed, it would be almost ready. So that was my first mistake. If any of you cook or have roasted a chicken before, or if my friend S is telling her hubby M about this, he/you are probably noticing a problem with the cooking time. Yeah. The RECIPE said 30 mins then another hour. But if you remember correctly the recipe also called for a chicken about 1/2 the size of the one that I actually was cooking. So it took a LITTLE bit longer than I thought (like another hour). Whatever, that I could handle I was just so proud of myself once it was done.
So, who can tell me what my next mistake was. Come on, somebody can.. Yup! That's correct. I roasted the damn thing upside down. Now, I could totally play that off because I have seen on Food Network, some chefs recommend that.Yeah. It was totally NOT on purpose. I'm just an idiot and put the freaking thing in the pan upside down. I didn't even realize that I had done that until I started to cut into it. Even as I took this picture, my dumb ass had no idea. Really though, who does that! I think you can all see why roasting a simple chicken is such a big deal to me! Apparently I don't even know a chickens ass from its breasts. I will say though, despite its position, the chicken was ridiculously moist. So, I moved onto the gravy which is my favorite thing when it comes to roasting anything. After I had put the chicken on the platter and taken a picture to send to my sister (she's a REAL cook, see http://www.prettygirlsuseknives.com/ she's the triple threat) I poured the juices into a sauce pan. I skimmed alot of the fat off (this is a Weight Watchers recipe after all) and turned the burner on. The recipe said to bring it to a boil then add the dissolved corn starch into it. So I turned the burner on medium high and put a lid on it to speed up the process. As I was putting the lid on it I heard N cry out and went to check on him. Then comes mistake number three. I had intended to put the lid on only part way, to keep some heat in but avoid it boiling over. I apparently, did not do that. Apparently when I put it down I put it ALL the way on. So in the 2 minutes I was upstairs checking on N (who by the way, just needed his paci and he was fine) it boiled over. And by over I mean ALL OVER. I came down and it was covering my stove, the counter next to my stove, the cabinet fronts and all over the floor in front of the stove. There were probably about 3 inches of liquid in the pot to start and about 1/2 an inch left when I got back. Awesome. So I did make a little tiny bit of gravy, which was still delicious, but I had to clean up my kitchen first. I may not have eaten until 8:45 at night, after cleaning my entire kitchen but in the end I had a delicious meal of Garlic Roasted Chicken and Gravy with Green beans. I now have the chicken bones and wings and thighs in a pot ready to start some chicken stock for soup tomorrow. That, I know I'm good at. Despite the mishaps I'm still quite proud of myself. I was, as the commercial said "Roasterphobic" and now I have faced my fear, destroyed my kitchen and my reputation (since I posted my stupidity online) but am not longer afraid to Roast a chicken.
:: takes a bow::
Thank you and good night.
PS: It's a really good thing this was a WW recipe, because I was so frustrated I ate 5 Chips Ahoy as well. Way to get off to a good start right?
