Roast Chicken on a Bed of Vegetables and Homemade Mac and Cheese

You might have noticed things look a little different here than they did during my last post.  I'm working on a little redesign to make it look a bit neater and cleaner around here.  Also, kudos to my roommate Michael for designing me a new logo.

Well, the Cream of Blueberry Soup is on hold at the moment.  I'm going to try to get it done this week, but I am having a little difficulty finding gelatin sheets and the hemisphere molds needed for the yogurt charlottes.  I will probably have to end up ordering the items online.

So rather than post nothing at all this weekend, I'm posting a recipe from dinner last night.  Michael and his girlfriend Laura joined me for a meal that included roast chicken on a bed of vegetables and some homemade macaroni and cheese (it was Michael's reward for the new logo).  You might remember my first post, which was roasted chicken.  Well, this takes roast chicken and turns it up a notch.  This recipe is based upon the recipe Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables from Ad Hoc.

I neglected to take pictures of the process, but luckily Michael was able to snap of couple shots of the finished product.

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Roast Chicken on a Bed of Vegetables

3.5 lb chicken
1 1/2 cup carrots
2.5 lbs red potatoes
2 leeks (white and light green parts only)
Half of a white or yellow onion
Thyme
4-5 cloves garlic
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons butter
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Peel and chop up the carrots, and cut the potatoes into chunks.  Chopped the root end off the leeks, and cut off the long dark green ends as well.  Chop the leeks and place them in a strainer, and rinse them.  Leeks can often contain dirt within their many layers, so I find it is best to wash them after you chop them, as it is easier to remove the dirt.  Cut the onion in whatever way you choose (I prefer larger chunks, but if you prefer smaller ones, that will work fine with this dish).  Put all of the vegetables in a bowl, and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper, and then spread them out on a skillet.  I used a large cast iron skillet for this recipe, but you can also use a baking dish, it just needs to be deep enough to keep the juices from the chicken in so the vegetables can roast in the juice. 

 Clean the chicken- remove the giblets, rinse it, and pat it dry with paper towels.  Also, make sure the chicken is up to room temperature.  Guess what happens when you add several pounds of cold meat to a hot oven?  The temperature goes down drastically.  So let it sit to at least room temperature before you put it in.

A quick note- if you rinse the chicken off in the sink, be sure you go back and sterilize the sink and surface around it afterward.  You definitely don't want your kitchen to be harboring germs from the raw chicken.

I removed the wishbone from the chicken using a paring knife prior to doing anything else to it.  You don't have to, but it makes it easier to carve once it is done. 

Salt and pepper the cavity of the bird, add the garlic cloves, and several sprigs of thyme, using your hand to try to spread the spices and herbs around inside of it.  Truss the chicken.  Salt and pepper the outside of the chicken, and cover it with a light layer of olive olive.  Chop up several springs of thyme and sprinkle it across the top of the chicken.

Make a bed within the vegetables in the pan to place the chicken in.  Top the chicken with several pats of butter (healthy, I know), and place it in the oven for 20 minutes.  If you use a bird over 4 lbs, you might want to leave it at that temperature for 25 minutes.

After the 20 minutes, reduce the temperature to 400 degrees F (yes, you leave the chicken in the oven while the temperature is reducing).  Cook the chicken at that temperature for around 45 minutes, or until the temperature in the thickest parts of the chicken register at 165 degrees, or the juices run clear if you poke the thighs with a knife.

Remove the chicken and vegetables and let them rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

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Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

1 lb (16 oz) sharp cheddar (grated)
1/4 lb Monterrey Jack (grated)
2 cups half and half
4 tablespoons butter
Sea salt
1 1/2 lb elbow macaroni pasta

Boil the macaroni in salted water until it is the desired texture, and drain the water.

Using a saucepan over medium-low heat, add the half and half and butter.  Allow the butter to melt, add the salt, and then add the cheese, a bit at a time, slowly stirring the entire time so that no cheese sticks to the pan.  Once all the cheese has been melted and combined, pour the cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir to divide it evenly, and serve.

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I'm doing my best to get the items needed for the Cream of Blueberry Soup with Yogurt Charlottes.  Hopefully I will have that recipe up later this coming week.

In the mean time, you can follow me using your Google account (press the follow button on the right side of the page).  Alternatively, feel free to share any of my posts on Facebook or Twitter.