A Whole Chicken

Two posts in one day.  It's catch up time on the blog world...and procrastination time in the homework world.

When I get the itch to cook, it is dangerous for me to go grocery shopping.  It's like when normal people go grocery shopping when they are hungry and come back with all sorts of unnecessary food.  I start to make up recipes in my head and convince myself I can pull them off.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

This time it worked!

So, I bought a whole chicken - it wasn't huge.  It was a natural organic one, with the skin still on and the insides still attached (and not tied up in a neat little bag).

I also bought a wild rice blend, a loaf of italian bread, whole carrots, white mushrooms, and some fresh herbs (sage and thyme).

Combine this with the vegetable stock, white onion, and fresh rosemary I had at home and I had the makings of homemade stuffing.

I started with the stuffing.

I made half a serving of rice (1/2 cup dry) and boiled in the vegetable stock according to the directions on the package.  While the rice was boiling, I toasted a couple slices of the italian bread on the lowest setting of my toaster.  Once lightly toasted I cubed the bread and threw it on a baking tray and let the bread continue to toast in the 350* oven.  I didn't really time it, just checked on it while I cut up the mushroom, onion, and carrots and herbs.

Once the bread was toasted and the rice was finished, I got out a big skillet and melted 4 tbsp. of butter on low heat.  I added the mushroom, onion, herbs, and carrots and let them cook in the butter for about 3 minutes.  Then I added the rice and the bread and mixed it all up.  I let it cook for about 5 minutes and ended up adding a bit more butter so everything would be moist.  Then I took it off the heat.

I skinned the chicken as best I could using my kitchen shears.  I got off all the skin except for the stuff on the wings.  I also pulled out the insides.  This is a messy job and somewhat difficult when you are by yourself.  I would suggest finding a helper or getting a chicken that is skinned already.

Once the chicken was skinned and had no more liver inside it, I washed it with warm water and patted it dry.  Then I stuffed it with the stuffing I'd made.

Next I rubbed a bit of olive oil all over the bird, top and bottom.  Then I carefully lifted it up and set it into my...dum dum dum....Crock Pot!  It just fit perfectly.  Once inside the crock pot, I covered the top of the chicken with more of the freshly chopped herbs.  I put some stuffing around the edges of the bird.

Then I let it sit on low for 7 hours.  I must tell you, the smell in my apartment was amazing.  The herbs and the chicken and everything - it was mouthwatering.

Once it was done (it had one of those little popper-outer things that lets you know when it's fully cooked so it was easy for me to tell) I lifted the bird out of the crock pot and immediately all of its appendages fell off.  Yeah.  Just fell off.  It was amazing.
This is what it looked like once I scooped it out of the crock pot.  The meat was literally falling off the chicken.

The chicken was a big hit.  It was juicy, perfectly done, and the herbs complimented the meat perfectly.  The rice in the stuffing added a nice texture difference and the mushroom and onion added a lovely layer to the overall taste.

I whipped up some mashed potatoes to go with the meal (Boil the potatoes, add some heavy cream, some butter, and go at it with a masher.  They are perfect every time...).

All in all, it was a delicious meal.  I'll definitely do it again.