My Roasted Chicken

Every person... well, every meat eating person... NEEDS to have a go-to roast chicken under their belt. It really is a necessity in my mind.

It is the crowd-pleasing dinner party item. It is the feels-like-home meal. It is comfort. It's leftovers can become soup when you need the warmth or a cure. A pot pie, if you're so inclined. Sandwich filler. Or warmed with the veg and gravy of its first meal, to make leftovers something to be celebrated. I could and really want to go completely over the top on this one (if I haven't already). Any day when I need a meal that is going to warm me, bring me comfort, make me feel like home, and break bread with people... I think of a beautiful roast chicken. 

It is the simplest thing to add to your culinary repetoire and you'll never regret it. 

Turkey Pot Pie

I'm not quite at the point yet where I despise my turkey leftovers... I hope you're not at that point yet either or this post will seem wholly unwelcome.

I can usually manage to eat one meal of turkey leftovers before I'm done with the traditional fare... the white meat, no matter how moist, continues to dry out. The potatoes go chalky. Buns stale. And the gravy runs out. At this point, I usually toss the remaining turkey into the freezer while I figure out what to do with the three pounds that remain.

Enter: Turkey Pot Pie. I figured that this was an easy-creamy-dreamy way to get rid of the last bit of turkey. I could freeze the pies for a time when my turkey-love returns. And I could cram these pies chock full of veg and feel virtuous about eating these leftovers... further justifying my breakfast of chocolate.

Roasted Carrot, Carmelized Onion and Ginger Soup

Generally speaking, I can made it through one, maybe two, meals of leftovers before I am ready to pull my hair out. This soup, and the two that will follow, have made this one meal stretch through more than a week and have definitely eliminated that guilty task of ridding the refrigerator of the ghosts of dinners past.

This one is for Val, who has yet to test out one of these recipes on her own but pledges that she "could do this one." Fingers crossed. ;)

Roast chicken and veg...

More comfort food. Every time I leave my house on some sort of trip - business or otherwise - I become more and more fascinated with the simple comforts of food that reminds me of home. After this last little stint on the road, three cities in three days (while not the most arduous of trips... it was tiresome nonetheless), I arrived home with a list of recipe requests and a need for easy, simple comfort food.

I think everyone should be able to roast a chicken. As one of the easiest and most enjoyable of meals, it requires very little prep and fuss while satisfying a person completely. I'll get into roasting the whole chicken another time...

Now, this bit of roast chicken (pieces) and veg was a bit more calculated than simple satisfaction. One SKer friend wanted a simple, easy meal that would feed the family (this is for you, buddy!). Another wanted a tortilla soup. And I wanted a smoky soup. So, each component of this meal was to be first enjoyed, then repurposed into something a bit more than repetitive leftovers of days past.