Roast Chicken, Potatoes, and Delicata Squash
I felt off-kilter all week. My daughter has not been sleeping well (a common problem among children with autism), so we’ve been sleeping in a bit to catch up on our sleep. This, of course, causes our mornings to be rushed. On top of that, she had early release from school all week for parent-teacher conferences. So I spent the entire week feeling like I was behind and running out of time.
The most pitiful day was Friday: We again slept in and had to rush to get out the door on time. Since getting my daughter fed and ready for school is the highest priority, my own readiness takes a back seat. With minutes to go before we had to leave, I ran into my room to get dressed. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt out of the laundry basket and threw them on. I grabbed the socks I had tossed on the floor next to the bed during the night. I figured after my shower later I would put clean clothes and socks on. Except I never had time for my shower on Friday. At the end of the day, I found myself still wearing my laundry basket outfit. Darn!
Next week is looking up. School goes back to a normal schedule, which should help with the sleeping a bit. And even if it doesn’t, I will have more time during the day to catch my breath and get something done.
Chicken Dinner
This was the perfect week for Hurry-up-and-Wait Roast Chicken, this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe (it’s actually more of a technique than a recipe). Roast chicken is a low effort/high reward meal, and a favorite in our house. Leftovers were used in a casserole that lasted us two nights. Awesome!
There are two things different about this recipe: the chicken is placed on it’s side for the first part of the roasting period, then turned onto it’s other side for a bit, and finally roasts on it’s back for the last 10 minutes or so. After removing the chicken from the oven, it is placed breast-side down with it’s legs propped in the air to help the juices settle back into the breast.
Upside-down Chicken
I didn’t care for all the turning of the chicken. It was a bit awkward, and the skin did not get as crispy as I like. On the other hand, the upside-down resting period did result in nice, juicy breasts so I would use that part of the technique again. Regardless of the awkwardness, it was delicious chicken!
From Scratch 
I shared the same thoughts on this chicken: very moist, but fussy and non-crispy skin. I also agree that roast chicken is very satisfying with little effort. Comfort food all the way! I hope you all get a chance at being better rested next week.
At least this weekend we get an extra hour to adjust…
This was a really tasty chicken, but mine didn’t brown either, had to run it under the broiler for color.
My skin crisped up… maybe your pan/Dutch oven had high sides? Either way, yay for low effort/high reward meals. I hope you have a smoother week starting soon, Karen!
Love that you used the leftovers for a casserole- perfect ! Yes, this was an interesting way to handle roast chicken. Fun for this week but not a repeat. And for the record, I have had more “still in those clothes” days than I would care to print. You try to get a bit more rest and instead end up greeted with a baptism by fire type day. That goes on and on. Thank goodness for coffee 🙂 Hope that extra hour this weekend helps the cause !
It was a little fussy, but it certainly was the juiciest chicken I have ever made. I hope this week runs on a more even keel for you!
When my kids were young, I can’t tell you how many of those kind of days I had. Hopefully this week will be better! I wasn’t into all the turning either, but the chicken was delicious! Have a great week, Karen!
Hope this week is better — I know of what you speak and it isn’t even our conference week yet! Yikes! I’m not into the chicken-flipping either. Prefer one pose during roasting that produces crispy, intact skin. (Love roast chicken though — and the leftovers!)
The chicken turning didn’t bother me too much and I agree with you, it was a really juicy bird!