A Friday... No, Saturday... Scratch That... Sunday Evening Feast

Last Wednesday I went to the market after work, as I so often do, to get the necessary items to make dinner that evening.  As I perused the aisles for my necessary ingredients for my dinner that night, I happened to notice that oven roaster chickens were massively on sale.  Well, not being one to pass up a bargain, I grabbed one.  "This will be a nice dinner on Friday night.  Come home, season it up quick and toss it in the oven for a late dinner," I thought to myself.

Well, that didn't go as planned.  Quick drinks after work on Friday for a friend's birthday turned into several hours at the bar and me hitting the McD's drive-thru up the street from the casa before walking through the front door at about 11.  I certainly wasn't cooking a chicken then.  So, Saturday it was.. but wait!  Friends from Boston were going to be in the Providence area that day and wanted to go to dinner.  How could I say no?  I'd have offered to cook the old bird for them, but alas, she was only big enough to feed 3, at best.

Sunday it was.  The damn bird has been in my fridge since Wednesday, and it was too late to freeze it, and I knew I wouldn't be home on Monday or Tuesday night, so, left with no options other than cooking it or chucking it, I made a chicken.  Sometimes, the best dinners are the ones you didn't want to or plan on making.

So, I had a chicken, but what to do with it?  And better yet, what to serve with it?  It had already been a very long weekend, so going to the grocery just wasn't going to happen.  This is where I get my culinary creativity flowing.  Opening the fridge and the cabinets, assessing what I have at my disposal, I settled on a Lemon Pepper Roast Chicken with Carrots and Celery in Dill Butter and a Lemon Carrot Couscous.

Lemon Pepper Chicken

• 4lb Oven Roaster Chicken
• 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 lemon, halved
• 2 tbsp Lemon Pepper Rub, divided
• Salt and Pepper 
• 2 sprigs of Rosemary
• 2 sprigs of Thyme
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled

Carrots and Celery with Almonds in Dill Butter 

• 3 cups sliced carrots
• 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 tsp dill weed
• 3 tbsp butter, divided

Lemon Carrot Couscous

• 1 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 lemon
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 large carrots, shredded
• 1 tbsp butter

To get started, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Next, clean out the inside of chicken and rinse the inside cavity out with cold water.  Pat the chicken dry and place it in a roasting pan or deep covered stoneware baker, which will reduce the cooking time and keep the chicken more moist.  Loosen the skin from the breast and thigh portion of the chicken using a spoon or dull butter knife.


Now, prepare your chicken seasoning.  In a small bowl, put 2 tbsp of olive oil, the juice from 1 half of your lemon, the zest of 1 half of your lemon, a tbsp of Lemon Pepper rub and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Combine all of the ingredients.  In a separate small bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, juice and zest of the remaining half of the lemon, another tbsp of the Lemon Pepper rub and another pinch of salt and pepper.  Take of of the bowls and pour the mixture under the skin of the chicken, massaging the skin to spread the seasoning mix all over the breasts and thighs of the chicken.  Next, brush the second bowl of mix all over the skin of the chicken for crisping.  Now, place the two lemon haves from before, the thyme, the rosemary and the garlic cloves into the cavity of the chicken.

Roast the chicken, covered, 65-70 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers at 140 degrees in the center of the thickest part of the breast.  Uncover and roast an additional 8-10 minutes or until the thermometer registers 165 degrees, the juices run clear and the chicken skin in browned.  Remove the roasting pan or stoneware baker from the oven; let stand, covered, 10 minutes.  Remove the lemon, thyme, rosemary and garlic from the chicken, carve and serve.

While the chicken is in the oven, get your carrots and celery sliced.  In a small saucepan, bring the carrots and the water with the salt to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add in the celery and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until tender.  Drain the vegetables and put back in the pot and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium low heat.  Add in the dill weed and almonds and saute for about 8 minutes, until golden brown.  Add to the carrot mixture and throw in the last tbsp of butter.  Stir to coat the carrots and celery and leave covered on the burner on the lowest setting, or a keep warm setting if you have one.

For the couscous,  saute the shredded carrot, zest of 1 lemon and garlic in 1 tbsp of olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes.  While sauteing, bring the water, 2 tbsp olive oil, juice of half of the lemon and a pinch of salt and pepper to a boil in a small saucepan.  Once boiling, remove from heat, stir in the couscous and the carrots and garlic.  Cover and let the couscous absorb the liquid for about 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork before serving.

For plating this dish, I used a large high sided bowl.  First, lay a large spoonful of the couscous in the bottom.  Next, put a spoonful or two of the carrots and celery on top of the couscous in a line down the middle.  Lastly, place one of the whole chicken breasts just behind the line of vegetables, and place a wing and leg on either side.

Now, here comes the confession of the day.  I wasn't overly fond of the couscous on its own.  Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it was a bit bland for me.  That being said, Shaun and I both found that if you take a forkful of the couscous with the carrots and celery, they went GREAT together.  So much so, I may combine them into one dish the next time...

Until then, though... happy eating!