Orange You Glad...

Last Sunday, we were feeling pretty rough from the night before (what else is new), so rather than go out to watch football at a bar we decided to stay in our pajamas all day and watch TV at home. This gave us the chance to finally use the roasting pan we got for our wedding in August and an excuse to infuse the home with the delicious smell of roasting chicken. Double bonus, I made a great chicken stock from the carcass!

I found this recipe last year when researching fancy Valentine's Day meals. We went with surf n turf instead, but I've been drooling over the recipe ever since. I thought it would be the perfect way to celebrate a Jets win (ah, crap). It was very tasty though and provided us with a good amount of leftovers.

Roasted Chicken with Asiago Polenta and Truffled Mushrooms

from Cooking Light

For the Chicken:

1 5lb roasting chicken

1 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 orange, halved

6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

2 thyme sprigs

1 (14-oz) can chicken broth

Cooking spray

1/2 cup white wine (plus a glass for the cook, obvi)

2 tsp all-purpose flour

For the mushrooms:

2 tsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

12 oz. mixed wild mushrooms (I couldn't find a great mix so bought oyster and baby bellas)

1 (8-oz) package pre-sliced mushrooms

2 tsp truffle oil

For the polenta:

2 cups fat-free milk (Lactaid for this girl, what whaaat)

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup instant dry polenta

1/2 cup asiago cheese, grated (all I had was parmesan)

Preheat oven to 325. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken (or throw into a pot for the stock if you're making it). Trim excess fat. Work your fingers under the skin of the chicken to loosen so that you can stuff herbs in there. Combine thyme, orange juice, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and garlic; rub over the breast and drumsticks under the skin as much as you can. Place orange halves in the body cavity. Tuck wings under the body (we had to use baker's twine for this - those wings are springy suckers!).

This chicken has seen better days

Combine 6 garlic cloves, 2 thyme sprigs, and 1 cup of broth in a shallow roasting pan. Place chicken on a rack coated with cooking spray, place rack in pan.

Bake at 325 for 2 hours or until the thigh meat is 180 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes (OOPS totally forgot to tell Don that part so he burned his fingers for a minute before I remembered and made him stop). Discard skin. Place chicken on a platter; cover to keep warm. Add wine to drippings in pan, scraping to loosen the brown bits; discard the thyme sprigs.

Place flour in a small saucepan; gradually add remaining broth, stirring with a whisk til blended. Set aside. Place a ziplock sandwich bag in a 2-cup glass measure (this part is genius!). Pour pan drippings into the bag and let stand for 10 minutes so all the fat rises. Seal bag; carefully snip a little off the bottom corner of the bag and drain into the flour saucepan. Stop at the fat; discard it. Bring mixture in the pan to a boil and cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Not sure if I did something wrong here, but I ended up having to add some Wondra to thicken it up a bit. Keep warm.

Melt butter in a large skillet then add 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and mushrooms; cook 5 minutes or until mushrooms release moisture and darken. Remove from heat and stir in truffle oil.

To prepare polenta, combine milk, water, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Gradually add polenta mix, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and cook 2 minutes until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Serve polenta with chicken, mushrooms, and gravy.

For the stock, I put the carcass in a large pot with the giblets and neck. I added a bunch of water (~7 cups), celery, carrots, a quartered onion, and about a tbsp of grated ginger. I heart ginger. I simmered over low heat for about 4 hours (I kinda forgot about it; luckily Don remembered to turn it off before we went to bed!). I probably should have let it cool before I did anything with it, but damnit I was tired. I strained the stock through cheesecloth into a big container then let it sit overnight (mostly because of the whole tired thing). In the morning, I skimmed as much fat off the top as I could, then sealed the container and put it in the freezer. I plan to make soup with it asap!