7 Days of Chicken for $7

On Sunday, my friend Zack (not to be confused with Z) came over to show me his recipe and method for roasting a whole chicken. Zack also showed me all of the meals one can get from a single roasted chicken - enough meals to last one or two people an entire week.

Meet Zack.

This is how small my kitchen is.

Before we get started on the chicken, let's make one thing clear: The price tag for the chicken alone was a mere $7.33 at Stop and Shop. We also picked up some celery, baby carrots, an onion and a store brand bag of potatoes, so the end total was about $15. For just me, I got about 10 to 12 meals out of this chicken. That's roughly $1.25 per meal.

We started by roasting the chicken. To start, we rinsed out the entire thing, removed the wish bone, and tucked the legs underneath the body of the chicken (I didn't have any twine, but it would have been ideal to also tie the drumsticks together with it).

While Zack patted the bird down with some paper towels (to ensure the skin was dry and could get crispy in the oven), I got down to roughly chopping the onion, celery, and potatoes. I threw them all in a saute pan with some olive oil, and added the baby carrots as well (if you have a rotisserie pan, throw the veggies in the pan and skip this step altogether). I sauteed all of the veggies together for just a few minutes to soften them slightly.

Zack liberally salted the inside and outside of the chicken with salt and pepper, and then we placed the entire bird on top of the slightly sauteed veggies. 

We cooked the chicken and veggies in a 450 degree oven for 1 hour. 

We let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes before Zack carved it, and within no time we each enjoyed our roasted chicken dinner.

The end result was seriously the juiciest chicken I have ever eaten. I could easily cut this chicken with a fork alone, and the skin was perfectly crispy and seasoned, without being chewy and overly fatty. Despite such a crowded pan, the vegetables came out full of chicken flavor, while still possessing their own characteristics and tastes. (Side note: With such a crowded pan, some of the potatoes needed some extra time under the broiler).

After we ate, Zack showed me all of the meat still left on the chicken - an impressive amount, mind you - and walked me through the process of making homemade chicken soup and homemade chicken salad. We removed all of the leftover meat from the chicken itself, and I shredded that with a fork to make the chicken salad. I simply added some mayonnaise, curry powder, leftover chopped celery and dill - a perfect flavorful combination for chicken salad sandwiches. I ended up having enough chicken salad for four sandwiches, plus plenty of leftover vegetables!

Afraid I'd be a little "chickened out" as the week went on, I only used the carcass of the chicken in my chicken soup. To make the broth, I started by finely dicing the leftover onion, carrots, and celery, and sauteed them until soft in a large pot with some olive oil.

For the broth, I simply cooked the leftover chicken carcass with the diced veggies and several quarts of water. I let the broth boil, reduced the heat, then made sure to skim the white, fatty foam as it appeared at the top of the pot. Once the foam stopped coming to the surface, I simmered the broth, covered it and let it sit for about 2 to 3 hours. I then strained the broth, stuck it in the refrigerator, and cooked it with some of the leftover, larger vegetables I still had leftover from Sunday night.

I also added freshly cracked black pepper, some salt and dried thyme to the soup. I let it cook until the potatoes and other veggies were soft.

Although this soup didn't have any chicken chunks in it, the broth was intensely chicken-flavored, and the black pepper added a nice, constant spice to the soup. I usually like my soups a little thicker than this, but the large chunks of potatoes, carrots and celery really helped to add some texture and "weight" to this surprisingly hearty chicken soup.

Overall, I have to say I was amazed at just how much food Zack and I got out of this one chicken. For under $8, I have eaten really well this week. And you don't have to stick with chicken salad and soup - there is so much meat left over after the first meal, that you could make any chicken dish your tastebuds desire.

What's your favorite chicken recipe?

P.S. You only have until midnight tonight to enter my giveaway! I'll be picking a winner tomorrow morning!

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