Paying penance for Thanksgiving fiasco...Sunday Dinner

14 years ago

To extricate my culinary reputation from the turkey-which-never-cooked Thanksgiving fiasco, I'm attempting to roast a chicken for the quintessential "Sunday Dinner."

It's our turn to host the bi-weekly "Family Sunday Dinner" with the neighbors. Due to their work schedules today, the dinner chimes will ring at 4 p.m.

The menu is:

Roast Chicken

Spanish style with garlic, lemon and onion tucked inside and just under the skin.

Fresh Steamed Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Ragu cheese sauce from a jar. I'm keeping it real...and easy. The broccoli will be 'steamed' in the microwave.

Mashed Potatoes

As penance I may peel them, something I usually only do at Thanksgiving.

Pan Gravy

Assuming the chicken "cooks" and makes drippings.

Homemade biscuits with Butter and Honey

Grands, from a cardboard tube! LOL

Cherry Pie with Whipped Cream

Mrs. Smith's pie and fresh whipped cream.

An 8-lb. turkey kicked my backside over Thanksgiving. Let's see what this 6-lb. chicken can do!

There was the time I would have insisted on making my own cheese sauce, stirring up a biscuit dough (or making yeast bread), and rolling pastry and pitting the cherries to make a "real" pie.

I'm so thankful those days seldom reoccur now that I'm older and wiser! LOL

This dinner will serve all of us today, and re-appear on the table in some form of leftovers on Monday. I love to cook once and eat two...or three...times.

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Since I like to get as much of the week's meals prepared ahead of time as possible, I also have a pot of "pasta sauce veggies" steaming on the stove. I cleaned out the veggie bin and tossed six small zucchini, a large can of diced tomatoes, an onion, several stalks of celery, a green bell pepper, and a jalapeno pepper into a pot. I'll freeze it for now, and then season and adjust it for either pasta sauce, meatloaf, or stuffed peppers/cabbage later in the week.

Harry stole half of the jalepeno pepper off of the cutting board. He loves peppers, although he's never eaten a jalapeno. I had cleaned it and removed the membrane and seeds. It wasn't too hot and doesn't seem to affected him at all.

He's now paying his penance in the kennel...snoring and building up his energy to come out bigger and badder than ever.

Now I'm off to smash garlic and wash and trim the chicken.

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Comments (7)

Jasdip
14 years ago
I've got a chicken in the frig thawing to make Sticky Chicken.....it cooks 5 hours at 250. I think Patti has made this, and I'm giving it a shot.

I thought you would have made your refrigerator rolls Caroline. They were quick and easy.

Good luck with your meal!!!! Penance.....LOL

Harry has a cast-iron stomach!
caroline94535
Original Author
14 years ago
JasDip...please post the Sticky Chicken recipe. It sounds like something I "need!" LOL And the kitchen would be so warm, assuming it ever gets cold enough here to want an extra heat source in the kitchen.

I just used the Better Than Pan on my cast-iron roaster. I chose store-bought rolls so I could concentrate all my powers on the chicken. I could have made the Spoon Rolls last night...but I was having a Last of the Summer Wine DVD-fest.
Jasdip
14 years ago
Here it is Joann. I do have Patti's name beside it.
You have to plan ahead, it sits overnight with the spices on it. I think I might cook it on foil, because of the caramelization. The roaster might be hard to clean otherwise.

Sticky Chicken

3 lb roasting chicken
2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup chopped onion

Combine spices. Rinse chicken and drain well. Rub spice mixture over skin and inside cavity. Place in resealable bag and refrigerate overnight.

Stuff cavity with onions. Place breast-side down in roasting pan. Roast, uncovered at 250 degrees for 5 hours. Internal temp should reach 155 easily.

Baste occasionally with pan juices, roasting until juices start to caramelize in bottom of pan and chicken is golden brown.
marie_ndcal
14 years ago
I know what Caroline is doing!!! Getting her quilting stuff ready for the big show in March around the 15th. No time to cook!!!! Hope to get together with her this time in Minot--weather permiting.
I don't quilt, just spend money! LOL
Marie that is really enjoying this winter weather so far.
patti43
14 years ago
Caroline, my Thanksgiving dinner was a fiasco, too. But I'm not doing penance :-) I think my embarrassment was penance enough. Your dinner tonight sounds really good. Don't see any reason to make things harder on ourselves than we have to, when there are so many good things to work with today.

Jasdip, the chicken is wonderful--at least we liked it a lot. Make sure you bake it breast-side down. All the juices stay in the meat that way.
Marilyn Sue
14 years ago
Sticky chicken is really good, I made it some years back.

Sue
samkaren
14 years ago
LOL...about Harry

I was cutting up the celery, carrots, onion and potatos for my stew tomorrow (I'm crockpotting). Turned my back for a few minutes and discovered my celery was gone. Looked and looked and guess where I found it? Dusty (my 19 year old cat) who loves celery, knocked it off the counter and was sitting on it (trying to hide it). I busted out laughing because he had this innocent "who me" look on his face.

SamKaren
your resident DJ