Oops, there it went

Menu Plan Monday came and went, see my penance recipe for Sticky Chicken at the end of this post.

My reason was this: I got a heads up from I-don't-remember-where that Food Lion had whole chickens on sale for 49 cents/pound. Wow! I hadn't seen that price in a while, so it was worth the trip three miles away for the deal. This was Monday morning, early, when I was the only person awake in my house. That way, I didn't detract from our regular schedule. I entered Food Lion with the intent of purchasing 10-15 chickens. However, when I got back to the meat department I quickly realized that I had stumbled on a jackpot of reduced meat. Now, if you remember the Food Lion meat scandal of the early 90's, you're probably thinking "ew, gross", but I think after that, Food Lion probably became one of the safest places to buy meat because of the scrutiny they received. Anyway, I got so many good bargains to last a while. The reductions were just taken (the date said 4/28, which was yesterday). I got several 5 pound Boston Butt roasts for 87 cents a pound. I got beef ribs, which my family adores. We normally wouldn't eat beef ribs because of the price. I also got a few Chuck Roasts, which can be slow cooked in a way that they are tender and juicy. I will be going back to Food Lion again on another Monday for more meat deals.

Sunday - leftover spaghetti dinner
Monday - Southern Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwiches in the slow cooker, cucumber salad, pasta salad, Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Tuesday - Lentils and Vegetable Soup, leftover pulled pork sandwiches, Green Leaf Salad
Wednesday - Sticky Chicken, Rice Pilaf, Steamed Vegetables, Butter Flake rolls
Thursday - Day Old Bread Casserole (using leftover chicken), rolls, peas
Friday - Pizza night
Saturday night - out of town company = out to eat!


and, now, from the family archives:


Sticky Chicken

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Serves: 4

This chicken is an absolute family favorite. My family would eat this once per week, but I wait until I get a really, really good deal on whole chickens to keep it special by not serving it so often. Cooked, these resemble those tiny Tyson Rotisserie Chicken, or the expensive rotisserie chickens at the certain Market store. The skin is crisp, the inside is so moist! For my family I make two, so we have a little leftover.

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon white peppers
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 whole chicken
1 cup chopped onions

Combine all spices (first 8 ingredients) in small bowl.

Rinse chicken, inside & out. Drain well.

Rub spice mixture over skin and the inside of the chicken. Place in a resealable bag, seal and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast, stuff cavity with onions. Place chicken breast-side-up in roasting pan.

Roast, uncovered, at 250°F (that's not a typo...it's really 250°F). Baste occasionally with pan juices or until pan juices start to caramelize on bottom of pan and chicken is golden brown, about 5 hours.

Anything over 225°F is safe as long as the chicken reaches an internel temperature of at least 180 F, which this does, and more for about 5 hours.

OR

Following regular chicken roasting instructions as follows: Pour melted butter over chickens. Place on roasting rack in shallow dish. Roast at 475 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 degrees. Roast an additional 30-45 minutes, or until internal temperature is 180 F.




Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Menu Planning Software from DVO Enterprises.