Rockin Roast Chicken and Revising Menu Monday

It's a New Year and another Monday!

This week I'm showing and sharing my experience making a Roast Chicken for the first time.
(Actually the first, second and third times!)

I've used the Pioneer Woman's Roast Chicken recipe and instructions--and using this chicken in a variety of ways. I'll also share with you what I learned along the way and how it worked for me in my real kitchen with my real family.

Here is the PW's recipe in its entirety. And it is awesome.

And here is the way I made it and the modifications I made getting it right for me (on the third time around).
1 whole chicken
1/2 cup butter softened
3 lemons
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary

The morning I'm cooking I set out a stick of butter to soften. I'm only using 1/2 cup of butter instead of the 3/4 cup the PW recommends.

When I'm ready to roast I preheat my oven, zest 2 lemons and remove the leaves from one sprig of rosemary. The PW says to finely--really, really finely chop the rosemary. After doing this for the first two chickens I used the food processor for the last one and loved the results.

So into the Cuisinart go the zest, butter and rosemary leaves.

Perfect! This chopped my herbs, mixed my ingredients and whipped my butter just slightly to ease the spreading. I'm so glad I did it this way instead of chopping, chopping, chopping and mixing by hand.

I rinsed and patted the chicken DRY. Not patted it mostly dry, as the first time I made this recipe--I mean DRY. It made smearing the butter a breeze. So easy that I used a rubber spatula and just used my hands for the portions where I wanted to smear butter between the skin and meat.

So easy!

Cut the three lemons in half, squeezed the lemon juice over and stuffed with remaining Rosemary and lemons.

Into the oven and the house smells absolutely amazing within the hour and once the chicken is done the possibilities are endless. I've used mine a number of ways and even used the bones for a soup base once I'm done. This is the universal meal that can spark your menu and your diet! Learning to roast a chicken myself can be scratched off of my kitchen bucket list. Now, here's a list of ways to use this delicious dish once you're done!

1.Chicken Salad-My kids love "Chick-fil-a" style with celery, mayo, relish, salt and pepper
2. Calzones-pick up some pizza dough, add chicken a little sauce and your favorite cheeses, fold and bake!
3. Tamale Pie
4. Big Salads
5. Chicken Enchiladas
6. Chicken, Apple and Provolone Sandwiches
7. Mexican Chicken Skillet
8. Mini- BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
9. Chicken Club Appetizers
10. Cheese Tortellini with Chicken-buy premade and add your favorite red or alfredo sauce
11. Chicken tacos
12. Ranch Lettuce Cups
13. Chicken Cheese Ball
14. Just as your main dish with roasted or steamed veggies. Can't go wrong this roasted chicken is SO juicy and tender!

About Menu Monday--I'm sharing one new dish from my kitchen every week and how we really prepare it and eat it. I've shared weekly menu plans which you can view here or by searching the Menu Monday label on the blog.

I cook A LOT and love to share ideas and tips and tricks that make life easier. The hope is that it helps some of my friends add new options to their menus and we all benefit. This spring for us is incredibly busy and instead of sharing a week's worth of dinners I've decided to share one really worthwhile cooking adventure every week. If there is something you've wanted to try but haven't yet--leave a comment and maybe I'll give it a try. This roasting of a chicken was something I've wanted to do for myself for a while, but I thought it would be too difficult it wasn't hard at all and got easier each time...not to mention the result was amazing!

Follow along to see what other new frontiers we'll conquer this spring! Thanks for visiting!!