I needed to make something quick the night before we left for Colonia, and then have something equally quick to make on Sunday evening when we came home. So I went to the corner butcher (there seems to be one every few blocks) and asked him to cut up a chicken for me, which turned out to be a bird approximately the size of an ostrich. But yours can be about 4 lbs.
Here's what you can do to make one dinner and the main part of another. Slice about 1 lb. of the chicken off the bone and cut it into 2" pieces for the following recipe. This can be a rough and ready job - it won't matter. The rest of the chicken and bones - put it all into a large pot and cover it with water - add a cut up carrot, onion, rib of celery, maybe some parsley, don't worry if you don't have them all - and put it on the burner and bring to a simmer. Cover partway, and let it simmer for up to 2 hours, while you make, and eat, the other dinner:
One-pan roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, and red onion - for 2 - roughly based on Ottolenghi's Chicken, Fennel and Clementines, manqué the fennel and clementines.
Preheat oven to 425 -
- 1 lb. of boneless chicken - can be white or dark, preferably dark - cut into 2" pieces.
- 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
- 1 red onion, cut in half and sliced thickly
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
- 1/4 cp. orange juice
- juice and rind of 1 lemon
- 3 TB olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. salt, pepper
- 1 tsp. sugar (brown sugar if you have it)
- 1/2 tsp. thyme
- chopped parsley - optional
Mix the garlic, orange and lemon juice and rind, olive oil, salt and pepper, sugar, and thyme in the bottom of a medium sized roasting pan. Toss in the chicken, sweet potatoes and onion slices and mix well with your hands until everything is coated - everything should just fit closely together. Put in the oven and bake for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until some things have browned, the liquid is syrupy, the potatoes are soft. While baking, make a salad and slice some bread. If you happen to have some ice cream and a container of dulce de leche around, why, there's your finale.
When you're done, don't forget that soup that's on the stove! Let it cool and strain the broth into a refrigerator container. Pick out the chicken parts and remove the meat - put that in another container. It will be ready in the refrigerator when you get back (will be fine for 5 days.)
Chicken noodle and vegetable soup - almost ready on your return - for 2
When you're done, don't forget that soup that's on the stove! Let it cool and strain the broth into a refrigerator container. Pick out the chicken parts and remove the meat - put that in another container. It will be ready in the refrigerator when you get back (will be fine for 5 days.)
Chicken noodle and vegetable soup - almost ready on your return - for 2
- Chicken broth and meat from above
- Whatever vegetables you might have around that you think will be good in here - just one of each, cut into 1/2" cubes or pieces - could be:
- zucchini
- sweet potato, peeled
- butternut squash, peeled
- carrot, peeled
- green beans
- frozen peas
- use your imagination or what's in the fridge
- 1/3 of a 1 lb. box of pasta or noodles - cook them in boiling water until al dente, rinse with cold water and drain
- chopped parsley, optional
Bring the broth to a simmer on the stove in a good sized pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. (If this was perhaps a not very tasty chicken, which we tend to have up north, and the broth is kind of blah, then you may want to add a bouillon cube.) Throw in the vegetables and cook until they are soft. Rinse the noodles and add them, letting everything heat up for a few minutes. Scatter on the optional parsley. This is comfort food, complete with aroma, just the ticket after traveling around. Even more comfort? If you happen to have stopped by one of the ubiquitous roadside bars on a Uruguayan highway and picked up a slice of homemade Chajá - there you go.
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