Thanksgiving is my absolute favourite meal to prepare dinner. I really like the odor of a roasting turkey and making a number of meals with the leftovers is one of the best. One draw back to roasting a turkey is that it takes a number of hours, and entire turkeys are more durable to search out on the retailer after the vacations. Having two younger youngsters, I would like fast meals that don’t require many components but present me with leftovers to make use of all through the week. Cue roasted hen! Roasting a complete hen is straightforward and helps me create a number of meals from one dish. The aroma whereas it cooks is a bonus 😊.
Under are my high 3 causes to roast a hen:
- Nice for leftovers & home made broth– Once I roast a hen, I often have sufficient hen leftover to make 1-2 further dishes. A few of my favourite dishes are Hen Salad for fast lunches and the Tacky Hen Enchilada Bake or Hen Alfredo Pasta for dinner. Trying to restrict your sodium? Home made broth could be decrease in sodium than retailer purchased, and definitely cheaper if you have already got the bones from a roasted hen. I like making hen broth by boiling the bones and pores and skin in a pot of water with carrots, celery, and onions. I let it simmer for a number of hours after which pressure out the greens/bones to make use of in a wide range of dishes like our recipe of the month, Hen with Mushrooms.
- Value efficient– I made a decision to start out buying entire chickens a number of years in the past after I realized it was less expensive than buying separate cuts of hen and containers of hen broth. At my native grocery shops, a 3 to 4-pound hen ranges from $9-14 in comparison with a pound of hen breast for $5-7. Since I take advantage of hen broth in fairly a number of of my dishes, I can get essentially the most use out of a complete hen whereas saving cash.
- Easy components– Roasting a hen doesn’t require many components. Butter or oil and salt and pepper are the fundamentals. Generally I’ll add lemon/lemon juice, recent or dried herbs and garlic to vary the flavour. Carrots, potatoes, and onions are nice additions so as to add to the dish for additional taste and to create a complete meal.
When roasting a hen, I wish to pat it dry with paper towels earlier than seasoning it. This enables for a a lot crispier pores and skin like what you’ll discover on a rotisserie hen. As soon as dry, I season the hen and use a little bit butter or olive oil between the pores and skin and the meat to maintain the hen moist. Place the hen in a shallow baking dish or roasting pan and place it right into a 425-degree oven. At my home, a 4-pound hen reaches 165 levels after roughly 60 minutes. To be protected, use a meals thermometer to ensure the hen is cooked utterly earlier than serving.
Not solely does roasting hen present a scrumptious meal, nevertheless it provides me extra time to deal with different issues. As a result of it offers a very good variety of leftovers, I can rapidly throw collectively a number of different meals with out having to spend so much of time within the kitchen. Who doesn’t need additional time throughout a busy week? I do know I do!
Cheers to including roasted hen into your meal rotation; you received’t be disillusioned!
