I suddenly crave simplicity.
If you’re a long-time reader, you know that I obviously love to make creative dishes with some kind of quirky Asian twist or with a generous handful of cheese in dishes where cheese traditionally isn’t needed. Remember my kimchi-yaki? My coconut-mango curry risotto? Or my Asianized Tunnbrödsrulle?
But strangely, these days, I just long for the basic, the familiar, the common. I want kimchi jiggae. I want my mom’s oxtail soup. I want plain bread and butter. And lately, I even crave Chinese food. Like, chicken broccoli stir-fry and mapo tofu.
What is wrong with me? Maybe I’m just homesick. Maybe I’ve gotten over the gourmet high, and just need something dull and comforting.
And then I realized that wow, I never really make these “normal” dishes. I’ve never made a stir-fry in my life. I’ve never made kimchi jiggae, a Korean kimchi stew that graces my family’s table almost every night.
Something needs to change. I need to try making more basic, “boring” dishes. I can’t call myself a good cook and not know how to make a basic roast chicken!
So before the winter break ends for me, I’ve been scrambling around the kitchen just reveling in sticking to a basic recipe— no bonus ingredients and fancy derivations. And yes, I started out with the iconic roast chicken first.
I bought the whole chicken while it was on a mad, happy sale during the Thanksgiving season, and froze it. But the ball of carcass was quite a sore eye in the freezer, taking up a huge chunk of space, so I decided to roast it as soon as possible.
** WARNING: Strong, disturbing graphics ahead. Do not proceed if you’re squeamish about carnivorism. **
How to Roast a Chicken
Hello, Mr. Chicken. Gosh, you look a bit naked. We should dress you up a bit, shall we? 
First, let’s get rid of the junk inside you… 
There you go. Nice and clean. Now, let’s stuff you with some yummy aromatics… 
Since I do live under a lemon tree, let’s tuck some fresh lemon slices into your belly…together with a few fresh sprigs of rosemary which I plucked from behind my school’s cathedral, tee hee hee.
But hm…you look a bit brazen with your legs like that. Let’s tuck your legs together with a string, shall we? So that you look a tad more demure… 
There! Now don’t you look more decent?
And since we’re on a roll, let’s just rub you all over with sweet paprika…and slip a few slices of butter under your skin…and finish off with a few grinds of fresh black pepper! 
Now, there you are in your little nest…
…with raw chopped potatoes spilling around you to keep you company… 
…because we are gonna pop you into the oven to give you a nice shimmery tan. A 425 degree Fahrenheit worth of tan! Just for about 60 minutes…let the heat do the magic… 
Ooh, Mr. Chicken. You look so good. You smell so good. In fact, you look good enough to eat! 
And your skin! It’s beautifully crispy and golden! But to make it even more flavorful…let’s rub just a teeny bit of butter over your back… 
Can you hear the butter sizzling down the crackle of your caramelized skin? And just for extra pizzazz, what about an extra pinch of fresh lemon juice? 
Now you’re all ready to be chomped on! Woo hoo! 
You know, Mr. Chicken, I usually prefer to cook the breasts because it’s so much easier, but when it comes to the whole bird, I much prefer eating the legs. There’s just so much more juice and flavor there. 
But yes, you’re right, your potato head buddies are also damn fine! Especially when they’ve soaked up all your lovely juices! 
However, I think next time I’ll brown them up for a few more minutes by themselves in the oven, to get them extra-crispy. I had no idea potatoes take longer to cook than a whole bird. 
And there you go. The classic roast chicken and potato dinner. Except I ate it for lunch since I need the sun to take good pictures. 
None of this bird went to waste. After I finished gnawing the flesh off the bones primal-style, I dumped the leftover bones into my slow-cooker to make chicken stock. I love stretching out the dollar!
Ah wait. Something did go to waste. The chicken innards. I’ve seen them being sold in grocery stores, so I thought maybe they would be edible with some decent seasoning. So I tried to fry them up with some onions, balsamic vinegar, vegetables, and rice… 
And they were NASTY!!!! Urgh!!! I almost chocked on the awful offal taste of the livers and the guts and immediately spit it out. I ended up dumping everything into the trash. Lesson learned: I really, really do not enjoy offal. Ergh!
Okay, now I can suddenly feel that revolting, metallic taste in my mouth again. I’m off to gurgle my mouth with diet soda. Meanwhile, if you’ve never roasted a whole bird before yourself, try it! It’s so easy, a bird could do it!
On second thoughts, maybe not.
Question of the Day: What is your favorite bird? To eat, and just in general. 
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Wanna know something weird? I didn’t read your blog yesterday (i’m sorry! And no, that was not the weird I’m going to talk about) This morning I pulled out a whole chicken to defrost for tonight’s butterflied chicken (exactly what you posted here). Great minds, I tell ya.
This will be the very first time I’m making a roasted whole chicken! By myself! But I’m making it with kabocha. My obsession (among many).
Yours looks wonderful- I’m forgoing butter though.
I LOVE making roast turkeys! I’ve actually been roasting birds and other cuts of meat since I was like fourteen years old… but ask me to make you a pasta dish or an asian inspired one and I freeze like an eskimo. Funny how people can be so intimidated by different things in the kitchen, eh?
The skin looks absolutely PERFECT on that one
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