This Foreign Life: What a Wonderful Weekend

My husband is fantastic. He's so sweet and he gave me a wonderful surprise this weekend. He surprised me with tickets to the ballet! Munich is such a cultural city and I had been mentioning how nice it would be to dress up and go to an opera, play, or ballet. I had only mentioned this in passing and he got tickets for us. We went on Friday, and there is one word to describe how it was: magical! We saw Sleeping Beauty (which is my absolute favorite fairy tale) and I think throughout the entire performance I had goosebumps. It was moving, funny, and just perfect. It was a perfect! I really can't thank him enough for such a beautiful, thoughtful gift.

As usual, Sunday was our lazy day and the day I cook something that takes a little bit of time (I know I've mentioned this before). Tonight I roasted a chicken! I love this recipe and I've made it countless times. I stuff the chicken with a lemon, thyme, and bacon stuffing. Then, the last 30 minutes of the cooking time I throw in some veggies to roast alongside the chicken. I always think that when I make a meal and my husband and I are too busy eating and enjoying to barely speak. The only sounds at the dinner table tonight were 'Mmmmm' and 'Yum' and 'Ooooo'. You get the picture.

Try this recipe.... you'll have a dinner table full of loved ones too busy enjoying this meal to say much of anything.

Roasted Chicken with Stuffing and Veggies
Serves 2 generously (you can double the stuffing and veggies for a larger bird)

1 whole chicken for roasting, about 2 lbs
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
4 slices bacon, chopped into one inch pieces
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
5 slices white bread, cut into 1/2" pieces
zest of one lemon
juice of 3 lemons, divided
1 egg
plenty of salt and pepper
flour (amount depends on the amount of drippings from the chicken after roasting)
water
vegetables for roasting, chopped into 1" pieces (I used red bell pepper and broccoli, but you can use any vegetables that are good for roasting)

First, prepare the stuffing.

First, chop the garlic, onion, bacon, and thyme. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.

Once the butter has melted add the bacon to the pan. Cook over medium heat until the bacon is cooked. I like to keep the bacon a bit soft (I'm not a huge fan of crispy bacon).

Once the the bacon is cooked, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Don't discard the fat. Heat the pan back up to medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 5-7 minutes.

Once the onion is translucent, add the garlic and thyme. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add the bacon back to the pan and cook for 2 more minutes. After two minutes are up, remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.

Get out a large mixing bowl and the bread.

Chop the bread into pieces. I like having stuffing with large pieces of bread. If you want smaller pieces, you can chop them finer or even use a food processor to have finely ground bread.

Add the bread, parsley, lemon zest, juice of 1 lemon, and egg into the mixing bowl. Do not throw away the lemon, once you've removed the rind and juice. Cut the lemon into 8 pieces.

Add the bacon mixture to the bowl.

Mix everything thoroughly and set aside while you prepare the chicken.

Pre-heat the oven to 375F.

Prepare the chicken by washing it under cold water (of course, if your chicken has giblets, remove these and discard them). Pat the chicken as dry as possible both inside and outside. Place the chicken into a deep roasting pan.

Season the outside of the chicken with plenty of salt and pepper. Start stuffing the cavity of the chicken with the stuffing.

Once the chicken is stuffed, take a piece of butcher's twine and tie the legs together.

Now, separate the skin on top of the breasts from the breast meat by pushing a finger between the skin and the meat.

Take 1 tablespoon of butter and cut it into two pieces.

Place each piece of butter underneath the skin.

Place the lemon pieces around the chicken and place the chicken into the oven. Depending on the weight of your chicken will depend on the time it will take to roast the chicken. A general rule is 20 minutes per pound, plus 15 minutes.

While the chicken is roasting, chop up the veggies you want to add to the roasting pan. I used broccoli and red bell pepper, but you could use any vegetables you want. Put the vegetables in a bowl, add 1 tablespoon of oil, and plenty of salt and pepper. Mix everything, making sure the veggies are coated in oil.

When the chicken has 30 more minutes in the oven, remove the roasting pan from the oven and add the vegetables around the chicken. Put the pan back into the oven and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through completely. You know the chicken is cooked once pierced, the juices run clear.

Remove the pan from the oven and squeeze the remaining lemon juice over the chicken and vegetables. Turn off the oven and place the chicken back into the oven for 5 minutes.

After roasting, remove the pan from the oven and move the chicken from the pan to a clean platter and cover with foil, allowing the chicken to rest for 5-10 minutes.

Remove the vegetables from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving all of the drippings in the roasting pan.

Heat the pan of drippings on the stove top over medium heat. Add a bit of flour (depending on the amount of drippings from the chicken). I usually use a 1:1 drippings to flour ratio. Whisk the flour into the drippings, making sure it doesn't clump. Add water, 1/2 cup at a time, whisking constantly, until the gravy is the consistency you like. Pour the gravy into a dish to serve.

After the chicken has rested, remove the stuffing with a spoon. Take out all of the stuffing... you don't want to lose one bit of this... it is magic!