Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Ironically the inspiration for this meal comes from the collection of random hamburger buns piling up in my freezer.  Hamburger buns always seem to come packaged in quantities we can't use.  By the time we want hamburgers again, the frozen hockey puck buns seem unappealing and consequently small quantities of unused buns continue to stockpile.  Scott started with the buns by thawing them out and cutting them into large cubes which he spread on a cookie sheet and toasted in the oven to dry them out.  While toasting, he sauteed some garden onions and fresh chopped celery in some butter on the stove.  After they softened, he added an assortment of herbs from the garden: sage, rosemary, thyme and a little salt and cracked black pepper. In a large bowl, he combined the sauteed herb mixture and bread cubes with chicken stock and one egg to bind the stuffing together.  All ingredients got mixed together thoroughly and placed in the refrigerator to wait for the bird. For this recipe, Scott used a four pound chicken.  This gave us a great dinner, one round of leftovers and enough remainders for a tasty chicken salad (recipe to follow).  Scott stuffed the chicken, then before he laid it in the roasting pan, he made a bed of coarsely chopped carrots and celery. The vegetables functioned as a raised bed for the chicken during the roasting process, keeping the chicken out of greasy drippings and contributing their flavours to what would eventually become the gravy.   Chicken goes into the oven at 450 for the first 30 minutes and then gets lowered to 375 for the rest of the cooking.  Our chicken took about 90 minutes, but you should check it with a meat thermometer to ensure the thickest part of the bird measures 170 degrees before removing it from the oven.

While the chicken roasted, Scott prepared some yellow new potatoes that he grew in his greenhouse.  When they were soft I riced them up and Scott added the standard milk, butter, salt and pepper until they were smooth and creamy.  We have an abundance of green beans already so he lightly blanched them first and then sauteed them briefly in a skillet with a little salt and butter.  Beans should never be overcooked, these were the colour of emeralds and still maintained their crispiness.  When the chicken was ready, Scott strained off the drippings into a small saucepan to make the gravy.  Adding a little more chicken stock and then thickening it with a bit of cornstarch mixed into water.  (Do this step conservatively, as you don't want to create a gravy with the consistency of glue).  The end result came out fantastic, and it was hard to believe that random hamburger buns could produce such an excellent stuffing.  Overall it was indeed, a winner winner chicken dinner!