Something savory for a change

Crispy Herbed Chicken
The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook Copyright 1999

1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup scraped, diced carrot
1/3 cup diced celery
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons dry white wine
1 ( 3 to 3 ½ pound) broiler-fryer
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil I used dried, about 1 teaspoon
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano I used dried, about 1 teaspoon
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme I used dried, about 1 teaspoon
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Combine first 5 ingredients; toss gently. Set aside. Remove giblets and neck from chicken; reserve for another use. Rinse chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Lightly stuff body cavity with reserved vegetable mixture. If desired, tied ends of legs together with heavy string. Lift wingtips up and over back of chicken, tucking wingtips under chicken. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Combine butter and next 5 ingredients. Brush chicken with butter mixture. Roast at 365 degrees for 1 hour or until a meat thermometer inserted in thigh registers 180 degrees. Place chicken on serving platter.

Yield: 4 servings
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This was actually something I made a couple of weeks before Christmas. It's not all that exciting but at least it's not a sweet. It was very good but I prefer roasting chicken in pieces. It doesn't take as long and it's easier to tell when it's done.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the normal routine. I got one new cookbook for Christmas, a Rachael Ray book which is new for me and I think I'm going to like it.

I also got a couple new appliances - an iced tea maker and a juicer, much better than the electric grater that my husband bought me last year (I returned that). I don't know what he's thinking when he buys Christmas gifts sometimes but the ice tea maker was actually a good choice. I've never been very good at making my own iced tea and the store-bought ones are never quite right, sweetener-wise, for me but I do buy them every now and then. I prefer my iced tea with just a touch of artificial sweetener or not sweetened at all.

The juicer, I considered returning but I think I'll keep it. It doesn't take up much space and it will come in handy if I want to make sorbets or Italian ices this summer. I can't resist a cooking gadget. I would have kept the electric grater last week but I didn't think it would work that well, based on product reviews I found online.

Question of the Day: Did you get anything cooking related for Christmas?