roast chicken

By now we've established that I eat a mainly vegetarian diet (with very occasional free range meat) and lean toward vegan when I can. So why, you might ask, do I write a post titled "roast chicken"? Good question.

It is rare that I cook any type of meat for a couple of reasons. First, I don't eat it. Second, I find raw meat to be absolutely disgusting and prefer not to have anything to do with it. However, I will do pretty much anything for my tiny Pepita. Celia is already underweight, so limiting her diet to the things I eat is not a good idea. Since some of the foods I make aren't to her taste, I've had to modify our dinner menus to make sure Celia eats. Celia likes roast chicken. Why is it called "roast" and not "roasted" chicken? Food for thought, people. Anyway, today I bought a whole chicken for dinner. This is a feat in itself because it is not easy to locate truly free range (or as I like to call them, "happy") chickens. I'm still not convinced my source is legit.

During Celia's nap I decided to get everything prepped and ready for the oven. I opened the package and found my hands immersed in a sea of raw chicken slime. One of the things I dislike about cooking a whole chicken is that there's really no denying the fact that you are holding an animal carcass. It has skin, wings and legs, and its innards are present too, neatly packaged in a handy little bag. Wait a minute. After rinsing the dead chicken I reached inside to remove the bag of gizzards. I felt something slimy and foreign. Oh no, OH NO! There was no bag and I was holding a neck!! For the first time in my life, there was absolutely nothing between me and a chicken's organs! I dropped that chicken neck as fast as I could, shuddering and completely skeeved out. I turned the chicken upside down and dumped out the other parts. Ew! Ew! Ew!

Finally my little chicken was nestled in a baking pan with some vegetables, all buttered, seasoned, and ready to go.

At dinner time, Chris and Celia enjoyed her immensely.

As for me, I have recovered somewhat from my ordeal and am looking forward to a nice bowl of good old fashioned Sweet and Sour Tofu tomorrow night.