Tuesday, March 20, 2007

150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken: Cookbook & Contest




Back when I was working more than full-time at a design firm, Sunday was my cooking day. I always spent at least a few hours preparing for the week ahead. What did I cook? Things I could quickly freeze and reheat for dinner such as chili, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf and lasagna or I made roast chicken with vegetables.

The thing about roast chicken is, not only is it wonderful when you make it, any leftovers become the base of literally hundreds of other meals. My mainstays were chicken enchiladas, chicken stuffed crepes, chicken salad and chicken pot pie.

Over the past few years I have experimented with endless methods of roasting. I've used a vertical rack, I've split the bird and flattened it, cooked it under a brick, you name it. Lately I've been rather partial to Nigella Lawson's formula for cooking it which is 15 minutes per pound at 400 degrees plus 10 minutes or until the internal temperature hits 180 degrees. I start with the breast facing down then flip it over when it's halfway cooked. I look for the largest organic roaster I can find so I have plenty of leftovers.

Tony Rosenfeld, contributing editor at Fine Cooking magazine has just written a book called 150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken (And 50 Ways to Roast It) Rosenfeld suggests cooking two chickens at once to double the leftovers. What a great idea! This book is perfect for people who have limited time for cooking and need more ideas of what to do with leftovers. It also has plenty of techniques for you to find your own favorite way to roast a bird. Once you do, you'll never run out of ways to turn one chicken into several different meals, no matter what size your household.

I have three copies of this book to giveaway, courtesy of Taunton Press. Only one entry per person, so choose carefully! Remember, you MUST include your email to win and your mailing address must be in the United States or Canada (unless you want to pay for shipping). Just choose your answers and post them in the comments section. The first four people to correctly answer all the questions will win a copy of the book. Good luck!

1. A four pound chicken is typically raised in six weeks with
A. 20 pounds of feed
B. 15 pounds of feed
C. 10 pounds of feed
D. 8 pounds of feed

2. In 1950 what percentage of US chickens were "free range"?
A. 50%
B. 80%
C. 90%
D. 40%

3. You shouldn't eat a chicken liver if it is which color?
A. Green
B. Red
C. Brown
D. Grey

4. Which part of a chicken has the most calories?
A. Gizzard
B. Wing
C. Breast
D. Drumstick

5. In Ancient Rome someone who said "you were raised by a hen" was
A. Insulting you
B Complimenting you
C.Teasing you
D. Annoying you

6. Swiss law requires that all chickens raised in country
A. Have access to the outdoors
B. Have milk with their cereal
C. Are fed organic feed
D. Get chocolate if they lay eggs

CONTEST NOW CLOSED--THANKS!

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