Roasting a whole chicken can give you all kinds of bonus ingredients. In addition to the meat, there are bones and gravy. If you stuff it before you roast it, there's a side-dish of dressing. You can use the bones from the cooked chicken to make stock. In fact, if you roast them after the meat has been removed, the stock has a richer flavor. If I'm feeling especially frugal, I let the fat congeal and refrigerate it until I need to grease a casserole.
Simply Frugal Roast Chicken
| Ingredient | 4 servings |
| Chicken, whole | 1 |
| Giblets | |
| Water | 1 1/2 C |
| Bay leaf | 1 |
| Fat* | 2 Tbsp |
| Onion, chopped | 2 Tbsp |
| Bread*, diced | 2 C |
| Celery | 1/4 C |
| Basil | 1/4 tsp |
| Thyme | 1/4 tsp |
| Sage | 1/2 tsp |
| Salt | |
| Pepper | 1/4 tsp |
| Flour | 1 Tbsp |
| Milk | 1 C |
Wash chicken, and remove heart, liver, gizzard, and neck.
Place neck, gizzard, and heart in water, along with bay leaf and half the onion. Simmer for 15 minutes. Drain and reserve stock.
Chop heart, gizzard, and liver fine. Saute with remaining onion in fat for a few minutes.
Combine with bread, celery, basil, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper.
Pour stock over dressing to moisten.
Stuff interior of chicken just before the chicken is put in the oven. You can double the amount, and bake the remainder in a greased casserole dish.
Place chicken in oven.
Turn on oven and set to 350 ℉ Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Pour off liquid, and allow fat to rise to the top. Skim and reserve fat.
Add flour to pan drippings. Stir until flour is incorporated. Add milk for cream gravy, add the liquid from the roast for a thinner gravy. Stir over medium heat until gravy thickens.
After the meal, place carcass and bones in a plastic bag, and freeze until ready to make stock.
*Fat, Bread, Preheated Oven
Fat: the frugal cook uses bacon fat, chicken fat, vegetable oil, or butter.
Bread: the frugal cook uses left over bread, bagels, or cornbread.
Preheated oven: the frugal cook knows you do not need to preheat the oven if you are roasting meat.
