One Chicken. Two Dinners. Maybe Three.

The weather yesterday was awful! Cold and damp. It rained like crazy in afternoon. Luckily I went to my sister Lenore's house before work to pick up her cookies for the Reunion Tea tomorrow. On the way home I stopped at the store to pick up a couple of things and got a roasting chicken for last night's dinner. I was thinking of doing the Bundt Pan Chicken or Julia Child's recipe. But it was Friday and I was working from home and I was not sure how busy the day would be. I decided to set it and forget it. Yeah, that Slow Cooker Lemon Pepper Chicken is so damn easy. And delicious. I made mashed potatoes because the gravy required them. The photos? Funny but they did not come out good at all. But the ones of Archie, the chicken cat, were purrfect.

Of course, there was leftover chicken. I had planned for that to happen. Today was super busy. I knew I would not want to cook dinner. So we had Caesar Salad with Chicken! For the dressing, I use a variation of the Lidia Bastianich recipe.

Caesar Salad Dressing-
Using an Immersion Blender mix 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar, 2 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice and 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add one Hard Boiled Egg Yolk, 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard, 1/2 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce and Salt and Pepper to taste. Blend until smooth.

And I have enough chicken to put in the freezer for yes a third dinner! And the bones have been frozen for upcoming broth.

Slow Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken

The star of a few upcoming meals will have started with this dinner.  Lemon Pepper Roast Chicken in a Slow Cooker. This is definitely a favorite slow cooker recipe.

Ingredients:
3 teaspoons salt
2 pinches cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
zest of one lemon, then take the lemon & cut in half
4 carrots, cut into thirds
4 celery, cut into thirds or quarters
1 lemon, quartered  
4 to 5-pound whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel, neck & gizzards removed (if any)

Gravy (optional but too good not to make!)
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour
1/4 cup white wine
salt & pepper

Method-
Mix salt, cayenne pepper, ground pepper and lemon zest together in a small bowl and set aside.

Chop vegetables and add to a 6 to 7-quart slow cooker.

Prep the chicken
Fold wings back below the chicken. Put lemon pepper spices inside and all over the skin of the chicken. Add the quartered lemon pieces to the inside cavity of the chicken. Taking the lemon you halved, squeeze one-half over the chicken and over the vegetables. Add the two halves on top of the vegetables in the slow cooker.

Lay the chicken inside the slow cooker on top of the vegetables. (No need to add water or broth). Turn slow cooker on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 4 to 6 hours until chicken is thoroughly cooked through to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.

Remove chicken with turkey lifters and place into a baking dish and broil for 4 to 6 minutes or until the skin is crisp. Keep an eye on the chicken under the broiler it can brown up pretty fast!

Carve the chicken and serve with the vegetables from the slow cooker if desired.

Gravy
Remove vegetables and pour chicken broth from the bottom of the slow cooker into a fat separator or use a spoon to remove any extra fat. Strain the liquid.

In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and mix with a wooden spoon to cook the flour. Whisk in 1 to 1.5 cups of the strained chicken broth. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 30 to 60 seconds. Add in white wine and stir. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and season to taste.