Chicken Salad Contessa

Ever since I was a kid I have always loved turning leftover protein into salads, and then sandwiches. Of course, what I mean by this is chopping whatever chicken, beef, pork, lamb, hard boiled egg, etc., remains from dinner into little bits and mixing it with gobs of mayonnaise, then heaping the mixture onto whatever type of bread was available. Not exactly the most elegant preparation, but it always got the job done. It never actually occurred to me at the time that you did not have to wait for leftovers, you could prepare the meat specifically for this purpose, and that the addition of a few other ingredients could turn ho-hum, overly mayonnaised salads into some truly spectacular sandwich fillings. Hence, over the years my love of mixing meat with mayo has not diminished one bit, but has undergone quite an evolution.

My friend and coworker John has been bringing this chicken salad to work for lunch the last few weeks that intrigued me quite a bit. A slightly modified version of a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa (recipe link at the end of post), it starts with roasted, skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts and combines the meat with mayo, sour cream, some toasted nuts, grapes, and tarragon.

I wanted it immediately the first time I saw him take it out of his lunch bag and heard him describe the recipe. When my other friend and coworker Diana came in last week with some chicken salad of her own, the same recipe, I knew I had to make it as soon as possible (which turned out to be last Friday).

The thing I love about making recipes that others have made is that the recipes have already been tested and any possible trouble spots are thus easier to avoid. This recipe is a good example, as it calls for 2 teaspoons of salt (yes, 2 whole teaspoons) to be added to the dressing, hardly any of which is necessary. I knew this going in, and cut down the salt dramatically. I also knew that the dressing amount could be cut as well, and I used seedless red grapes instead of green. All information gleaned from discussions with my friends. If you don't have your own personal recipe testers, a great thing to do is find a recipe website, like Food Network or Recipezaar, that has user comments along with the recipes. You can pick up many great tips from countless others who have tried the recipe before you.

For this particular recipe I doubled the chicken, halved the mayo and sour cream, reduced the salt to 1/4 teaspoon (and I'm not sure it even needed that), and reduced the nuts by half. Although the recipe was intended to produce a salad eaten on a bed of lettuce, I could never eat chicken salad this way knowing I'm just 2 slices of bread away from sandwich heaven. I found this particular recipe to be quite good, the grapes added a nice refreshing burst of sweet flavor that I found to be a nice accent. And tarragon is fast becoming one of my favorite herbs, as I find it pairs extremely well with poultry. The real keeper though from this recipe is the easy and delicious chicken preparation. The meat came out cooked perfectly, and starting with bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts really kicks up the flavor while reducing the price tag (don't be a boneless/skinless chicken snob). I'll definitely be using this particular prep whenever I make chicken salad from now on.

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Oh yeah, the recipe(s)...

The recipe described above - Chicken Salad Contessa

My favorite chicken salad - Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad

My favorite egg salad - Egg Salad Sandwich

Pan-Glazed Chicken with Basil

Looking for quick, easy, and healthy? Look no further than the Weight Watchers 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook. Weight Watcher's emphasis on portion control means you can cook the recipe for the desired number of persons (and this recipe is easy to scale up or down depending on your need), and as long as your eating the recommended serving, there's no way you can overdo it. Even if you eat two servings, you're still in pretty good shape. I've tried a few recipes out of this book, and they are all easy (although 15 minutes is a stretch if you're a slow, take-your-time to make sure everything is perfect cook - like me) but this one is my favorite so far. It's amazing how the right combination of ingredients can provide amazing flavor, and this recipe marries balsamic vinegar, honey and basil with outstanding results. The only other things you need are some boneless, skinless, chicken parts, some salt and pepper, and a little olive oil.

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Start with four boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 6 ounces each (this is pretty small, so you might have to slice 2 large breast pieces in half). I'm sure boneless thighs would be excellent as well, if you don't mind the dark meat, a few extra calories, and a lot more flavor.

I've have to digress a bit here and relate a quick story. Last week when I was shopping for this recipe, I was contemplating my chicken purchase in the store. There was a package of organic boneless, skinless breasts which was a little over 1 1/2 pounds for about $8 and then right next to it there was a 5 lb organic roaster for roughly the same price. Now, the week before when I made barbecued chicken, I bought the parts already cut up to save time since I was making a whole bunch of other stuff (and I felt sufficiently guilty for doing so), but this time I bought the whole bird (much more economical and much less wasteful). I used the breasts to make the pan-glazed chicken, froze the legs and thighs for later use, made 2 quarts of stock from the carcass, and was able to pick enough meat off the boiled carcass to make 3 days worth of chicken salad for my daughter. You hear a lot these days about food prices, and everybody should be concerned about the underlying causes of these problems, but it is possible to get a lot more for your money (and to help the environment too) if you're willing to do a little extra work, and cutting up a whole chicken really isn't THAT hard. Just do it like this:

Okay, digression over (I could go on for another hundred pages about what we're doing to the environment for the sake of "convenience," but I won't - I will show you this though). So where was I? Oh yes, the chicken. In addition to your chicken, you'll need to chop some fresh basil, and mix together the balsamic vinegar and honey in a small bowl.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Sprinkle the chicken on one side with a little salt and pepper. When the oil is good and hot, it should be shimmering, but not smoking, add the chicken pieces placing the side you salted down in the pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the other side of the chicken.

Cook the chicken without moving it for a few minutes, until it begins to become nice and golden brown. Turn the chicken over and cook for a few more minutes. Add the vinegar/honey mixture and the basil, stir it around, and cook for 1 minute, turning the chicken once to coat it in the glaze.

Serve the chicken with some of the glaze drizzled over the top. This chicken goes great over rice, as the glaze mingles nicely with the rice and imparts it's deliciously sweet yet tangy flavor. Bu I'd bet you can serve this chicken with any starch/vegetable combo you can imagine, and you don't really have to worry about flavoring the sides beyond a little seasoning, because the pan glaze from the chicken will do the work for you. This time I served it with some oven-roasted potatoes and some plain steamed broccoli, and it was quite a hit. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cut up another chicken, because I'm making these for dinner.

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Pan-Glazed Chicken with Basil (adapted from Weight Watchers 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook)
20 to 30 minutes - makes 4 servings for a light dinner or 2 servings if you're really hungry

• About 1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 4 pieces about 6 ounces each
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons of olive oil

1. Pat your chicken pieces dry (slice them in half if they are really thick) and place them on a plate
2. Combine the honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stir well to dissolve the honey
3. Heat the oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat
4. Sprinkle the top side of the chicken with salt and pepper
5. When the oil is hot, place the chicken in the pan salted-side down, sprinkle the other side with salt and pepper
   
6. Cook without moving for 5 minutes, or until the chicken is nice and golden brown*
7. Turn the chicken and cook for 5 additional minutes*
8. Add the honey/vinegar mixture to the pan along with the basil, stir to combine all ingredients
9. Cook for 1 minute, turning the chicken to coat it in the glaze
10. Serve the chicken immediately drizzled with extra glaze

*The cooking time in this recipe is an estimate based on boneless breast pieces about 1/2 to 3/4 inches in thickness and may need to be adjusted for slightly thinner or thicker cuts

Barbecued Chicken and Cole Slaw

I've eaten a lot of barbecued chicken in my life. I should define terms here - I'm talking about chicken that is grilled over direct heat (be it a propane gas grill or charcoal) and slathered with a tomato-based, sweet and tangy red sauce. I know that barbecue is defined differently by region of the country, but that's what I consider barbecued chicken. Growing up it was a summer staple, eaten at least once a week, with the only change being whatever sauce happened to be en vogue at the moment with my mother and the rest of us. I won't say I don't like barbecued chicken, but I've never been thrilled by barbecued chicken (which didn't stop me from eating 4 or 5 pieces every time I sat down at the dinner table all through my youth).

The problem for me turns out to be one of technique really. As I've found out, there are many ways that barbecued chicken can go wrong, but two main mistakes. First, most people put all their chicken on the grill at the same time and take it off at the same time. If you're cooking both dark and white meat, this almost always results in over-cooked breast meat, and if the white meat was boneless to begin with, as it so often is nowadays, forget about anything resembling juice in the meat. People are so afraid of under cooking chicken that they leave it on the grill way too long. For the chicken's sake people, get an instant read meat thermometer and take the guess work out of it (according to Mark Bittman and the USDA, you can safely remove the chicken from the grill when the internal temp is 165 degrees). Second, most people put the sauce on way too soon resulting in blackened chicken as the sugar in the sauce turns to carbon way before the chicken is done cooking. Unfortunately, continuously bathing the chicken in more sauce does little to combat this error. Dry inside and burned outside, doesn't sound too appealing does it?

Fortunately there is a better way, and I was shown the light once again a few years ago by my friend John. This recipe takes a little more effort than just throwing the chicken on the grill and opening a bottle of sauce, but the effort is well worth it. A spice rub imparts flavor to the chicken without the risk of premature burning, the cooking time is specific by chicken piece, and the sauce goes on right at the end where it caramelizes just every so slightly over low heat. You'll never have to worry about dry, burned chicken again. Cool, creamy, tangy cole slaw provides a perfect counterpoint to the warm, slightly spicy chicken, and if you're so inclined, it makes one heck of a barbecue sandwich condiment. You can make any cole slaw recipe you like, but I like this one from Emeril - Kicked Up Cole Slaw.

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If you're going to make the cole slaw (and I strongly suggest that you do), start with that so it has time to sit in the fridge for a while which allows the flavors to meld. You can even make this a day ahead, just give it a good stir before serving. To make the dressing, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, brown sugar, cider vinegar, buttermilk, celery seeds, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a bowl.

Shred the cabbage and carrot, dice the green pepper, and grate the onion. Toss the cabbage mixture with the dressing until everything is evenly coated, then cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Before you make the chicken, you need to make the barbecue sauce, and before you make the barbecue sauce, you need to make the rub, but that's easy. Just combine the following in a mixing bowl and work well to break up any lumps: brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, celery seeds, and cayenne pepper. To make the barbecue sauce, combine the following ingredients in a small saucepan: ketchup, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, hot sauce, barbecue rub, liquid smoke, and black pepper (I'm not sure if this is Kansas City or Georgia style sauce).

Bring the sauce to a boil slowly over medium heat then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Pour the sauce into an empty jar (You do have an empty jar sitting around right?) and store it in the fridge until you need it (since this recipe uses only about a cup of sauce, you'll have leftover sauce that keeps for a few months).

Okay, now you're ready to start the chicken (and of course with chicken make sure you follow all safe handling rules). Rub some spice mixture into each side of each chicken piece (about 1/2 tsp of rub per piece, give or take depending on size). Here I chose to do thighs with the skin removed and boneless, skinless breasts which I had brined. The recipe calls for 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces (legs, thighs, breasts, and wings). Let the chicken sit for 30 minutes. Preheat the grill about 15 minutes before you're ready to cook on medium heat (or start your charcoal long enough ahead to provide a medium-hot fire).

Because I was cooking so many pieces, I decided to do the chicken in batches, first the dark meat, then the white meat. The recipe is written for cooking everything at once, but is easily adapted, just follow the cooking times. Place the dark meat skin side down, cover the grill and allow it to cook for 8 minutes. Do not move the chicken. After 8 minutes, flip the pieces over and cook them for 8 more minutes.

Flip the pieces so they are skin side down again and brush them generously with sauce. Flip them back over and brush the other side with sauce. Move the chicken to a cool part of the grill (I turn off the back burner), cover and let the chicken rest for 2 more minutes.

Take the chicken off the grill (total dark meat cooking time is 18 minutes). The white meat follows the same procedure, but the cooking time is reduced. For bone-in breasts, you would do 6 minutes, flip, 8 minutes, flip, sauce, flip, sauce, 2 minutes, done (total cooking time is 16 minutes). Boneless breasts will cook much quicker (especially if you brine them, which I strongly recommend), something along the lines of about 12 minutes total.

Once the chicken is done, you can eat is as is with whatever sides you like, or you can make barbecue sandwiches! Just slice up some chicken (in this case I just sliced all the white meat) and put some on a nice soft roll (I made some of these).

Top the chicken with a bit of extra sauce and a healthy dollop of cole slaw. I first had cole slaw on a barbecued pulled pork sandwich at Corky's in Memphis and I must say it was nothing short of a revelatory experience for this New England boy.

Mmm...a nice barbecued chicken sandwich with a side of cold whole wheat orzo salad and cold green beans with goat cheese - a perfect summer barbecue menu.

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Barbecued Chicken

• 1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces
  
• 2 tablespoons Basic Barbecue Rub (recipe follows)
• 1 cup Basis Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)

1. Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels
2. Place the chicken pieces on a large platter, sprinkle rub on both sides (approximately 1/4 tsp per side), and pat the rub into the chicken
3. Cover the chicken and let it sit for 30 minutes
4. Prepare a medium-hot fire (coals 2 layers deep or gas grill set to medium)
5. Place the legs and thighs directly over the fire skin-side down and cook for 2 minutes
6. Add the breast pieces skin-side down and cook the breasts, legs, and thighs for 6 minutes
7. Turn all the pieces over and add the wings
8. Cook all the pieces for 8 more minutes (turning the wings after 4)
9. Flip all pieces over to original side and baste liberally with sauce
10. Flip all pieces back over and baste the other side with sauce (the pieces should be skin-side up at this point)
11. Move the pieces to a cooler area of the grill, put the lid down, and allow the chicken to sit for 2 minutes
12. Take it off the grill and serve with some extra sauce

• Note: Removing the skin from the chicken will help to prevent flare-ups, but if you do keep the skin, you can minimize flare ups by covering your grill or with a spray bottle filled with water
  

Basic Barbecue Rub

• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 3 tablespoons black pepper
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons celery seeds
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/2 teaspoon if you don't want it too spicy)

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl
2. Mix with your hands, working to break up any lumps
3. Store in an airtight container away from heat or light

Basic Barbecue Sauce

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon Basic Barbecue Rub
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan
2. Bring slowly to a boil over medium heat
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened
4. Transfer to a clean glass jar and store in the refrigerator where it will keep for a few months
   

Chicken Enchiladas

A few weeks ago my friends Jeff and Becc had a dinner party, which is what my friends and I have instead of plain old parties now that we're all grown up and married and such. The theme was Southwest, Tex-Mex style food, with all it entails. I'm no expert on this particular cuisine, and my restaurant experience in the area is sorely lacking, so I can't speak as to the authenticity of the meal (What is authenticity anyway?), but I can say that everything I ate that night was delicious. There was guacamole, tortilla chips, salsa, cornbread, and two kinds of enchiladas, all homemade (except for the tortilla chips I think), even a chocolate cake with chili pepper for dessert. We made margaritas, drank wine, played Trivial Pursuit (The 16th amendment to the US Constitution gives the Congress the power to "lay and collect taxes on incomes"), and had an all around good time.

One of the enchilada dishes featured chicken, cheese, and onions wrapped in a corn tortilla and smothered in a deliciously not-too-spicy red sauce spiked with generous amounts of chili powder. I thought these were exceptional, and Jeff let me in on his secret recipe (it was Emeril's). I finally got around to making them myself yesterday, and after just finishing the leftovers tonight I can say they were as good as I remembered. Any recipe that comes out this good (not to mention consistent) the first time two different people make it is a keeper in my book.

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This recipe took me about an hour to put together, and then another half hour to bake, so make sure you have some time on your hands before you start. Get all the sauce ingredients together, then heat vegetable oil in a medium saucepan.

Add the flour to the hot oil and stir constantly for one minute, then add the chili powder and cook for another thirty seconds.

Add the tomato puree, chicken stock, oregano, and cumin to the pan. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for 15 minutes. While the sauce cooks, you can get your filling together, which is a simple mixture of shredded chicken, chopped onion, and grated cheddar cheese. Taste the sauce and season with salt (I added 1/2 teaspoon), then remove it from the heat and whisk it well to make sure the oil is nicely blended. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and heat some more oil in a medium skillet. When the oil is good and hot (not smoking), drop in a tortilla to soften it.

I counted to 10, flipped, counted to 10, then removed the tortilla to a paper towel-lined brown paper bag to drain the excess oil. After softening all the tortillas, you're ready to assemble. Start by dipping a tortilla in the sauce.

Place the dipped tortilla on a plate, top with a generous portion of the chicken filling, then roll it up. Place each enchilada seam-side down in a baking dish. I was able to make 12 enchiladas using small corn tortillas, and fit them all in 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with the remaining sauce and bake for 30 minutes.

When done, carefully remove a few enchiladas (2 or 3 per person should be sufficient unless you're really hungry) with a nice, big spatula and put them on a dish. I'm sure you can come up with some sides on your own, but I went with guacamole and some brown rice that I cooked with chili powder, oil, and a little salt. Garnish with sour cream and you're good to go!

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I followed this recipe exactly as written, so I'm not going to post it here. I couldn't find New Mexico chili powder (to be honest, I didn't really look) so I just used plain old nondescript chili powder - tasted fine to me.

Another satisfied customer...

Crispy Roast Chicken with Potatoes

I recently Googled "chicken recipe" and came up with 2,050,000 results (in .12 seconds no less). The sheer volume of different preparations for chicken is nothing short of amazing and really goes to show how versatile an ingredient chicken is. If you're not sure what you want when you go to find a chicken dish, it can be quite overwhelming because practically everything sounds delicious. When I make chicken it's usually something quick, either a stir-fry, chicken piccata, or an amazingly simple and flavorful saute dish with a pan sauce of balsamic vinegar, honey, and fresh chopped basil (which will definitely appear on this blog at some point).

It's easy to become lost in all the possible flavors and ingredients that can go into a dish, but the funny thing about chicken is that it really doesn't need anything else to help it along, it can stand on its own quite well. One of the best ways to cook a chicken is roasting a whole bird in your oven. If you really enjoy chicken, the flavors brought about by roasting are incomparable. Just carve it up and serve it with any type of potato you like, any veggie side you like, and you have a wonderful meal. Aside from being delicious, whole birds are cheaper per pound, which makes organic chicken more affordable (you are buying organic chicken right?). While there are many approaches to roasting a chicken, you can get away with simply seasoning the skin with salt and pepper and putting in the oven at 350 degrees until the thigh registers about 170 degrees. I've had a good roast chicken that was half frozen at the start of cooking (due to an oversight by 4 guys hanging out in a cabin for a few days) and cooked sitting in its own grease on the tiny metal tray from a toaster oven. Seriously, it was amazingly succulent (and completely devoured in about 30 minutes).

Of course, you need to take a little more care if you want to ensure crispy skin and white meat that is not desert-dry. For things like this, I always turn first to Cook's Illustrated. Since I have a subscription to their original magazine, they've been sending me free copies of their new magazine, Cook's Country. I would describe the recipes it features as traditional, regional, home-cooked comfort food. The last issue I received had a roast chicken recipe that promised crispy skin and delicious potatoes in one roasting pan. Sounded good to me.

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Like most things from the people at Cook's Illustrated, this roast chicken is a bit more hands on than traditional throw-it-in the-oven-and-forget-about-it-until-it-is-done type recipes, but as usual, the extra steps are well worth it. Start by lining your roasting pan with tin foil then placing the pan on the middle rack of an oven set to 475 degrees. You rinse the chicken and pat it dry, use a skewer or fork to poke small holes all over the skin, then rub it with a mixture of corn starch and salt. As the chicken cooks, the fat comes through the holes and mixes with the corn starch creating a nice, crisp coating on the skin.

Spray your roasting rack with oil and place the chicken on the rack, wing-side down (on its side). Carefully remove the hot roasting pan from the oven and place the rack with the chicken in the pan. Roast for 15 minutes, then remove the roasting pan from the oven, flip the chicken onto its other wing and roast for 15 minutes. In the meantime, scrub your potatoes, halve them, and coat them with oil and a bit of salt.

After the chicken has roasted for 30 minutes, you take the pan out of the oven again, remove the rack with the chicken and place it on a baking sheet. Gather up the foil with all the drippings and remove it from the roasting pan. Arrange all the potatoes cut side down, and place the rack with the chicken back in the pan over the potatoes. Flip the bird so it is breast side up and put it back in the oven to roast for about 20 more minutes, until a thermometer in the thigh reads 170 degrees. Please don't trust the pop-up timer, get yourself a digital, instant-read thermometer (this way you'll stop wondering when things are done and actually know).

When the chicken is done, pour any juices that have collected in the cavity into the pan with the potatoes, and rest the chicken standing up on either the insert from an angel food cake pan or an empty soda/beer can. The chicken should rest 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Stir the potatoes up a bit and put them back in the oven to finish cooking. Basically you cook them until they're as brown as you like them. For me this took about 20 minutes (and I cranked the oven up to 525 for the last 5 minutes to really get them brown and crispy). Now all that's left is to carve and serve.

I invited my parents over for dinner, made some some Brussels sprouts as a second side, and served the whole thing on one dish, family style. The chicken was incredibly good, and perfectly cooked, with moist, flavorful white meat (this is the true test, because the dark meat is pretty much always moist and delicious). The skin was not as crisp as I had hoped, but I think this was largely due to my manhandling it rather awkwardly as I flipped it around. It tasted good though. The potatoes were great as well. Not adding them until the middle of cooking and after the chicken grease was discarded ensured that they were neither mushy nor greasy, but slightly crisp and tender. My 1 year old daughter thought the chicken was just about the best thing she's ever eaten, and continuously chose more chicken over bread even (which is a small miracle, believe me).

As my dad would say, this chicken did not die in vain.
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Crispy Roast Chicken and Potatoes (adapted from Cook's Country)
About an hour and a half - Serves 4

• 1 whole roaster chicken (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 pounds small potatoes, scrubbed and halved (I used Yukon Gold)
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1. Line roasting pan with foil
2. Adjust oven rack to middle, place roasting pan on rack, and heat oven to 475 degrees
3. Combine cornstarch and salt in a small bowl
4. Using a skewer or the tines of a fork, poke small holes all over the chicken skin
5. Rub the cornstarch mixture evenly over the entire skin
6. Place the chicken wing-side up on the roasting rack, remove the roasting pan from the oven, place the rack with the chicken in the pan and roast for 15 minutes
7. Carefully remove the pan and turn the chicken onto its other side (try using oven mitts, or wadded up towels to gently handle the chicken and turn it) and roast for 15 more minutes
8. While the chicken roasts, toss the potatoes with the vegetable oil and a few pinches of salt
9. Remove the roasting pan from the oven after 30 minutes, take the rack with the chicken out of the pan and place it on a cookie sheet nearby
10. Gather the tin foil by the corners and lift it out of the pan with all the grease and throw it away
11. Arrange the potatoes, cut-side down, in the pan
    
12. Flip the chicken breast-side up and put it back in the roasting pan over the potatoes
13. Place the roasting pan back into the oven and roast for about 20 more minutes, until a thermometer in the deepest part of the thigh registers 170 degrees
14. Remove the chicken, pour any juices in the cavity over the potatoes, and rest the chicken upright on an angel-food cake pan insert or an empty soda can for about 15 minutes
15. Toss the potatoes with the chicken juices (you may have to scrape a bit off the bottom of the pan if they are sticking and you may want to add some salt to taste if you like salty potatoes) and roast for an additional 20 minutes or longer until they are as crisp and brown as you like them
16. Carve the chicken and serve with the potatoes