Home
Photograph by Ellen Cosgrove
There is no place like home, right?
What do you think of when you think of home? Is it memories of your childhood and your family? Do smells and tastes flood your senses when home crosses you mind? Is it a physical location or does it even exist?
I think of food when I think of home (do you sense a pattern yet?). I think of the tastes of breakfast, weeknight dinners and my favorite birthday cake. To this day the combined smell of coffee and bacon when I wake up in the morning makes me feel safe. I still think that there is company coming over when I see soda and french onion dip in the fridge and mark the highs and lows of my day with a cup of tea. So many tastes define home for me and I have collected more as I have lived and created homes in various other locations.
What food defines home for you? Is it your mom’s roasted chicken dish she made weekly or that special Christmas bread made only once a year? Is it your Grandmother’s famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or a huge bowl of popcorn to share with friends on the couch? When you are away from home, how do you make where you are home?
Thinking about home makes me think about the many people that do not have one or never felt at home. Whether they are homeless, refugees or new immigrants, there are so many people who are not at home and may never be able to go home again. What would you do if you were in this situation? What food would you make to help create a new home for yourself?
I grew up eating good food and home was defined by the meals we had together. Many of these meals involved roast chicken so it is synonymous with home for me. After moving quite a lot in my adult life, I have now lived in the same apartment for a few years. Though I am aware that this space may not last forever, it has given me a place to belong too and a home to share with many guests. And in this home I have served A LOT of roast chicken. I have come to love the ritual of going to the butcher to get a whole chicken, cooking it and then using the leftovers to make stock. There is something incredibly satisfying about making food that I know will fill up even my hungriest guests (my brother can eat a lot…) and that I can get several more meals out of.
This is the method/recipe that I have come to use after much experimenting. Make sure to save the bones for stock! Just put them in a dutch oven with any vegetable scraps, onions, garlic, fennel, etc and fill with water. After a few hours you get this magic liquid that will make any soup more delicious!
Roast Chicken
1 (quality- it is worth the money!) whole chicken
1 lemon
olive oil
several sprigs of thyme (or other fresh herbs)
salt and pepper
one piece of twine or cheesecloth
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take chicken out of fridge and rinse with water and pat dry. Sprinkle salt all over the chicken, including in the cavity. Let sit for a few minutes at room temperature or put back into the fridge for a few hours before cooking.
2) Coat chicken with olive oil a little more salt and pepper. Slice lemon in half and put both halves and thyme sprigs in cavity.
3) Place chicken on a roasting pan or cookie sheet. Tie the drumsticks together with twine or cheesecloth.
4) Once chicken is in oven, turn down to 375 degrees and cook for approximately 1 ½ hours (depends on how big). Check chicken with thermometer to ensure it is above 165 degrees.
5) When chicken is fully cooked take out of oven and let rest for about 20 minutes. Then enjoy!