the multi-purpose roasted chicken

Now that I need to eat better, and WANT to eat better, I figured whole chickens would be a good thing to have on hand in the freezer.  I could roast one and get quite a few meals out of it.  So, awhile back I bought several 3- to 4-pound chickens and stuck them in my deep freezer.  I waited until I was visiting my dad up in New Hampshire, because food tends to cost less up there.  Every time I go to a store around here, a small chicken costs about $6 or $7.  The bigger chickens can be more than $10.  Since I'm the only one that eats chicken on the bone (Don't even get me started on that one!  Bob will eat boneless only.), I refuse to pay $10 for a chicken.

Tonight I decided to roast one of the chickens.  My plan is to use one breast for either chicken salad or slice it up and dip into light mayo; use the second breast to cut up and put into "protein packs" (a container with some chicken chunks, nuts, and some cheese); eat the wings for dinner; give the legs to a friend; eat all the breast skin immediately (done!); and, if I'm ambitious enough, make stock out of the carcass.  I've made homemade stock before and it's so much better than canned.  As you can see, there's lot one can do with a roasted chicken.

So, here's my pretty chicken.  All I did was rinse it, remove the giblet pack, pat it dry, and then add Borsari seasoned salt.  I stuck it in the oven on 350 for about an hour, then jacked the heat to 450 for about 10-15 minutes in order to brown it more.  Then I turned off the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  During the cooking time I added a glass of water to the pan and basted several times.