Mmm, single-serving whole birds…

There really is nothing quite like roasting birds in the house with plenty of garlic (and thyme or rosemary too). Even if I completely screwed up the hens, the smell in my apartment would have been good enough that resorting to nuking something frozen would have still been all right. I still think Yankee Candle is really missing out on the food scents and that “Roast Chicken” could be a best-seller. The one thing I forgot to buy in my last big grocery store/freezer storage run was a whole bird, though I more think of those as the things you buy when you plan to use them in the next day or two, not to put on ice.

So my “At-Home Restaurant Month” began last night with the roasted fowl, roasted broccoli (which may be the only way I’ll ever eat it again) and some jasmine rice tossed with sauteed mushrooms. It ended up making just enough for two meals, which is perfect for me. Since it was my first time with Cornish game hens, I followed the recipe to the letter. I see a few places that I can take some liberties next time for a little extra flavor, though this version was about as low cal as I could make it and still tasty, so no complaints.

The focus on decent sized portions and not ending up with leftovers that will sit in the fridge all week and then get ignored seems to be a good one. I’m not sure what meal is up next, but so far the cost of this versus going out is still a winner.

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces–just good food from fresh ingredients.

–Julia Child

And it’s true, I didn’t have to hunt down any weird (or expensive) ingredients in the “middle aisles” aside from chicken stock, wine and a baster which I didn’t already have among my tools. Everything else was from the “outer ring” of the store. Much as I’d love to throw down and create some masterpiece, going with simple and tasty seems like a much better option any day.