"Nancy Young" wrote
> Allegrobox wrote:

>> I'm brand new at cooking really. Is anyone else here in my
>> predicament?
>> What would you try cooking first? (other than biscuits/cookies,
>> because those are pretty much the only things I can cook- desserts).

> You can't go wrong learning how to bake a chicken. Buy a smallish
> one (4 pounds or so), take out the package that comes in the
> cavity. Salt and pepper all over, including the inside. Maybe put
> some garlic cloves and cut up lemon in the cavity. Bake at 350
> until done, about 1 1/2 hours.
> If you cut into the deepest part of the thigh, and the juices are not
> running red, it's done.

Here's a few too in the same line.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: Beginner Baked Chicken #1
Categories: Chicken, Diabetic, Xxcarol, Whole chick
Yield: 8 Servings

1 Whole Chicken, 3 lbs or less
1 sm Bag pepperidge farm stuffing
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 tb Water

Ok, having seen not just a few queries from folks who want to cook but
dont
have the starting know-how, here is a really easy thing to make.

Nothing is more simple than baking a chicken. Its just the fancy
additives
others do that make it sound hard. This one is a basic stuffed chicken,
affordable for the average college student as well as the new homeowner.
The servings say '8' but that is based on just a small portion each. It
will definately feed 2, but 3 hungry kids will devour this poste-haste!

Start by having a defrosted chicken on hand. Defost it in the
refridgerator 1 day before use or buy it unfrozen. Remove gizzard package
from the tummy area and save that for a soup pot. Now mix up the
pepperidge
farm stuffing according to directions. Dont eat any as it cooks! Wash
your
hands and stuff the bird, then wash your hands and the pot you made the
stuffing in (Mommie knows best this time. Chickens are crawling with
buggies that die when you cook it but arent safe raw).

Now put that stuffed bird in a pan that is at least 1 inch deep but more
is
better. A old pie pan or a slightly 'used' cake pan will do. If you put
foil under it, it is a really fast cleanup later.

Put the chicken in the oven at 425 degrees, for 1 hour then look at it.
Try
to lift a leg with a fork and if it wants to fall off, it's ready. If the
flesh is still white and the leg fights back, its not ready. Check again
in
another 1/2 hour.

Eat and enjoy!

Things to serve with this are many but here are some *easy* ones. A small
handful of raw veggies like carrots, yellow squash, green beans, pea pods
or the more traditional salad of lettuce. A potato or so baked at the same
time in the hot oven as the chicken. Crusty baking soda cheese bread.

From: xxcarol From: Date: 01-16-00 Cooking

-----

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: Xxcarol's Homely Chicken
Categories: Xxcarol, Chicken, Crockpot, Whole chick
Yield: 6 Servings

1 ea Whole roaster chicken
1 ea Lemon
1/2 c Orange juice
1/2 c Honey

Ok, so sometimes I get lazy and don't want to make fancy! This came out
very moist and I think if you put it in the oven for the last part, it
will
get crispy skin. I didnt bother though.

Clean the chicken up and save the gibblet pack if it has one, for
something
else. Poke the lemon a gunch of times with a fork and put it in the
cavity
then put this in the crockpot. It needs to be a largish oval shaped one
to
work well but if you have a tall standup type, use a very small chicken so
it fits and set it neck down so the lemon won't fall out.

Mix the orange juice and the honey and pour that over the chicken then
cook
on low for 6-8 hours depending onthe size of the chicken (this one was a
3.5lb and took 8 hours). Remove the lemon and squeeze it over the chicken
then carve and serve!

That lovely juice at the bottom can be thickened with flour or arrowroot
and turned into a tangy gravy.

This is a no-muss, no-fuss dish which stands well on it's own even though
it is not very spicy. An excellent choice for a mom or dad with a large
tribe of kids to feed!

Serving suggestions: Would go well with a 'mess of collards' or a simple
salad that the kids fix while the parents are making the gravy and some
biscuits (buttermilk canned ones work just fine for this simple meal).

From the Sasebo Japan kitchen of: xxcarol on 11July2004

-----

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: Xxcarols mini-croc-o-chic
Categories: Xxcarol, Crockpot, Chicken
Yield: 4 Servings

1 1/2 c Leftover chicken
1 cn Cream of mushroom soup
1 ea Chopped celery stick (1/4c)
1 cn 4oz black olives with juice
1/4 c Chopped green bell pepper
1/4 c Minced carrot
2 c Cooked pasta

More of the 'outa-stuff line' but as I'm about to go to Norfolk for almost
3 weeks, shopping isnt in the plans and we are eating up stuff here! It's
also raining like a banshee wail, so I made up stuff that we had handy!

Last night, I made a rotisserie cornish hen. We ate some of it but had
about 1 cup of meat left on the carcass this morning so I used that. Can
be
any cooked chicken or a boneless, skinless bit of raw chicken in here. You
can use more than 1 or 1.5 cups of chicken but not all that much more or
there will be too much chicken per sauce.

I tossed in the soup, the olives with the juice from the can, then added
the chicken and cut up celery (celery lovers may want more but this
matches
us) and some choped small bits of my last carrot. Shredded carrot will
work
too.

This recipe is specific to a small crockpot that holds only 4 cups or so
of
food. If it's a normal crockpot that holds a gallon or more, use some
other pot or vastly increase the recipe.

Thae last bit is to boil some pasta, and serve the chic-sauce over it. I'm
using multi-colored spirals as thats what is handy and it will look
pretty.

Additional items: This would work well with added mildish chiles such as
a
bannana pepper. If not using a chile pepper, a few butter pickles served
with the dish at the top of the bowl, works well.
Serving suggestions:
Gotta have a crusty bread. Spiced tea would be a good drink.

From the Sasebo Japan kitchen of: xxcarol 2JUL2005

-----