Roast Chicken and Mashed Potatoes!

Tonight’s dinner is roast chicken and mashed potatoes!

Here are the ingredients!

For the chicken!

• 1 whole 4 lb. chicken

• 1 cup of salt- for the brine

• 6 cups of water- for the brine

• 1 whole yellow onion- peeled and cut in quarters in stuffed in cavity

• 2 cloves of garlic-peeled and chopped finely

• 2 ounces of ranch

• 8 ounces of Duke’s Mayo

• 2 tablespoons of Buffalo Wing Dry Sauce seasoning- from Savory Spice

• 2 tablespoons of Good and Gather minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons of Good and Gather Garlic Powder

For the mashed potatoes!

• 1tablespoon of Kosher salt

• 1 1/2 pounds boiling potatoes

• 1/4 cup of milk

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup of buttermilk

• 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Since the chicken was frozen, I removed It from the freezer at noon on Friday and let it sit in the fridge on a plate the rest of day until Saturday morning. I then filled a large bowl with the water and salt and placed the chicken in this for about 3 hours until it was completely thawed.

When it was done brining, I placed the chicken on my large cutting board and patted it dry with a paper towel. I pealed and cut up the onion into quarters and placed it in the cavity. I took the mayo and ranch and spread the whole container on top of and under the skin. I sprinkled all of the seasonings in a little bowl, stirred them up and then sprinkled them inside and one top of the chicken and then placed the chicken in my roasting pan on the little wrack. I covered it again with some foil and let it sit in this marinade all night long until Sunday night.

Around 1:30 I took the chicken out of the fridge and set it on the counter to reach room temperature before cooking.

I baked it uncovered at at 350 degrees for 2 hours and let it stand for about 10 minutes before serving. I wanted this done by 5:30 so I put in in the oven at 3:30.

Now for the mashed potatoes! In a large pot, I added in the salt and filled it with water. I set the heat to high and covered it. I peeled the potatoes and cut them into 1/2 inch cubes. Once the water started boiling, I added the potatoes and brought the water back to a boil. Then I turned the heat to low and simmered them, uncovered, for about 15 minutes until the potatoes fell apart. I added in the buttermilk, the milk, the butter, and the pepper and mashed them with my metal masher to get the consistency that I wanted and then gave them a stir to mixing the flavor and served them with the chicken.