TRUDY’S FLYING ROAST CHICKEN WITH STUFFING

SEASON 2, EPISODE 12

“The Mountain King”

When Pete and Trudy Campbell have trouble conceiving, Trudy makes an appointment for them at an adoption agency against Pete’s wishes and has Pete’s secretary Hildy put it on his calendar. It’s from Hildy that Pete learns of the appointment. “I think it’s one of the most blessed things,” Hildy tells a surprised Pete, that “a person would give a home to an abandoned child.” But Pete is having none of it.

He returns home that evening and Trudy has dinner on the table, including a whole roast chicken, but Pete is scorching mad. He tells Trudy they’re not going to the appointment and they’re not adopting a child: “Hell’s bells, Trudy, that is final!” he declares.

Trudy yells that he can’t speak to her that way, so Pete picks up the platter holding the chicken, opens the door to the balcony of their high-rise and sends it sailing to the street below. Hopefully, some hungry soul was lucky enough to catch it, bring it home, and declare it “take-out.”

We found a delicious roast chicken and stuffing recipe in the “Special Occasion Dinners for Two” section of a small, spiral-bound cookbook that Trudy might well have kept on her kitchen shelf: Betty Crocker’s Dinner for Two Cookbook (1958). After all, she was cooking for two most nights. Perhaps if Trudy had followed the book’s advice and lit the two candles on the dining room table, she could have avoided all the unpleasantness. After all, candlelight, says Betty Crocker, casts “a happy glow over all.”

Speaking of which, here’s another piece of good advice: if you have news to share with your spouse that may not go over well, chicken is certainly a more economical choice than a fine cut of meat. Especially if there’s a chance it’s going to be tossed over the balcony rail.

Roast Chicken with Stuffing

FROM BETTY CROCKER’S
DINNER FOR TWO COOKBOOK (SIMON AND SCHUSTER, 1958)

NOTE: You may make stuffing ahead of time, but fill chicken cavity just before roasting. Make 1 cup of stuffing for each ready–to-cook pound of chicken.

Remember that the type of oven you use, your actual oven temperatures, and the tenderness of the chicken will affect roasting times. Check for doneness well before recommended cooking time.

1 chicken (approximately 4 pounds)

Salt

Butter, for coating

Stuffing (see recipe opposite)

1. Remove any pinfeathers and wash chicken. Rub cavity with salt.
2. Stuff body and neck cavities lightly. Stuffing should never be packed in. Place extra stuffing in a covered casserole dish. You can bake it in the oven for the last 30–40 minutes that the chicken is roasting.
3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place skewers across opening and lace together with string. Tie leg ends to tail. Skewer neck skin to back. Fold wings across back with tips touching. Rub chicken with unsalted butter.
4. Place chicken on rack in shallow roasting pan, breast side down. When bird has browned as much as you wish, turn it right side up. Tent a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil over the breast.
5. Roast for approximately 80 minutes to 2 hours (see note above), until juices run clear when a sharp knife is inserted into the joint between the body and the thigh, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F at the same joint.
6. Remove the roast chicken from oven, cover loosely with foil. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

YIELD: 1 STUFFED CHICKEN (APPROXIMATELY 4 SERVINGS)

STUFFING

¹⁄₃ cup butter

¹⁄₂ cup finely minced onion

4 cups bread cubes, for stuffing (you may use cornbread)

¹⁄₂ cup chopped celery (stalks and leaves)

2 teaspoons salt

¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoon dried sage, thyme, or marjoram

¹⁄₃ cup chicken broth

Poultry seasoning, to taste

1. Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet. Add onion and cook until yellow, stirring occasionally. Stir in some of the bread cubes. Heat, stirring to prevent excessive browning.
2. Turn into deep bowl. Mix remaining ingredients and rest of bread cubes in lightly.

YIELD: 4 CUPS STUFFING