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Thursday, October 29, 2015

Listing Queen Elizabeth II Begins in Ernest and Roast Chicken with Herb Butter

Yesterday, I started listing the Queen Elizabeth II definitive stamps, starting with the 1953 Karsh Issue, which is shown below:






I used to hate these stamps when I was younger. I thought they were so plain and boring. But as the years have gone by and they have come of age, I have started to appreciate them much more. They illustrate a much simpler time when Canada was prosperous and the Canadian Dollar was worth much more than the U.S dollar. Louis St. Laurent was the Prime Minister while this set was current. The Cold War was well underway. Trouble was just starting in Viet Nam and in the Middle East. So a considerable amount of significant modern historical events can be traced using the postal history of this issue. 

I expect that it will take me until the end of next week to list all the material from this issue. 

Now for a fantastically simple and delicious recipe for roast chicken. You will need:

1. whole roasting chicken
2. 1 bunch each of fresh parsley, dill, and rosemary
3. 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened
1 large onion sliced but not separated into rings. 
2 large cloves of garlic 
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 F. 

The first step is to combine the garlic, soft butter, and herbs in the food processor. You may want to mince the herbs first because once you add the butter, it will be too thick for the blade to chop them properly. I learned that the hard way when I made this on Monday this week. 

When you have the butter-herb mixture, carefully, with your hands, loosen the skin covering the breast and drumsticks of the chicken. Sprinkle salt and pepper in the cavity to season from the inside and then using a spoon, spread the butter-herb mixture under the skin. Then sprinkle salt and pepper on the outside of the chicken all over. 

Place the sliced onions at the bottom of a square baking dish that is large enough to take the chicken. The onion slices will act as a rack. Place the chicken breast side up on the sliced onions. You can also add some sliced carrots and potatoes to the dish, as there will be a lot of drippings that can roast the vegetables. 

Place the dish in the oven for 15 minutes and then turn the heat down to 350F. Bake for 1 hour and then take out and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. The onion will be beautifully cooked and makes a nice tasty accompaniment. Any leftover drippings can be made into gravy by adding them to a roux made with melted butter and flour. 






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