Ch 171 -- Roast Chicken

　　Right then, time to make dinner. What I had planned for tonight was a simple pilaf roast chicken. My parents made it sometimes when I was still at home. After I moved out I made it for myself once at Christmas for old time's sake and I enjoyed it so much it became a regular thing for me to make pilaf roast chicken on Christmas. For that reason I didn't forsee any problems making it in this world, and it's something I've been thinking about making ever since I bought the Black Magic Cooking Stove with its gigantic oven.

　　This world doesn't actually seem to have chickens but I've got something that will work the same (I think). A c.o.c.katrice. I have a whole one left and as prepared by the Guild dismantlers it's just like a chicken, that is if a chicken was 1.5 meters long. Even the Gluttonous Trio will be full up after eating a "chicken" this big. Probably.

　　First the ingredients. I needed to buy stuff like herbal salt and frozen pilaf and a brush to apply oil so I opened the Net Super and started ordering before I got to work. I avoided a lot of bothersome preparation by buying frozen pilaf which I heated lightly in a big frying pan to defrost since I didn't have a microwave oven, the way I would have defrosted it it at home. Sure I could have made the pilaf from scratch but it would take a lot of time and the frozen stuff was just as good for this recipe. I rubbed herbal salt on the c.o.c.katrice inside and out and when the pilaf was warmed through I packed it into the c.o.c.katrice's body.

　　After filling it up with pilaf I st.i.tched the carca.s.s closed with a bamboo skewer and tied the legs together with cooking string to keep the shape before brus.h.i.+ng the entire c.o.c.katrice with olive oil. I put the completed c.o.c.katrice on a giant sheet of baking parchment in the pre-heated oven. It just fitted, as the Black Magic Cooking Stove salesman had said. Yos.h.!.+

　　I baked the c.o.c.katrice at 200 degrees for just under an hour, keeping a close eye on it as I was still a bit unsure of the oven's temperature settings. I opened the door frequently to brush the dripping fat over the skin, making it brown and crisp and about half-way through the baking process I turned the entire c.o.c.katrice over to ensure it cooked evenly. I used another bamboo skewer to stab the giant bird and when the fat that ran out was clear I judged it was ready to eat. I took it out and removed the bamboo skewer and the string before admiring the results of my cooking. A whole roast chicken is a wonderful sight but a whole roast c.o.c.katrice outdid it by far, and the smell! However I didn't have long to enjoy looking at the results of my hard work since I was distracted by the piteous voices of the staving waifs and orphans behind me.