Never Going Back to Frozen Chicken

Well, we've made a life-decision. At the risk of offending both vegetarians with our brutality and discering foodies with our naivete, we've finally roasted our first fresh-killed chicken, and we're never going to cook frozen again if we can help it. Vaguely racist urban legends about Chinatown aside, you don't actually get a live chicken to deal with on your own -- they're prepared that day or even to order. It's a little spendy (we paid $1.59 a pound), but it's oh so worth it.

We picked up a cute little 3 lb. fryer at one of the shops near Grant and Broadway. While the woman behind the counter was apologetic about her english, we didn't mind -- pointing at your preferred specimen and nodding will generally suffice. You can also get fresh geese, ducks, pigeons and probably other forms of fowl that we couldn't recognize or weren't on display. Take a moment to match your quarry with some tasty seasonal veggies from any of the other nearby shops (we found some nice Porcini mushrooms to stuff the bird with for only $2.30 a pound).

After removing the feet and neck (and saving them in the freezer for chicken stock), a seasoned rub and a roast in the oven was all we were prepared to do to this fresh treat. And man, was it really, really good -- the taste a little more deep and complex than the usual. Seriously, it makes the stuff from Safeway taste like cardboard. Definitely worth a special trip if you've never tried it.