Two roast chickens with lemon and thyme, and a pot of stock

Makes Dinner for 4 tonight, about 5 cups of shredded chicken and 3 quarts of stock

One chicken is Sunday dinner, the other is the week, and both carcasses become three quarts of stock while you eat.

5 hr (1 hr hands-on), plus salting the night before · serves 4

You need

• 2 whole chickens, 3½ to 4 lb each
• 4 tsp kosher salt (2 tsp per bird), plus more for the vegetables
• 2 lemons, halved
• 1 head garlic, halved across the middle
• 1 bunch thyme
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, soft
• 2 lb small Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
• 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch lengths
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Black pepper
• For the stock: both carcasses and any skin and bones from the plates, 1 onion (quartered, skin on), 2 carrots, 2 celery ribs, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 4 quarts cold water

How to make it

1. The night before (or first thing Sunday): pat the chickens dry with paper towels, inside and out. Sprinkle 2 tsp salt over each, all over and a little inside. Set them on a plate or rack, uncovered, in the fridge. The skin dries out, which is what makes it crackle.
2. Take the chickens out of the fridge 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle.
3. Toss the potatoes and carrots with the olive oil, 1 tsp salt and some pepper in your largest roasting pan or a big sheet pan. Push them to the edges to leave room for two birds.
4. Stuff each chicken with 2 lemon halves, half the garlic and half the thyme. Rub the butter over the breasts. Tie the legs together with string if you have it. Set the chickens breast side up on the pan, a few inches apart.
5. Roast 65 to 80 minutes, turning the vegetables once halfway. The chickens are done when a thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh (not touching bone) reads 175°F and the juices run clear. The breast should read at least 160°F; it rises to 165°F as it rests.
6. Lift the chickens onto a board, tilting them so the lemony juices from inside run back into the pan. Rest 15 minutes. Keep the vegetables warm in the turned-off oven.
7. Carve the first chicken for dinner. Pull every bit of meat off the second while it's still warm, skin aside, and shred it into bite-size pieces. You want about 5 cups, with any meat left from the first bird.
8. Pour the pan juices and fat into a jar. In the fridge the fat rises and sets on top: that's Thursday's fried-rice fat. The jelly underneath is gold; stir it into Monday's soup.
9. The stock: put both carcasses, the skin and bones, the onion, carrots, celery, bay and peppercorns in your biggest pot with the 4 quarts cold water. Bring to a boil, skim off any grey foam, then turn it down so it barely bubbles. Simmer uncovered 2½ to 3 hours while you eat and clean up.
10. Strain through a fine sieve and discard the solids. You'll have about 3 quarts. Cool it uncovered, then refrigerate 2 quarts for Monday and 2 cups for Tuesday, and freeze the rest.
11. Divide the shredded chicken: 1½ cups for Monday and 2 cups for Tuesday in the fridge, 1½ cups for Thursday in the freezer.

No thermometer? Pierce the thigh where it meets the body: the juices should run clear, not pink, and the leg should wiggle loosely.

Cooked chicken and stock keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge. That's why Thursday's chicken goes in the freezer.