Try this chicken two-fer for double the dinners

Two-fer: something that satisfies two criteria or needs simultaneously.

I'm all for that.

Two cans of tomatoes for the price of one? I'm there.

Two pairs of jeans for $19.95? Certainly.

Two dinners for the time it takes to put one together? Absolutely.

That's why I picked this week's recipe, actually a combo of recipes from the March issue of Gourmet magazine. It's basically roast chicken — well, two roast chickens — along with several supposedly easy suggestions on how to use the leftover meat.

The idea appealed to me. So did the recipes. They weren't exactly easy weeknight meals like the magazine promised. But they weren't all-day endeavors, either.

I took the plunge and bought two chickens. I wasn't sure about cooking them at the same time — Would they both fit in the pan? — but it worked out.

My chickens were slightly larger than the 3 1/2 pounds the recipe recommends, and they still cooked in about an hour.

I skipped the gravy because I was pressed for time. So the chicken part of the recipe really was quick and easy.

I can't say as much for the gyros, the leftover recipe I chose. There are four elements — tzatziki sauce, cucumber salsa, chicken and bread — and preparing each was more time-consuming than I thought.

Chop cucumbers. Chop garlic. Chop more cucumbers. There is a lot of chopping in this recipe.

Still, it was worth it. The chicken took on a new flavor when it was tossed with the herbed garlic oil. The tzatziki, a yogurt-based sauce often found in Greek food, turned out to be the perfect balance of garlic and lemon.

The cucumber salsa was light and flavorful, like a chopped salad — you could eat it on its own. The warm pita bread, brushed with the herbed garlic oil, was heavenly.

Take the time to run the bread under the broiler. It makes the dish.

Would I make it again? Yes, but for a weekend meal. There's nothing like a two-fer.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH PAN GRAVY

This recipe is from the March issue of Gourmet.

Ingredients:

2 whole chickens (about 3 1/2 pounds each)

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, divided

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

6 large garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

2 lemons, halved

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups water

Kitchen string

Instructions:

For the roast chicken: Preheat oven to 450 degrees with rack in middle. Pull off excess fat around cavities of chickens and discard, then rinse chickens and pat dry. Melt 4 tablespoons butter with garlic and brush butter all over chickens. Season both chickens inside and out with 2<0x00BD> teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper (total). Put half of garlic and a lemon half in each cavity and loosely tie legs together with string.