ROASTED CHICKEN WITH PAN GRAVY

This is a very basic recipe, maybe first and foremost to get your basic skills going, although the dish is delicious per se. Roasting is a common technique used for both smaller and large portions of meat, poultry, or fish. See more on roasting and also a briefing on how to make pan gravy on our HOW TO pages.

4 servings:

1 chicken
1 sprig of rosemary, chopped
50 g/1.7 oz butter, room tempered
1 sprig of rosemary, whole
2 sprigs of thyme
1 garlic bulb, cut into two halves
1/2 lemon
salt, pepper
olive oil

2 onions, chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 garlic, crushed
1 sprig of thyme
salt, pepper
1 tbsp corn meal or flour
500 mL/1 pint chicken stock

1 lb potatoes, peeled

Preheat the oven to 200 C/390 F. For the chicken, mix the chopped rosemary with butter and insert it under the skin that covers the chicken breasts (you will need to insert your fingers under the skin and loosen it up - just insert two fingers, one on each side, from the cavity side and make space for the butter). Make sure to keep the skin intact. Then place rosemary sprig, thyme, garlic and lemon into the cavity of the chicken, and also season it with salt and pepper. Now, take a hot pan with some olive oil and briefly, just a few minutes on each side, brown the chicken skin on both sides of the chicken. Truss the chicken with a cotton cord to keep everything in place and put it on the roasting rack with the dripping collecting pan below. Or just put the chicken on a rack and place an oven-proof pan below it to collect the chicken juices. Also place the seasoned potatoes in the pan to roast them along with the chicken. The roasting will take 45-60 minutes, or you can decrease or increase the time according to your liking. Some people like a slightly overcooked chicken (1 hour) others want it more juicy (30 minutes). However, it is always important to let it cook until it's warm throughout, in order to kill bacteria. You don't want to get poisoned, believe me! During the last 20 minutes, pour in the chopped onion, carrot, and celery into the collecting pan.

When the chicken is roasted, set it aside and let it rest while you make the pan gravy. The point of resting the bird is to let it not only cool down to an edible temperature, but also to let the juices (concentrated in the middle directly after roasting) diffuse throughout the flesh.

Potatoes should be done by now, otherwise put them back in the oven for some more roasting.

To make pan gravy, take the collecting pan and put it on a moderately hot stove. Brown the vegetables in the collected chicken juice, and add garlic and thyme to the pan. Make sure the vegetables get browned - you want a nicely colored brown gravy. Then add the flour and distribute it evenly so there will be no lumps formed in the pan. Then add the chicken stock, heat the things up and let the gravy simmer until it's reduced and fairly thick. Season with salt and peppar at the end.






Carve the chicken and serve with potatoes and gravy! You can have some salad beside.