Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Rule the roast...

When I went to roast a chicken for dinner tonight, the fresh thyme sprigs I was going to use looked dark and mushy. Yuck! So I used dried thyme instead. I also didn't have chicken broth to make a gravy so I used white wine. I guess it's time to re-stock the pantry.
It turned out great! My family devoured it. Then I put the entire leftover chicken...cavity stuffings, juices and all into a pot to make chicken noodle soup.

Thyme Roasted Chicken With White Wine Gravy
  • 6 lbs free range, organic whole chicken (try taking it out of the refrigerator a half hour before cooking to bring it closer to room temperature)
  • kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 lemon, cut in half
  • 1/2 onion, cut in half
  • head of garlic, sliced crosswise in half
  • olive oil
  • dried thyme
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 cup white wine
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Dry the outside well with paper towels. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with lemon, onion and garlic. Drizzle the outside of the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and dried thyme. Tie the legs together with butcher's twine and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.

Roast the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Put a sheet of foil loosely over the roast during roasting if the skin is getting too dark and is about to burn.

Remove the chicken from the oven and cover tightly with aluminum foil for about 15 minutes.

Now to make a gravy...
Pour most of the pan drippings into a fat separating gravy pourer through its strainer. Leave one tablespoon of chicken fat in the roasting pan and heat it up right on the stove over medium heat. Add one tablespoon of flour and whisk into the fat for about 30 seconds. Then add 1/2 cup of the chicken juices that have separated from the fatty pan drippings and 1/2 cup of white wine.
Keep whisking until the flour has dissolved and the gravy is thickened and smooth. About 1-2 minutes. Pour into a gravy boat and serve hot with the chicken.

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