Roast Chicken

Let's step back for a bit, shall we? Take look at this lovely thing. Golden, juicy and really delicious. I know some parts of my roast chicken is not completely golden as most people would probably like but I really don't care for the skin so that's ok too. I love roast chicken, it's one of my favourite items for Sunday dinner. When I make my roast chicken or turkey, I brine it in a sugar and salt solution of lukewarm water with a handful of sage, thyme, garlic and a pinch of pepper overnight. On the day of roasting, I drain the bird and bring it to room temperature, pat it dry (this will make sure you get that golden skin, which I guess I didn't do here properly obviously), then I put herb butter underneath the skin, massage it to distribute evenly and tuck in some slices of lemon in the breast and the cavity then I season it with salt and freshly ground pepper on the outside just before roasting. I do not have a standard recipe for the herb butter but it almost always includes shallots, garlic, and depending on what types of herbs are available, I normally use a combination of sage, thyme, rosemary and parsley. There can also be oregano and maybe some pepper flakes but I don't always add them. All this really adds lovely flavour to the bird and creates an amazing gravy.

The gravy is another must have for me if I'm doing roast chicken. I wouldn't be caught dead using store-bough gravy. No way! The pan drippings from this roast is very flavourful so it would be such a waste to not take advantage of it. Besides home-made gravy is really easy to make anyway. So, first, I take out the bird when it's cooked then tent it with foil and let it rest before carving. Then, I skim off all of the oil from the roasting pan. Well not all really. I leave about a tablespoon or so of oil and on the same roasting pan, I use it to sautee my aromatic base which is onion, garlic and coarsely chopped carrots and celery until they're soft and I add 3 cups or so of chicken stock (home-made is great if you have it, if not, use the store-bought low sodium stock instead). To thicken, I use a tablespoon of flour for every cup of stock and whisk it in. Then I strain the gravy and put it in a warmed gravy boat for serving. It's pretty much done from there. I adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if I have to, but I find that it's not always necessary because of the flavour of the chicken.

Add in some mashed (honestly, I find that boring but my dude loves it) or roasted fingerling potatoes and some veggies and that's a lovely meal.