Chicken Recipes

Roast Chicken With Vegetables & Gravy | Chicken Soup Stock

Roast Chicken With Vegetables & Gravy

Ingredients

• 1 chicken
• 2 T butter
• 2 onions peeled and sliced
• 1 lemon
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• Potatoes, carrots
• 1 cup chicken stock

Instructions

1. Rinse the chicken inside and out, dry thoroughly.
2. Place sliced onions in rows in a roasting pan to make a bed for the chicken. Onions will flavour the chicken and pan juices that form the base for the gravy. Arrange vegetables around chicken for roasting.
3. Put 4 cloves of garlic, a quartered lemon, fresh or dried thyme inside the chicken's cavity.
4. Place chicken breast side up in the roaster. Spread butter over the skin of the bird and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Roast the chicken at 325-350 degrees for approximately 2 - 2 ½ hours. You can tell it's done when the skin is crisp and golden brown, and the juices should run clear when pricked with a fork.
6. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let the chicken stand.
7. Keep juices in the pan and cook on the stove for about 1 minute. Add chicken stock, raise heat to high and using a wooden spoon, stir up and combine the brown bits with the stock until the liquid is reduced by 1/2 , about 4 minutes. Strain the gravy into a small bowl.
8. Carve the bird and serve with vegetables and gravy on the side.

Chicken Soup Stock

In our predominantly Mennonite locale, chicken noodle soup is at the heart of comfort cooking. Some local matriarchs have shared their secrets with me and here is their traditional recipe which I use for every recipe requiring chicken broth:

Ingredients

• Chicken Stock
• 1 bag PVF soup bones or 1 bag wings (frozen or thawed)
• 1 onion whole
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 stalks celery, clean and whole
• 2 whole carrots, scrubbed and whole
• 2 parsnips, scrubbed and whole
• 2 star anise pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 5-10 whole peppercorns
• salt to taste
• butter

Instructions

1. Bring a pot full of water to boil. When water is boiling, add the chicken bones, vegetables, bay leaf, anise, salt and pepper. Simmer on the stove for 2-8 hours.
2. Remove bones, vegetables, anise, and bay leafs. Remove meat tidbits from the chicken bones and add back to the soup later if desired.
3. Add 2-3 T butter to the broth just before serving.

Secrets

1. Only add the bones once the water is boiling. This creates a clear broth instead of a murky broth.
2. Some people roast the bones in the oven at 350 F for 1-2 hours to give the broth a richer taste and browner colour.
3. Star anise is a natural healer and helps prevent colds and flus. That's why chicken broth is often thought of as medicinal!
4. Everything is better with butter added, isn't it?
5. Making a large pot of broth saves time. Freeze the remaining broth in portions suitable for future recipes. I package broth in pint jars and freeze it for use in risottos, pastas, sauces and of course, more soup!