Roast Chicken

I love roast chicken. It is a stand by in my kitchen, we have it almost every week. Here is how I  make it.

I start with a small whole chicken usually around 4-5 pounds. I take the miscellaneous parts out of the inside. The chicken is then set in a roasting pan with the breast side up. I always place 2-3 table spoon of butter under the skin of the breast and legs. The cavity gets filled with an onion, carrot, celery. Occasionally I will make rosemary and lemon chicken and I will place just those two items inside the cavity. The outside of the chicken is sprinkled with salt and pepper and the roasting pan is covered. The chicken is placed into a 350 degree oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

After the chicken is finished I removed it from the roasting pan. I set the roasting pan with all the juices on the stove top and bring to a boil. In a small bowl I mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with just enough cold water to make it a liquid. The cornstarch mixture is added to the boiling juices while stirring the juices constantly with a spoon. When the mixture has thickened and has cooked for a couple minutes remove from the heat. Homemade gravy! As a child my job was always to make the gravy and to stir it constantly to keep it from burning. Who am I kidding? As an adult making gravy is still my job at any family holiday that takes me back home.