This was a Thomas Keller inspired meal. There was an Anthony Bourdain episode titled, "Techniques", in which he had several chefs display various methods for preparing standard American fare. Thomas Keller roasted a chicken. It looked good. It looked simple. I was hungry. End of story.
Pan gravy is a simple way to make a tasty sauce to go with your meal. It fits very well with roasted meats because of the fact that it is made from the drippings in the pan. Pretty standard technique that doesn't require much more than a mirepoix (onions, carrots, celery..come on, you should know this by now) and some chicken stock.
To make the chicken:
You need 1 whole chicken. For your info, a 6+ lb. chicken is a damn big chicken. A smaller one might be a little more manageable. Pull all the innards out. It's not absolutely necessary, but get some butcher's twine to truss the chicken. This will make it more compact and dense and the chicken will cook more evenly. I'll try to explain the method. It would be a lot easier with pics, but I was home alone when I made it and it's hard to truss a chicken and work a camera at the same time.
Fold the wings under to give some stability. Lace the twine under the chicken at the foot end and bring it up and around the legs to form a figure eight between them. Pull the twine diagonally back and down towards the wings and flip the chicken over. Pull the twine across the wings to keep them in and loop the twine around the neck bone and tie. Once again, this would be a lot easier to understand with pics. I'm sure you could search online and get some pics.
Now you're ready to season. Plenty of salt and pepper. Make sure and get some on the inside, too. From here on you can really do anything you want to do. I kept it simple this time, I know, we're breaking new ground over here. I covered it in fresh thyme and oregano and threw a few sprigs inside also. That was it. You could stuff it with any herbs you want to. You could also stuff it with a mirepoix. Jake likes to cut the skin and stuff herbs under it. This works really well also. Stuffing the bird with lemons also adds some good flavor and juiciness to the bird. Don't worry. It actually doesn't come out sour and lemony like you would think.
Roast at 425F for ~1 hr and 20 min. Obviously, less time for a smaller bird. This was 6.4 lb. About halfway through, add a small-medium dice mirepoix to the pan. Once the bird (or any meat) is done, set aside and DO NOT TOUCH IT for at least 30 minutes. I left it until the gravy was done and I was ready to eat. If you cut it immediately after coming out of the oven then all the juice evaporates off and you've got a dry piece of crap on your hands when you were going to have a little slice of heaven. Leave it alone and all that tasty juiciness will reabsorb.
The pan gravy:
Remove the meat from the pan and place the pan on the stove at med to med high heat. Cook the mirepoix in the drippings until it starts to brown. If you want a thicker, gravy-like sauce then add some AP flour to the pan to make a roux. Cook the roux for 10-20 more minutes. Pour off the excess fat. Add ~2 cups hot chicken stock to the pan. Cook ~5-10 minutes. Degrease the pan with white wine for a bird, red for red meat. Cook for a few more minutes to cook off the alcohol. Season to taste. Cut your bird. dig in.
To continue my laziness from last night my only side was a baked sweet potato that I cooked in the oven while the chicken was going. Indeed.
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