dinner, essentials, special occassion, the essentials / recipesLauren FootDecember 26, 2020Comment

HOLIDAY ROAST CHICKEN WITH GRAVY

dinner, essentials, special occassion, the essentials / recipesLauren FootDecember 26, 2020Comment

RECIPES

HOLIDAY ROAST CHICKEN WITH GRAVY

My mom has always cooked an amazing Thanksgiving/Christmas Day Turkey and I have been lucky enough to be her sue chef over the years. A few years ago I wrote down her entire cooking schedule along with her recipes so that one day when I needed to cook a turkey I would have a step by step guide. That moment came a lot sooner than I expected as this year Nick and I ended up spending the holidays alone at our new home, just the two of us.

Nick is a vegetarian so I had to switch things up a bit. Rather than cooking a turkey for one person, I decided to cook a chicken but with all of my mom’s usual holiday sides.

Below is the recipe and timing schedule for our Holiday Roast Chicken dinner.

Vegetables

10:00 am

Prep the vegetables ahead of time so when it comes time to cook them all you have to do is turn up the heat.

MASHED POTATOES

INGREDIENTS

1-2 medium sized russet potatoes per person
butter (to taste)
milk (to taste)
fresh thyme

directions

Peel and cut the potatoes into medium sized pieces, place in an appropriately sized pot on the stove filled with cold water. Let this sit until you are ready to cook them later on in the day.

About 20 minutes before the chicken is done start cooking your potatoes. It should take 30 minutes to cook your potatoes.

Once cooked, drain (saving the water to add to the gravy), add butter and begin to whip the potatoes, once potatoes are smooth, add milk slowly, whipping (I used a potato masher and then switched to an electric egg beater to get that whipped look) and adding more until you get the consistency and taste you like. I also added about 1 tbsp of fresh thyme leaves and whipped them in.

Garnish with a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

Once this is done put the potatoes in a serving dish and cover with tinfoil until ready to eat.

turnips

INGREDIENTS

1 Turnip
salt and pepper to taste
butter (to taste)
fresh thyme (optional)

directions

Peel and cut the turnip into medium sized pieces, place in an appropriately sized pot on the stove filled with cold water. Let this sit until you are ready to cook them later on in the day.

about 20 minutes before the chicken is done start cooking your turnips. It should take 30 minutes to cook your turnips.

Once cooked, drain (save water for gravy) add butter, salt and pepper and mash. Transfer to a serving dish and cover with tinfoil when ready with the shiny side down and keep them covered until you're ready to eat. I like to add a few fresh thyme leaves and a few sprigs as well as a garnish

PEAS & CARROTS

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup of frozen peas per person

1-2 full sized carrots per person

directions

Peel and cut the carrots into medium sized round slices, place in an appropriately sized pot on the stove filled with cold water. Let this sit until you are ready to cook them later on in the day.

Once the potatoes and turnips are boiling, start cooking the carrots

Don't add the peas until the carrots are pretty much cooked. Once the peas are added bring the water to a boil remove the pot from heat, drain the peas and carrots and place in a serving dish with tin foil on top of it to keep the heat in.

the chicken

3:30pm (or earlier depending on the weight of your chicken)

I Followed Ina Garten’s roast chicken recipe for instructions on how to roast the chicken. If you wish to read her recipe please click here.

INGREDIENTS

1 whole chicken

1 - 2 tbsp margerine

fresh thyme

salt

pepper

garlic powder

—

paper towels

roaster

meat thermometer

—

parsley

fresh cranberries

directions

Check the weight of your chicken, it will need to cook at 425°F for 15 minutes per lbs. My chicken was 3 lbs so we cooked it for 45 minutes, I ended up letting it cook for about 55 minutes.

Make sure to wash your hands with soap every time you handle the chicken.

According to Ina it’s best to have the chicken at room temperature for 30 minutes before placing in the oven to ensure even cooking.

Prep your roasting pan by coating the bottom and sides with a thin layer of margarine.

Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Once that’s done place the chicken in the roaster.

Smeer margarine ontop of the chicken using cling rap, dip the cling rap in the margarine container to get about 1 - 1/2 tbsp of margarine. Rub that on the skin of the chicken.

Set to the side and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Once your stuffing is prepped, stuff as much as you can into the cavity of the chicken.

Top with fresh thyme leaves and sprigs

Season with salt, pepper and a light dusting of garlic powder.

Place in the oven covered and cook for half the time needed, remove at the half time point to check and make sure it’s cooking the way you’d like, if there are juices, baste the chicken by spooning the juices back on top.

Place the roaster back in the oven turned 180°

Remove after the remainder of the cooking time has completed. If you wish for it to be more brown, pop it back in the oven for a few minutes without the lid.

Once done, set to the side until you’re remaining ingredients are ready to serve.

To serve, I like to serve it on a round platter with fresh parsley and dried cranberries as garnish around the edge of the dish. I place the whole chicken un-carved in the centre.

STUFFING

3:30pm (start at the same time your prepping your chicken)

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup butter or margarine

—

2-1/2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped celery

2 tsp sage
1 tsp marojarum

5 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp savory

—

4 breakfast sausages squeezed out of casing (We used veggie breakfast sausages because Nick is a vegetarian).

—

1 (granny smith or Macintosh apples) chopped

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup raisins

14 cups cubed white bread

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS

Start by prepping your ingredients.

Place onions, celery and spices in a bowl together. Place sausage in a bowl.

Place apple, parsley, raisins and dried cranberries in a bowl.

Place dried bread cubes in a large mixing bowl.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat;

first add onions, celery and spices and mix together.

Next squeeze the sausages from their casings and break into small pieces and mix into the pan.

Once the sausage is nearly cooked add the parsley, raisins and dried cranberries.

Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, transfer to large bowl and toss with bread. If the stuffing seems a little dry just melt some more butter and add to the skillet.

Stuff as much as you can into your chicken before placing in the oven.

Cook the remaining stuffing in a lidded casserole dish at 350°F for 30 minutes covered, add vegetable broth (about 1/4 cup) to the stuffing before placing in the oven to keep it moist. If you wish for it to cook longer or crisp up, remove the lid and place back in the oven for a few minutes.

If you have only one oven, cook before the chicken and then leave covered to keep it warm before serving.

VEGGIE SAUSAGE

Nick is a vegetarian so I wanted to cook an easy protein option for him that would go well with all of the sides and gravy. These sausages are perfect.

INGREDIENTS

2, the good butchers ‘a very British banger’ per person

DIRECTIONS

Thaw out if you keep them frozen in a bowl of warm water (while still in plastic casing)

Cook in a pan on the stove while your chicken is cooking in the oven.

VEGETABLES

Make sure to remember to start cooking

GRAVY

INGREDIENTS

all of the drippings, seperated from the grease
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 cups vegetable water: ( depending on how thick your gravy is)
all of the water from the turnips
all of the water from the peas and carrots
if you still need more use the water from the potatoes
1 package gravy browner