Jen's Italian Herb-Roasted Chicken & Potatoes
Ingredients:
grapeseed oil
1 whole chicken (mine was about 4 pounds)
1 onion, cut into large diced
2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
6 small potatoes with the skin left on, scrubbed clean, & cut into quarters(I used regular baking potatoes)
1 cup of water
2/3 cup of white wine (I used a chardonnay I had already opened)
For the gravy:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup water
cooked chicken drippings
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse chicken and thoroughly dry inside and out with paper towels. Sprinkle salt inside the cavern of the chicken. Tuck wings behind the bird and truss the chicken. (If you are not sure how to do it, just look it up on the Internet. There are tons of videos out there to show you how it's done.) Place the trussed bird on a rack in a roasting pan, breast side up. Set aside.
In a large bowl toss onions and potatoes with 2 tablespoon of oil and 1 teaspoon of the following dried herbs: thyme, basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes. Season with salt generously and toss to combine so everything is well coated. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of the following dried herbs: oregano, thyme, and basil. Add 1/4 cup of oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Combine white wine and water in a large measuring cup. Set aside.
Pour your chicken marinade mixture over the bird making sure all sides are well coated. Arrange potato and onion mixture in the roasting pan, around the chicken. Roast for 50 minutes uncovered, or until onions are caramelized at the very bottom of the roasting pan and chicken is browned.
Remove the chicken and potatoes from oven and pour wine/water mixture on the bottom of the roasting pan. This should deglaze all the caramelized bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Return the pan back to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear at the thigh joint, and an internal cooking temperature of 160 degrees is reached.
Remove the chicken from the oven to a cutting board and tent with foil. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Scoop the roasted onions and potatoes into a separate bowl and set aside, reserving the juices and cooking liquid at the bottom of the pan.
To make gravy:
Pour the reserved chicken drippings into a fat separator. Discard fat and save the leftover juices. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large sauce pan. When butter is melted, add 2 tablespoons of flour and whisk to combine. Let flour mixture cook for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken drippings and liquid to the pan with an additional 1 cup of water. Whisk continuously until combined and gravy is formed. Season gravy with salt and pepper to taste.
Cut chicken and serve with potatoes, onions, and gravy.
The Result:
As I said, this was fan-freakin'-tastic! I think my husband wanted to marry me all over again after eating this dish. We were actually arguing over who got to lick the gravy spoon after dinner. It was so good!
There is a fairly long prep and cooking time for this chicken, so I recommend that you start this a few hours before dinnertime or make it on a weekend. Since I was making this up as I went, I opted to start early. I must have been in the mood to cook or something, because spending a few hours in the kitchen usually does not happen for me anymore. Thankfully, my kids took a great afternoon nap so I had some time to develop a game plan. It all worked out, and this is a chicken recipe that I will keep.
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