Sunday Dinner- Roasted Chicken with Gravy

What could possibly be better than Sunday dinner? A big ol' yummy meal to top off a great weekend is the epitome of family togetherness for me. So in honor of Sunday dinner, I'm posting three recipes that you'll find on my table tonight. I hope you'll be having a delicious dinner with your family tonight as well!

Roasted Chicken and Gravy

Serves: 4-6 (depending on size)
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (3-5 lbs)
1 med. onion, quartered
2 stalks celery, cut into 2 in. pieces
2 tsp. minced garlic
3 Tbs. butter, softened
salt and pepper
1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*. Season cavity of chicken with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning (make sure to take out bag of giblets and other chicken innards! Lots of people save it to make gravy- I don't, but that's totally your call.) Stuff chicken with onion, celery, garlic, rosemary and 2 Tbs. butter. I like to kind of layer it- stuff in some onion, some butter, some garlic, some celery and repeat- you get the idea. Place the chicken breast side up on a foil-covered roasting pan. sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and rub the remaining 1 Tbs. of butter all over the chicken. Roast chicken for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on size. (usually about 20 minutes per lb.) Check on it after about 45 minutes- if skin starts to get too dark, loosely tent it with foil and return to oven. If you're not sure that it's done, use a meat thermometer- if the thickest part of the breast is at 170*, it's done.

After it comes out of the oven, loosely tent with foil (if you haven't already) and let it rest 10-15 minutes. Drain off pan juices into med. saucepan. Mix 2 tsp. of cornstarch with 1/2 c. cold water until smooth, and whisk into pan drippings. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Some people like to use flour in their gravy. I prefer cornstarch because I think it blends better, but it's totally up to you, use whatever makes you happy. If your gravy gets too thick, add water, if it's too thin add more cornstarch (mix with cold water first. If you add plain cornstarch to hot gravy, you'll wind up with monster lumps!) Gravy is an inexact science, and a lot of it depends on the amount of pan drippings you start with.