Tender and juicy whole chicken roast with wine and pan dripping gravy and OAXACAN stuffing – a sweet and delicious romantic thanksgiving Dinner for two.
This year, I planned a romantic thanksgiving dinner for two of us in Boston, as we won’t be celebrating the festival with our parents in NY. This is my second thanksgiving with Matthew and my first thanksgiving preparation. So I am nervous and excited.
We all know that without a big fat bird, Thanksgiving can’t happen. However, I did not want to roast a 12 pounds for turkey for two of us and I HATE turkey. So we decided to roast chicken instead.
I won’t have the opportunity to cook thanksgiving dinner from next year onwards. But I enjoyed this entire process of cooking and meal planning so much I decided to plan a romantic thanksgiving dinner with my husband a week in advance. It will be just ours. Does that sound weird and crazy to you? Well, you all know me.
Let’s talk about chicken roasting now.
Melissa Clark from NYT wrote an amazing article on roasting chicken. You can check her article here. I pretty much followed her article to make this one.
Preparing theWhole Chicken Roast:
Make sure your chicken is kept at room temperature. So take the chicken out of your refrigerator and let it sit on your counter top for 30 to 45 minutes.
My food editor Sheryl Julian recommends roasting the whole bird using the butterfly method. This method fast and cooks your bird evenly. She also says it’s much more flavorful. However, I wanted my bird to look picture pretty, so I trussed her.
Whole Chicken Roast Seasonings:
Please, please be generous with your salt. I learnt that mistake hard way and my chicken was less salty and less tasty. So again, be generous.
I love to add aromatic herbs, lemons, onion and garlic. I prefer to fill the cavity of the bird with them. I have used a butter, salt, pepper, lemon zest and saffron rub for the outer parts of the chicken. Once again, be generous!
And of course, always use fresh herbs.
Whole Chicken Roast:
There is not one universal pan for roasting, but I use Calphalon Large Roasting Pan with Nonstick Rack. You can buy one from here:
A roasting pan with a rack allows the air to circulate well and you can add root vegetables to the bottom. Some prefer to roast in a cast iron or oven safe skillet. However, I have not done that yet, so I can’t vouch for that now.
Temperature:
Some recipes say to cook at one temperature the whole time and baste in between. However, I cooked at in two temperatures. First, I roasted at a low temperature (400F) for 1 hour 15 minutes and roasted the last few minutes at 450F (for about 45 minutes) to brown the skin.
How to check Doneness?
Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. If it reads 165 degrees or above, your bird is done.
Gravy and Stuffing:
I prepared the gravy with the pan drippings. It’s pretty simple and I follow Mark Bittman’s classic recipe for it.
I have not stuffed my bird with this stuffing recipe. I prepared it separately and served as side. The stuffing recipe is loosely based on Saveur’s OAXACAN STUFFING.
I am not a roast chicken expert, however I like the whole roasted chicken. It brings your dinner to a different level. I am planning to roast chicken in few other ways so stay tuned. Another benefit of roasting a whole bird is the leftovers. I love using those leftover meat in other recipes – one such is Indian style leftover chicken in a wrap. I will be posting that recipe soon.
and the gravy –
Did you take part in the giveaway? If not, try it now.
Details of the giveaway: How can you win this?
- Like my page on Facebook.
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- Comment on my thanksgiving posts
Last day is Nov 26th! It’s limited to US, CAN, AUS, UK.
Chicken here comes clean and the giblets, neck and heart comes in a pouch. If your chicken comes with them, make sure to clean them well.
My pan dripping was not enough to make the gravy – so I have mixed some kosher chicken stock to that.
Whole Roast Chicken, Gravy, and Stuffing recipe
Chicken
- 1 whole chicken, washed and dried
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 lemons, cut in small cubes
- 1 whole garlic head cut in halves
- 1 yellow onion, cubed
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon crushed saffron
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 1/2 lemon)
- 2 cups or more chicken stock
- 1 cup cooking wine (white)
Stuffing
- 6 slices of whole wheat bread, cut into 1/2 inch size cubes
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 white onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 bulb fennel, cored and chopped
- 2 apples, cored and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 poblano chile, seeded and chopped
- 13 pitted prunes, halved
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
Gravy
Whole Chicken Roast:
- Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and let it sit for 30 minutes on a counter top. It helps to roast the chicken evenly.
- Set your oven to 400F. Have to hand a rimmed roasting pan lined (like the one I showed above) and kitchen twine.
- Wash it well and place it on a plate. Dry it well with a paper towel – including the cavity.
- Rub it with a generous amount of salt and black pepper.
- Stuff the cavities with lemon, garlic, onion and fresh herbs – such as thyme, rosemary, sage.
- In a bowl, melt the butter. Add in crushed saffron and lemon zest to them. Brush it well with a pastry/basting brush.
- Truss it well with a kitchen twine. Place it on the roasting rack.
- In a mixing bowl, add chicken stock and wine. Pour that in the roasting pan, and roast it 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Take it out. Increase the temperature to 450F and roast it for 45 minutes or until it’s golden brown. Don’t forget to baste every 15 minutes. When it’s golden brown, insert a meat thermometer into its thigh – if the temperature reads above 167F, your bird is done.
- Take it out and let it sit for 15 minutes. Cover with a tin foil while you prepare the gravy.
Stuffing:
While the chicken is getting ready
- Set the oven to 400F. Have a hand on a baking sheet and 2 quart baking dish.
- Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until they are toasted. Transfer it to a large bowl and set it aside.
- In a non-stick skillet, over a medium heat, heat butter. Add onion and fennel and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are soft. Add apple pieces, garlic and chiles and cook for about 7 to 8 minutes, or until the apples are tender. Add prunes, cumin, orange zest, salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes. Take it aside.
- Transfer the mixture to the bowl of bread cubes and stir to mix it well. Let it sit for 10 minutes, or until it cools down. Add eggs and mix it thoroughly. Add salt and pepper. Transfer to 2 quart baking dish.
- Bake at 400F for about 1 hour or until it’s browned. Let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Gravy
- In a sauce pan, over medium heat, heat butter. Add onion pieces. Cook them for 5 to 6 minutes, or until they are opaque. Sprinkle flour on the onions and stir constantly. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until flour turns from golden to brown.
- Add warm chicken stock and whisk it to mix with flour. Transfer it to the gravy boat.
Note: If it’s too thick for you, add some more warm chicken stock. You can prepare this gravy in ahead and store in refrigerator. Just allow it to cool before you refrigerate it.
Wow the chicken is ready thats awesome…I too have plans for lemon rosemary combination this year.
Lovely post Dol.. So patiently you have put stepwise pictures too..
Thank you dear 🙂
Thank you dear 🙂
Now this what I call a bang on Thanksgiving feast !! Awesome photography 🙂
Lovely photos! I don’t like turkey either! Hope you have a nice Thanksgiving!
Dinner for two is always special. Glad you enjoyed the process of planning a Thanksgiving dinner too. The photos are as usual spectacular. – Sreelatha
Sounds like a great Thanksgiving dinner plan! And that chicken looks absolutely stunning.
Love the post, I think you out did yourself. Fabulous.
Thank you so much Simi! It means the world to me 🙂
Loving all the flavours and spices going on in this chicken marinade definitely looks delicious and something I would LOVE to eat.
Let me know if you do try!