Perfect Roast Chicken with gravy

Directions

• Remove chicken from fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 475°F
• Add roughly chopped vegetables (carrots, onions, celery, potatoes) to a roasting pan. Smash and peel the garlic bulb and add to the roasting pan as well. Add a good glug of olive oil, salt and pepper or any other seasoning to the pan. Add a few sprigs of rosemary, thyme, and a couple of bay leaves. Cut the lemon in half and juice it over the vegetables in the pan and tossed the juiced half into the pan as well. Toss together to get all the veg coated in the oil and seasoning.
• Take a glob of butter and rub it all over the chicken, coating it thoroughly. Take small chunks of butter and place under the skin in various places. Place small chunks of butter in between the legs and wings of the bird.
• Season with a healthy dash of salt and pepper.
• Stuff some sprigs of rosemary and thyme into the chicken cavity. Poke the other half of the lemon with a fork and stuff into the cavity.
• Place the chicken in the pan surrounded by the vegetables.
• Place into the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400°F and cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes uncovered.
• Add water to the tray as necessary if the vegetables look dried out.
• When the chicken is cooked, take everything out of the oven and set the bird aside. Cover with tin foil and let sit for a few minutes while making the gravy (optional).
• Remove the roasted veggies from the pan and keep warm.
• To make a gravy: Place the pan on the stove and turn the burners on to medium. Add some water to the pan and stir while heating. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the delicious flavour in the gravy. Add the cube of chicken stock (you can add 2 here if making a lot of gravy) and a cup or more of water. Keep stirring while the stock cube dissolves.
• Place a couple of teaspoons of corn starch into a liquid measuring cup. Add splashes of water and mix well with the starch. Keep adding water or starch as needed until you get a thick liquid.
• While stirring the water and chicken stock in the pan, very slowly add splashes of the starch and water mixture to the pan. Keep mixing vigorously. Add small amounts of the starch and water mixture until the desired thickness of the gravy is reached (dip a wooden spoon in the gravy and run your finger through it on the back of the spoon. If the gravy stays in place, it’s thick enough). If you make it too thick, remove from the heat and add water until thin again.
• Place the cooked chicken on a wooden cutting board or a surface where it won’t slip around. Carve the chicken by removing the legs and wings first, then angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other. Use your fingers to pull the rest of the meat off the carcass.
• Serve everything hot on a platter and enjoy!