Roasted Chicken with Lemon Thyme Pan Gravy

Well I screwed up.  I forgot to take my chicken out of the freezer on Sunday to defrost so I could cook it for tonight's dinner.  Not being one to worry about such things, I decided to just adjust my approach to roasting my chicken and my cooking time.  Instead of cooking the chicken in an open roaster for about an hour at 400 degrees, I put it in my dutch oven, lid on, with a little bit of olive oil, some herbs, potatoes, onions and preserved lemons, put it in the oven and hoped for the best.

Well I got the best.  After about an hour of cooking time, my chicken was defrosted and up to 60 degrees and well on its way to becoming dinner.  It just goes to show you that most mistakes can be corrected or at least mitigated.  If you didn't mess up like me, the chicken would normally take about an hour.

Roasted Chicken with Lemon Thyme Pan Gravy

1 large roasting chicken
2 tablespoon olive oil
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste
1 preserved lemon, cut into eigths (a regular lemon is ok but you will need more salt)
2 bay leaves
2 lbs mini white potatoes, scrubbed with skin on
1/2 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Pour 1 tablespoon olive oil into a large Dutch oven.  Add chicken, rub with additional 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper.  Cover chicken with preserved lemon pieces.

If cooking from frozen, place pot in the oven, cover with a tight fitting lid, and cook for approximately 1 hour.  After the 1 hour cooking time, add the chicken stock, potatoes and onions and return to cook for approximately 1 hour, or until an instant read thermometer reads 180 degrees in the thigh joint.

If your chicken is defrosted, place onions and potatoes around the chicken, and add thyme sprigs, bay leaves and chicken stock to Dutch oven, and cook uncovered in the pre-heated oven for approximately 1 hour, or until an instant read thermometer reads 180 degrees in the thigh joint.

Remove chicken and potatoes from pot and allow to cool slightly.  Cut chicken into 8 pieces for serving.  Use the cooked potatoes as they are or go on to make Super Easy Smashed Potaotes and Roasted Asparagus.

Lemon Thyme Pan Gravy

1 cup pan drippings and stock from Dutch oven

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/3 cup cold water

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2-3 sprigs thyme

Roasted lemon pieces from Dutch oven

Pour stock that collects in the bottom of your Dutch oven through a fine sieve to remove onion pieces and lemons, then put into and gravy separator to remove fat.  Wash Dutch oven, and return stock to the pot, leaving the fat layer in the separator.  Add in chicken stock and thyme.  I added back in the onion pieces and lemon pieces for extra flavour.  Bring to a rolling boil.  

In a separate small bowl, whisk cold water and flour together to make a slurry.  This will thicken your gravy.  Be sure to whisk well to ensure there are not lumps.  Whisk slurry into stock and return to a boil.  It is only once the sauce reaches boiling that the thickening power of the flour will be realized.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat to remove any trace of flour taste.   Serve over chicken.