Not Really Engagement Chicken

There is an urban legend of the Engagement Chicken, a dish that if made for your boyfriend, he will be so impressed with your domestic skills he'll propose.

I've been married for a year and a half, so I'm not putting it to the test, but I thought it might be a good way to make my first attempt at roasting a whole chicken.  After research, I decided to take aspects of recipes from Ina Garten, the Pioneer Woman, and good old Joy of Cooking .

The first step of making roast chicken is by far the hardest.  You have to remove the neck and innards and rinse the raw bird.  Because he is a good person, my husband did that part for me while I covered my eyes and ran out of the kitchen.

After it was all clean and patted dry with paper towels, I stuffed a halved lemon and 4 cloves of garlic inside, and coated the entire chicken with olive oil.  After coating with oil, I sprinkled liberally with salt, pepper, sage, and thyme.

The best part is that that's all you need to do to prepare it.  It went into a 400 degree oven for an hour and a half.  All my cookbooks said to cook until a meat thermometer read 180 degrees and the juices ran clear when pierced.  Somehow I have two fancy digital instant read thermometers and neither would register a temperature, so I may have cooked a few minutes extra just to be sure.  Food borne illnesses are not romantic.  

The drippings in the roasting pan went into a basic gravy.

I made basic bread stuffing to serve alongside.

Bread Stuffing

based on the Joy of Cooking

1/2 pound cubed bread

2 Tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large stalk of celery, chopped

1 Tablespoon dried parsley, or 1/4 cup fresh

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup chicken broth or stock

In a medium skillet, melt butter and saute onion and celery about 7 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

Turn off heat, and mix in spices.

Toss with bread cubes and pour into a baking dish.

Pour chicken broth or stock over bread mixture and toss to combine.

Bake in a 400 degree oven 30 minutes or until lightly brown.

Pan Gravy

based on the Joy of Cooking

Drippings in roasting pan

1/4 cup white wine or water

3/4 cup chicken broth or stock

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Table spoon flour

salt and pepper

After removing chicken from roasting pan, place pan over two burners on medium high and pour in wine or water.  

Use a wooden spoon to scrape any bits off the bottom of the pan and simmer gently for 5 minutes.  

Pour into a gravy separator and discard fat.  

Add drippings to a saucepan with chicken broth.  

Heat to a simmer over medium high heat.  

In a small bowl, mash together butter and flour.  

Add a few teaspoons of broth mixture to make a paste.  

Add paste to saucepan slowly, stirring to combine completely.  

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Simmer for a few minutes until gravy reaches desired thickness.  

Make an appointment at Vera Wang because marriage proposals might be coming!