Simple/easy Stuffed Roast Chicken With Gravy (for Beginners)

Total Time: 3 hrs 5 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 (120 g) box chicken flavor stuffing mix
• 1 1/4 cups hot water (hot tap water is ok)
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and rough chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 -2 tablespoon poultry seasoning, to taste
• 1 (5 lb) chicken (fresh or frozen, thawed) or 1 (5 lb) turkey (fresh or frozen, thawed)
• salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• aluminum foil
• chicken giblets
• water, to cover
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 3 -4 tablespoons flour or 3 -4 tablespoons cornstarch
• hot water, to thin if necessary

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400°f.
• 2 empty contents of stuffing box, both the bread crumb and seasoning envelopes, into a medium bowl.
• 3 add hot water and butter; stir to mix.
• 4 add chopped water chestnuts, onion and poultry seasoning, mix thoroughly and set aside.
• 5 check inside the chicken for giblets, remove and set aside.
• 6 rinse chicken inside and out with cold running water.
• 7 dry thoroughly inside and out with paper towel.
• 8 sprinkle salt and fresh ground pepper inside the cavity and all over the outside.
• 9 place chicken in a roaster.
• 10 loosely pack the stuffing mix into the main cavity and any left into the neck cavity folding the skin over it.
• 11 if necessary secure the neck skin with a pick.
• 12 take a length of kitchen string and tie the ends of the legs as close together as possible.
• 13 rub the butter all over the outside of the chicken making sure to cover the whole outside surface.
• 14 take two lengths of aluminum foil, place one piece over the chicken lengthwise, take the other piece and place it sideways over the first piece.
• 15 tuck the foil tightly to the chicken so it is touching the bottom of the roaster but not under the bird.
• 16 if the bird is not completely covered (except for the underside) use a third piece to finish covering.
• 17 place the roaster on the middle rack of the oven and roast at 400f degrees for 15 minutes.
• 18 reduce the heat after 15 minutes to 350f degrees and roast for approximately 2 hours.
• 19 at about 2 hours, carefully lift the aluminum foil and poke the chicken with a fork, if the juice runs clear, remove the foil and roast a further 30 minutes to brown the skin to golden.
• 20 if the juice is not yet clear, roast a little longer and check again.
• 21 once the chicken is well browned, remove to platter, cover with foil and let rest.
• 22 in the meantime, if you wish to make giblet gravy, take the giblets (and neck if it's there), place in a saucepan, cover with water, add salt and pepper and a little poultry seasoning if you wish, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour.
• 23 remove to strainer, reserving liquid.
• 24 chop the giblets and pick any meat off neck bones, add to a blender and add the liquid.
• 25 blend to liquefy level, add 3 or 4 tablespoons flour or corn starch and blend to mix well.
• 26 pour off as much fat as possible from the roaster, take a whisk and move up any bits and pieces of stuffing/chicken stuck to the bottom, remove any large pieces of skin, add the giblet mix from the blender, whisk around; place in 450°f to 500°f degree oven until bubbly, about 10 minutes; add a small amount of hot water if necessary if it is too thick until it is the consistancy you want, cook another 5 minutes.
• 27 (we like ours very thick) whisk and pour into gravy boat and serve hot with the roast chicken.
• 28 gravy can also be made without the giblets, just whisk up the brown bits in the roaster and add 1 cup of hot water and make a slurry of cold water and either flour or corn starch, add the slurry and whisk, cook the same as above adding a little more water if necessary.