Roast Chicken and Gravy

I made this particular chicken and took the pictures MONTHS ago! I guess with the baby and new house and everything, it got lost in the shuffle and I never blogged about it.
I LOVE making roast chicken. It is so easy and the homemade gravy just takes the cake. All you need are a few basic ingredients and you're on your way!

Roast Chicken and Gravy

Ingredients: 
1 whole chicken
A lemon
A couple cloves of garlic
One small-medium onion
Fresh or dry Thyme
Salt and pepper

Someday i'll learn how to photograph raw chicken so that it doesn't look sickly.

 You'll need some kind of roasting pan. Here's mine. :) Oh, and start preheating your oven to 450 degrees.

Rinse your chicken, inside and out (take out any giblets or whatever that gunk is that's stuffed inside.) Dry your chicken really well. The drier it is, the crispier the skin will be. Truss your chicken! You basically grab the little legs, cross em and tie them together. You are also supposed to tuck the wings underneath and I completely spaced on that part. Salt and pepper the bird inside and out.

 Now, slice up that onion and layer them all over the bottom of your pan.

 Grab that lemon and either poke it all over with a fork or slice it in half, like I have, and stuff it inside the chicken's bum. Also toss in 2-3 garlic cloves and some Thyme. Set the bird on top of the onions.

 Put the lid on your pan and roast in the oven for about 50 minutes, then take the lid off and continue roasting for another 10-15 minutes. Check the temperature to be sure it's fully cooked. The thickest part of your bird should be 165 degrees.

 Now, move your chicken to a plate or platter, but don't cut it yet! It needs to rest for 15 minutes. If you cut it, it will start to "bleed." Basically, all the juices will come spilling out. I make this mistake quite often. You'd think I would eventually learn.
Anyway, if your roasting pan is stove-top safe, stick it right on a burner and turn the heat to medium-high.

 Add about a tablespoon of flour and mix, mix, mix!

 After about 1 minute, pour in some water or chicken stock. I use water. It's cheaper. Stir it up and continue cooking until it's really mixed and reduced and thickened up. About 4 or 5 minutes. I really just eyeball the amount of water, but 1 or 2 cups should be good.

Now you can either toss your gravy in a blender and whiz it up until it's really smooth, or you can just strain it through a mesh strainer.

 If it seems too liquidy, don't worry, it WILL thicken up. Trust me. It will really, really thicken up.

And serve! Yeah, I cut into my chicken too soon. The juices all came running out like they were racing. Oh well. We were hungry. Now go buy a chicken and impress some guests! Or just your family. Whichever.