- 1 whole roasting chicken
- 1 cup water (or chicken stock)
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 sprigs fresh oregano
- 3 sprigs fresh sage
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3 stalks celery
- 1/4 medium onion
- 1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon guar gum
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Thoroughly rinse the chicken and place in your roasting pan. Add 1 cup of water or stock to the bottom of the pan.
- Cut the celery stalks in half. Place three pieces in the bottom of the roasting pan and the remainder in the cavity of the chicken along with the onion.
- Put 1 sprig of each of the herbs into the cavity of the chicken. With the remaining herbs, remove the leaves from the stems. Mince the herb leaves. Throw the stems in the bottom of the roasting pan.
- Place the minced herbs in a small bowl with the butter, garlic powder and pepper. Melt the butter in the microwave.
- Brush the chicken with the melted butter and herbs. Be sure to coat thoroughly.
- Place a meat thermometer into the thigh; be sure not to touch a bone. (For a turkey; make a loose fitting tent out of aluminum foil for the first 2 hours of roasting.
- Place in the oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees F (or 325 degrees F for a turkey). Roast until the thermometer reaches 180 degrees F degrees (170 degrees F for turkey) and remove from oven promptly. This will take approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes depending on the size or your chicken (if cooking two chickens at a time then expect it to take 20 minutes more). For Cornish game hens; it will take 30-45 minutes. For a 20lb turkey this will take 4-5 hours.
- Transfer to a carving platter, loosely cover with foil and let it rest 10-15 minutes. (For a turkey; rest 15-20 minutes. For Cornish game hens 5 minutes). Before carving, remove the herbs, celery and onion from inside the chicken; save these if you are going to make stock.
- Strain the pan dripping into a gravy separator. Save the herbs and celery for your stock. If you don't have a gravy separator then strain into a wide mouth jar. Let the liquids settle then pour off most of the fat (leaving a little helps add flavor).
- Pour 1/2 of the separated pan drippings back into the roasting pan over medium heat. Be sure to scrape up the brown bits from the sides or bottom. Boil for 2-3 minutes letting the liquids reduce in volume, concentrating the flavors.
- In the other half of the liquids, add 1/4 tsp of guar gum per cup of pan drippings; stir well. Add this thicken stock to the roasting pan and whisk vigorously. Add the Kitchen Bouquet to enhance flavor and color. Taste and add salt or pepper if needed. Strain again if needed.