Natural Gravy? Sign me up!

It is the end of Week 3, and I made the Roast Chicken with Natural Gravy (Recipe #8 - from the Roasting and Baking Section of Chapter 13 - Cooking Poultry and Game Birds). Actually - I made it on Thursday night - but the whole life (you know, Keeneland, Neighborhood Country Parties - this month is "Japan") thing got in the way and now it's Sunday morning and I'm talking about it (however - I can still taste the gravy - sooo good! Even if I do say so myself)

I thawed the chicken overnight (my first whole chicken - just over 4.0 lbs! But even that was not enough, and I had to have the microwave finish the rest of the thawing. The next step (after getting the giblets out.. which I'm still not sure I did 100%...) was the trussing - I didn't have twine, so I made use with some other small rope I had in the office supplies (gotta make do w/ what you have, right?)

I made the mirepoix for the bottom of the pan (ha.. I didn't have a regular rack, so ended up using the one from the microwave over a baking dish.. who says you can't improvise?). It took almost the entire time to heat the over to 450 - so by the time it was there - the chicken was ready for its 15 minute searing before dropping the temp down to 325 for an hour... and wait.

... and wait. After 1 hour, it was only at 142 degrees (recommended was 165). It took another 20+ minutes, and it seemed that the thermometer climbed oh so slowly. At 162, I took it out - there was 1-2 very small parts that weren't quite ready, but I had to go... (actually, I did - had to get to the grocery store for this weekend's events - and it was already after 9...) I quickly made the gravy on the stove - took the pan and boiled it, pan and all, with some stock and cornstarch. It didn't take long for the gravy to settle, and I strained it, and VOILA! YUMMY gravy. I tested it with the chicken ... and although the chicken was good (I think the baked chicken was a little more flavorful) - the chicken + gravy was VERY good (better than the baked chicken - BY FAR!)

So.. Recipe #8 is a success. This week.. I'm staying in the same section, but going to a new bird... the duck. Yes... hey mom, look at me now. One year ago, it was Hamburger Helper. This week.. I'm going for Roast Duckling a l'Orange.

It just goes to show.. this reminds me of running the marathon. For years, I was told by much faster runners (mostly while I was in the military) that I could not run, and that I couldn't keep up. I then ran a marathon to prove them all wrong. In the same sense, for years I felt I couldn't cook - b/c I didn't know how - and didn't know where to begin. It goes to show that when you put your mind to something you want to love - that love will want you back!