Spicy Roasted Chicken and Gravy


Need an excuse for spending an afternoon in your kitchen? Other than waiting for the repair guy to show up to fix your dishwasher? A long, slow roast for a couple spicy-rubbed chickens is reason enough for me to camp out for the afternoon at home.

My birds were looking naked when I brought them home from the grocery store. I did my usual web surfing to locate a way to roast up the poultry in a new way. Over one gazillion recipes, by my count, are available on the internet for roasting my chickens. I was working on recreating a roasted chicken similar to the ones constantly going around in circles on the rotisserie at Costco. I combined a few recipes and came up with a version of my own. All rubbed with seasonings and ready for the oven, the chickens roasted for 4 hours at 250 degrees.



I'll rate this recipe as a ****1/2 out of a possible *****. The chicken was moist and the seasonings were divine. The drips made a gravy with a little zip; a nice change from my usual sage gravy. An added bonus is I have enough chicken for several meals over the next few days.



Spicy Slow Roasted Chicken and Gravy

for chickens -
2 (7 pound) whole chickens
4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder

for gravy -
1/4 cup of pan drippings from chickens
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
salt and lots of pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place chickens in a large roasting pan or two small roasting pans. Set aside.

Combine all the spices in a small bowl. Remove the giblets from chickens and rub the spice mixture on the chickens, both inside and out.

Roast the chickens, uncovered, at 250°F for 4 - 4 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature is about 170 degrees. After the second hour, baste the chicken occasionally (about every 30 minutes or so) with pan juices. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. remove the chickens from the oven and cover with foil. Let the chickens rest about 10 minutes while you make the gravy.

Meanwhile, for the gravy, add the drippings to a saucepan over medium high heat. When heated, whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Gradually add the stock and milk and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until gravy thickens. Season to taste with salt if necessary.

To serve, carve chicken and place on a large platter. Pass gravy with chicken.

20 comments:

MaryBeth said...

I am so cold right now and just looking at the works chicken and gravy gives me the warm tingles all over. This chicken looks so good and of course homemade gravy dripping down some mashed taters sitting next to it would not hurt either.Yum-o

test it comm said...

That roast chicken sounds really good. I always enjoy a nice roast chicken, especially the leftovers.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

This recope looks like a 5 to me!!!

Robin said...

Now this is a nice change from the usual chicken seasonings. And I love leftover chicken for other meals. Good One!

kat said...

It does sound like it would have a nice bite to it

Netts Nook said...

Your chicken looks great I need to try this one can't wait.

teresa said...

Oh yum, roasted chicken is one of my favorites, I almost prefer it to a turkey! This looks amazing!

pigpigscorner said...

It looks really good! And the seasonings sounds great, must be very flavourful.

thisoldbroad said...

Those look & sound great!

What would you change to make them a *****?

;o}

Anonymous said...

Yummy and simple again! Love it!

Leslie said...

Chicken and gravy slow cooked??!!! OH YES!!

Anonymous said...

That looks really good!!

Sara said...

That looks so delicious! I have a chicken sitting in the freezer that I've been trying to figure out what to do with, now I have an idea!

Peter M said...

I adore the colour the chicken got from the paprika...nice, tasty bird.

Colleen said...

I made my first roast chicken ever last night - it was delicious, but now you are giving me all sorts of ideas on variations! This looks so good!

Anonymous said...

I usually roast my chicken at a super high heat for a fast time period and it always comes out crispy yet nice and tender. I admit, I've never done it "slow and low" until now. I'm a convert!

Not only is it moist, but it's much more flavorful! And an added bonus is that I don't have to scrub the oven after all the hot splatter. hahaha I loved your seasonings, I will be using your method again and can't wait to shake up some variations. :)

Jan said...

Oooh I am loving your blog!
I never get enough time to do as much looking at blogs as I'd like to. Today though, I'm having a good read of yors and it is amazing!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Your roasted chickens look divine. I'm going to try this recipe for my next dinner party - it looks easy and I know my guests would love it.
Sam

Jackie said...

Hi

Would these chickens be too salty if I put them in the frig for a couple of hours or overnight.

amycaseycooks said...

jackie - that would be fine. happy cooking!