If you’re having just a small holiday get-together, be it a pre-holiday celebration with a few friends or members of the family that you won’t be spending “the” day with, this is perfect. Perfectly cooked chicken, crispy skin, and a savory-sweet gravy that is out of this world.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 4 | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 1 hour 20 minutes |
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If you’re having just a small holiday get-together, be it a pre-holiday celebration with a few friends or members of the family that you won’t be spending “the” day with, this is perfect. Perfectly cooked chicken, crispy skin, and a savory-sweet gravy that is out of this world.
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Ingredients
- 1 chicken 5 - 6 pounds
- 1 heaping tablespoon butter softened
- 2 apples gala or Fuji
- 1 large yellow onion or two smaller ones
- 8 cloves garlic whole and unpeeled
- 8 fresh sage leaves torn
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
For the Cider Gravy
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 t-spoon kosher salt
Servings:
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°.
- Pat the chicken very dry, inside and out (making sure to remove the giblets from the cavity) and trim off any access fat or flaps of skin hanging off the bird. Smear the whole chicken, breast-side up, again, inside and out, with the butter and sprinkle with the kosher salt.
- Cut the apples into large chunks. Tuck half of the sage leaves and garlic cloves up the backside of the chicken, along with as many apple chunks as you can fit—don’t get carried away.
- Tie up the legs, pulling them together so they are up against the end of the breasts and creating a kind of 45° angle with the bottom of the chicken.
- Chop the onion in similar sized chunks as the apples (skin-on is fine) and tumble these, along with the remaining apple and garlic, onto a roasting tray. Scatter over the remaining sage leaves, and place the chicken over the aromatic roasting tray. Tuck the wings under the chicken and place in the oven. Roast for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- When the chicken has about 10 minutes left begin to heat the cider and stock in a 1-quart saucepan. Once it’s boiling just lower the heat and cover it until the chicken is done.
- When the chicken is done (it should read 160° on a digital thermometer when you poke it deep between the breast and thigh) remove it from the oven. Take 2 tablespoons of the juices from the bottom of the roasting tray and mix into 2 tablespoons of flour (though if its not enough fat to fully incorporate into the flour add a little more, drop-by-drop) in a separate bowl before tightly covering the chicken with heavy-duty aluminum foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
- Return the cider-stock mix back to a full-blown boil and drop in the fat-flour mash. Whisk to combine, season with salt and let it boil for 2 – 3 minutes before reducing to a simmer for an additional 5 – 7 minutes.
- While the gravy finishes it’s simmering the chicken will be ready for carving. Remove the legs and thighs, separating each after doing so, and then the wings. You can either slice the breast off the bone or split the breast in two, still on the bone, and cutting each one horizontally, giving you four pieces of breast meat. Arrange the carved chicken parts on a serving platter and either dress it all, lightly, with some of the gravy, serving the rest alongside or stick with tradition and serve all of the gravy in a little boat.
Recipe Notes
-If you wanted, you could sear the giblets and neck of the chicken (with the exception of the liver—it gives the gravy a “funky” flavor) in the pan you’ll do the gravy in once the chicken goes in the oven. Then pour in the cider and stock (you’ll need just a little more than listed), bring to a boil, and simmer while the chicken cooks. Just before the chicken is about to finish roasting, strain the cider-stock mix through a sieve, discarding the cooked organs, and return the liquid to the pot to continue making the gravy.
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