How to Roast a Chicken with Easy Pan Gravy

You will need:

• 1, 3-5 pound roaster chicken
• 1 tsp holiday essence salt, or kosher + 1 tbsp holiday essence or kosher salt
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 medium onion, quartered
• 6 large cloves garlic, peeled
• fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, and parsley (you can buy these all together as "Poultry herbs in your produce department)
• Butcher's twine (very handy to have on hand - can be purchased in any hardware store)
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1-2 tsp course grind black pepper
• Pam cooking spray
• 1 package Club House gravy in the chicken flavour (trust me)
• a shallow pan with a roasting rack

To Roast the Chicken

1. Preheat the oven to 325.
2. Remove the neck and giblets bag if the chicken came with one and give it a good rinse under cold water.
3. Dry it well, inside and out and then salt the cavity with 1 tsp salt using my Holiday Essence blend or Kosher salt.
4. Stuff the cavity with the lemons, onion, garlic, and herbs and truss the legs together.
5. Mix the garlic powder, remaining salt, and pepper together and coat the chicken all over in this rub.
6. Spray your roasting pan and rack with PAM, place the rack in the pan and the chicken on the rack. 
7. Roast on the center rack uncovered until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 (app. 2- 2 1/2 hours) 
8. Remove from the oven. Remove lemons, garlic, and onion from the cavity. Discard. Let chicken rest on a separate plate.
9. Using a spatula, get all of the browning off the bottom of the pan (this should come off easily if you used PAM) Pour the browning and all of the pan juices into a gravy separator to remove the fat - or place the pan juices in a clear glass bowl into the freezer for 10 minutes. This will separate the fat from the broth, making it easy to spoon out. 
10. Top up the de-fatted pan juices with water to make 1 cup and pour into a small sauce pan. Add the chicken gravy mix, bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer stirring frequently. This makes AMAZING gravy.
11. Serve with mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, pickled beets, and this delicious pan gravy for an easy, old fashioned Sunday dinner your entire family will love!