Ingredients.

1 Chicken, approximately 5 – 6 lbs

1 Whole onion and one half onion cut into pieces

2 lb Russet or Yellow potatoes

1 lb Brussels sprouts

1 Tablespoons Multi-purpose flour

Olive oil

Canola oil

Salt & pepper

 

Method

Remove the giblets(if included) from the middle of the chicken and put them into a medium sized pan. Add the chopped onion, a few coarsely chopped carrots and some pieces of celery. Fill the pan with water, add a teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil and then cover it and let it simmer for about 90 minutes. Keep checking it and add more water if necessary. This will form the basis for your gravy.

Wash the chicken in cold water and dry with kitchen towel. then rub it all over with  canola oil. Now place the chicken on 2 or 3 sticks of celery placed in the bottom of a roasting tin. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the chicken and place a peeled onion inside it.  

Preheat your oven to 400⁰F

Cover loosely with foil and  place into the oven on a middle rack. After 30 minutes reduce the heat to 375⁰F and take the foil off the chicken. Continue to roast the chicken until it is done. It will be nice and brown on the outside and the flesh will come away from the bone easily. Test it with a knife on a leg.

Remove the chicken from the oven, put it on a carving dish and cover loosely with aluminum foil and set aside for 15 minutes.

When you have removed the chicken from the roasting tin add a tablespoon of flour and some of the liquid from the giblets and put it on the stove top and turn up the heat so that it boils,  stir continuously for about half a minute and then turn it off. Meanwhile remove the giblets and the vegetables from the pan and then add the contents of the roasting tin to that pan. Bring this to the boil and keep stirring. Then reduce heat to a slow simmer. It’s a good idea to taste it at this stage and add salt and pepper as necessary. This is the gravy..

Add a couple of tablespoons of canola oil to an oven proof dish and place it in the oven.

After you have put the chicken in the oven, peel the potatoes. Cut them to a size that suits your taste. Do enough potatoes according to how many you would like to have. Add them to a pan and rinse them two or three times and then cover with water. Bring them to a boil and let them boil for 5 minutes. Then pour off the water and let them stand in the pan for about 2 minutes. Then put the lid on the pan and shake it vigorously  to fluff up the edges of the potatoes.

After you have fluffed up the potatoes remove the oven proof dish from the oven and add the potatoes to it. With a wooden spoon turn over the potatoes until all of them are coated in oil. Place them in the oven with the chicken. After 30 minutes turn them over with the wooden sppon and return them to the oven. Remove them from the oven when they are done –  nice and brown all over( about an hour). You can either keep them in the dish on the oven top or remove them to a warm serving dish and then keep this warm for example in the oven or on a warming tray

Peel the sprouts. Place them in a steamer and steam them until just tender( probably about 5 to 6 minutes). Add these to a warming dish and keep warm. Be careful not to overcook the sprouts as the taste changes, unless of coarse you like overcooked sprouts.

 

That’s it –  carve the chicken and serve with the potatoes and the sprouts on to warm plates and add gravy to your liking.