Roast Chicken Pan Gravy

Chicken gives you less fat and a paler residue than beef, so this gravy is built to be delicate rather than dark. The trick is to roast the bird on a few vegetables so there is something in the tin worth scraping, and to keep the thickening light so you can still taste the chicken.

Ingredients

Makes about 400ml, enough for four plates

• 2 tbsp chicken fat from the roasting tin
• 1 1/2 tbsp (20g) plain flour
• 500ml (18fl oz) hot chicken stock
• 1 onion, halved and roasted under the bird
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 10g cold butter to finish
• salt and white pepper

Kit

• Roasting tin
• Small whisk
• Sieve
• Jug

Method

1. Move the chicken to a board or warm dish and cover it loosely with foil. Tip the tin so the juices run into one corner and let it sit for a minute so the clear fat separates from the darker liquor underneath.

2. Spoon off the fat, keeping two tablespoons in the tin and all of the brown juices. Chicken fat is worth saving, so tip the excess into a small jar for roast potatoes another day.

3. Squash the roasted onion halves against the base of the tin with a fork to release their sweetness, then set the tin over a low to medium heat.

4. Stir in the flour and cook it in the fat for ninety seconds, scraping constantly. Chicken gravy should stay golden, so do not push the roux past a light hazelnut colour.

5. Add the hot stock a ladle at a time, whisking each addition smooth before the next. Drop in the thyme sprigs and bring it to a gentle simmer, scraping the base to lift the sticky bits.

6. Simmer for six to eight minutes. You are after a gravy that just clings to a spoon rather than one that stands up, since chicken cannot carry a heavy sauce.

7. Strain into a warm jug through a sieve, pushing the onion through with a ladle for body. Stir in the juices that have collected under the resting bird.

8. Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter until it disappears and the gravy turns glossy. Add the lemon juice, then season with salt and a little white pepper so you do not fleck a pale gravy with black.

Tips worth knowing

• Roast the chicken on a rough bed of onion, carrot and a celery stick. A bird sitting straight on the tin gives you almost no fond and a weak gravy.
• Save the carcass. Simmered for an hour with the vegetables it makes the stock for next week's gravy and costs nothing.
• The butter at the end is not decoration, it emulsifies the gravy and stops it looking dull in the jug. Add it off the heat or it will split.
• If the bird was brined or shop seasoned, hold back on salt entirely until the very last taste.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps three days covered in the fridge and freezes for three months. Reheat slowly, whisking, and add a splash of water if it has thickened too far.

Questions people ask