Roasting A Whole Chicken

I've been making a variation of this recipe since I was about 9 years old. Its a fool proof recipe that anyone can make and everyone will love!I started with a can of cream of mushroom soup. I know this isn't the healthiest thing to cook with, but it makes one heck of a gravy! I peeled and rough chopped some carrots. I also added chunks of onion and one tablespoon of garlic. I topped it off with a teaspoon of red pepper flakes; just to add a little spice. 

The next thing to do, is to get your chicken ready. I always rinse my whole chickens, just out of habit. Also, make sure to check for the neck and gizzards. I hate to admit, I've forgotten these before and cooked them in a Turkey (yes, at Thanksgiving!).

Every now and then, I will rubbed down my birds with butter or buy an injection kit of spices. However, today, I kept it very simple and just added salt and pepper.

I cooked my chicken with the breasts facing down. My theory was that all of the amazing juices would flow down. My husband was slightly upset that he didn't have crunchy chicken skin. Anyways, we then put the chicken in the oven at 300° for an hour. After the hour, we took the chicken out, covered it in foil and cooked it for another hour and a half.
When we started getting our side dishes ready, we uncovered the chicken. This gave it time to crisp up the exposed skin. It turned a beautiful brown!

We set the bird to the side to cool before carving. This gave me time to work my magic on the gravy!
I scooped the carrot and onion chunks out and set them aside. Baked carrots are our absolute favorite vegetable! I grabbed a pint sized mason jar and added about half a cup of hot chicken drippings. I measured 1/4 cup of corn starch to add into this jar; screwed on the lid and shook it like crazy. I think this is the easiest way to avoid lumps. I poured this back with the other drippings and stirred it all together. Perfect gravy! (the cream of mushroom soup helps tie it all together)