3/20- Roasted Chicken with Fennel and Lemon

I made this for some long-time friends of ours the other day. It was the first time we'd been able to have them over to our house since we'd lived so far away for so long, so I wanted to impress. I think it worked! :) It was a rather busy day with some company leaving and then the friends coming over, so I forgot to take pictures. I kicked myself when I realized it, because it all looked so good!! But oh well, I'll still give you the recipe. http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001585216

The chicken was amazing. It was moist, flavorful, and the lemon really came through. I followed the recipe exactly, and it came out perfectly! I did cook it for closer to an hour and a half, though. I made a takeoff on the Herb Gravy that's linked on the recipe's page. I didn't so much follow that recipe at all, I just put a bit of butter in a pot, added the drippings from the chicken, and then added some flour and water. My mom's trick is to put about equal parts of flour and water in a little jar, and shake it up until it's well mixed. Then pour it in the gravy slowly, stirring constantly. Bring it to a boil, keep stirring, and add more of the flour liquid as needed to get the right consistency. I added a bit of salt too. It turned out really well, I was rather impressed with myself!

For sides, I served fruit salad, fresh broccoli, and mashed sweet potatoes. For the sweet potatoes, I just chopped them up, boiled them, drained, and then mashed them. While mashing them in the mixer, I added some butter and milk, plus a little splash of vanilla extract. (I meant to add some salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar, but I got distracted and forgot. ) Once I put them in the casserole dish, I topped it with some marshmallows. Despite the missing ingredients, everyone said they were really good!

Sorry again for the lack of pictures, but you should really try this chicken out, it's delicious!