Step 1

Preheat oven to 425F. Arrange bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5-8 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp. Remove from pan and set aside. Reduce heat to 400F.

Step 2

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and celery. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently until onion is translucent and celery has started to soften. Add toasted bread cubes, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt. Stir to coat. Pour chicken broth over top, stirring to soften cubes slightly. Remove from heat and set aside to cool until it's cool enough to handle.

Step 3

Grease the baking sheet you used to toast the bread cubes with 1 tbsp of live oil. Add chicken.

Step 4

Using your hands, loosen the skin of the chicken, being careful not to tear it. Rub butter underneath loosened skin (make sure you distribute the butter evenly between the breast and the legs).

Step 5

Using a spoon or your hands, stuff the cavity of the chicken chicken with the stuffing that has cooled enough to handle. Make sure to leave room in the stuffing for air to circulate (i.e. don't pack it in too tightly!), it’s ok if a little bit is peeking out. You can also add some stuffing to the front of the bird, in the cavity where the neck was and cover with the skin that is there.

Step 6

Brush chicken with remaining olive oil and sprinkle all over with salt, thyme and freshly cracked pepper.

Step 7

Using a piece of kitchen twine, tie the legs together. Get your twine underneath both of the legs and tie a bow. This will pull the legs together, with one overlapping.

Step 8

Add 1 1/2 cups of broth to the pan, and roast for 1.5 hours at 400F. After an hour, check chicken. Carefully remove from the oven and add another 1 cup of water or broth. Return to oven and continue roasting for another 15-30 minutes or until both the chicken and the stuffing reach 165F.

Step 9

When chicken is done, remove from the baking sheet and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Step 10

Scrape all juices and fat from the roasting pan into a measuring cup. The fat will float to the top and will be a lighter colour than the liquid.

Step 11

Using a spoon, reserve 2 tbsp of fat, discard the rest of the fat, but keep the liquid juices that are in the measuring cup. Depending on how much liquid you have, top up with enough water to measure 1 ½ cups of liquid for the gravy.

Step 12

Heat a small a small pot over medium heat. Add the 2 tbsp of reserved fat with 3 tbsp of all purpose flour. Whisking constantly, the flour and fat should form a paste, continue cooking and whisking for about 30 seconds. Mixture should start to bubble.

Step 13

Next, slowly pour in the reserved liquid from the chicken while whisking (to avoid clumpy gravy). Bring to a boil and cook, whisking constantly until it reaches the desired consistency, about 5 minutes. Taste and add as much salt as needed (this will differ depending on the amounts of juices you had left and the amount of water used).