Instructions: This recipe is perfect for those of us who get home dead tired, desperately tired but with no desire to actually
*cook* anything. The gravy can be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen: or made on the spot, if you feel energetic. The chicken you can roast yourself (again, if you feel like it) or pick up from the nearest place which roasts chickens and wraps them up for passersby (often using the kind of oven-with-rotating-spits which Peter refers to as "the chicken-torturing device"). Serve with mashed potatoes or noodles: or, if you have energy enough, dumplings.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed non-reactive saucepan: add the chopped onions and cook until translucent. Add the flour, and cook until the
*roux*

is golden brown. Pour in the beef stock and port. Add lemon slices, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, then pour through a fine strainer, test for seasoning, and add vinegar and salt or pepper to taste. Add the chicken pieces and heat over a low flame.

Re: the gravy: Theres never enough of it. If I were you, Id double the recipe. You can always freeze what you dont use.

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