Bits of Carey

Planning on doing roast lunch or dinner anytime soon? Try this awesome stuffed chicken recipe. Firstly, the skin is so golden and crispy from the butter that gets rubbed underneath the skin. The meat is super succulent and the stuffing is a droolworthy combination of sweet onion and apricots, fragrant sage and savoury pork sausage meat. This chick is a must with crispy roasted potatoes and good old cauliflower & broccoli in cheese sauce ( or a crisp green salad for warmer weather).

Roast chicken with pork sausage, apricot and sage stuffing

Serves 4 or 2 greedy people…eh em…

1 large free range chicken

+- 45 ml softened butter

a few sage leaves

Freshly ground salt and pepper

trussing string

STUFFING:

15 ml butter or olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

8 fresh sage leaves, chopped or 10 ml dried sage

1/4 cup chopped dried turkish apricots

1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

3 pork sausages, meat removed from skins

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees celcius.

FOR THE STUFFING:

Saute the onion, garlic and sage in the butter/oil until softened and fragrant. Add the apricots and fry for a minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool off for a few minutes.

Place the breadcrumbs, sausage meat and egg into a mixing bowl. Add the cooled onion mixture and mix until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

THE CHICKEN:

Loosen the skin around the breast and thigh area and rub butter under the skin together with a few sage leaves.

Fill the cavity of the chicken as much as you can with the stuffing and cover with surrounding loose skin. Use string to truss the chicken or just tie the legs together.

Rub the chicken with any remaining butter and season with salt and pepper.

Place onto a roasting rack filled with some water.

Roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Serve with crispy roasted potatoes, broc and cauliflower in cheese sauce or a crispy garden salad.

P.s The stuffing is delicious on a sandwich the next day with peach chutney!

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

C xx

Since it’s National Braai Day on Saturday, I thought I’d share two different options for you to consider when planning your meal this weekend.

If things go my way(have to get past hubby, king braaier!), I’ll do fish and sweet potato wedges on the braai and a gorgeous GREEN salad of asparagus, avo, broad beans, mint, feta cheese and lemon zest.  Sounds good right? I can assure you, it is!

For the braaied fish and chips

Parboil sweet potatoes cut into chunky wedges for no more than 10 minutes.

Generously rub freshly ground black pepper, lemon zest on yellow tail or tuna fillets cut into steaks.

Grill or braai the fish for a few minutes on each side and until cooked to your liking. Braai the wedges simultaneously.

Meanwhile whip up a chill mayo or yoghurt dressing.

For the original recipe with the exact quantities etc, check out the lastest Greenzone recipe in Crush mag Online magazine and while you are at it, check out this month’s Cooking Monday to Sunday feature as well as all the other delicious write ups by fellow foodie writers!

For the GREEN salad

You will need:

1-2 firm avos, peeled and cut into chunks

1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and steamed until al dente

1 packet of broad(fava) beans, boiled in vegetable stock until tender, remove outer skin if you like, but I eat it as is!

a handful of mint leaves

1 wheel of feta cheese, crumbled

zest of 1 lemon

Freshly ground salt and pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

Extra virgin olive for drizzling

Gently toss the avo, asparagus, beans, mint, feta and lemon zest together.

Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.

Season to taste.

Wishing you all a wonderful braai day with your loved ones.

Happy cooking(braaiing) and eat like there’s tomorrow!

C xx