Roast Chicken With Rice and Fruit Stuffing

From: TOOLBELT DIVA

On Apr 3, 2005

Interesting combination of flavours... I have a supply of chicken soup stock in my freezer; it was therefore an easy ingredient .... Orange juice, grated lemon rind, chicken soup, onion, apricots, raisins and cashews: During the roasting process, the liquid in the dressing did wonderful things to the chicken meat, by infusing flavours and maintaining an even balance of moisture. The chicken cavity was large enough to accommodate all of the dressing mix, except for about 1/2 a cup. (This was my inbetween snack, very tasty). Because my chicken was larger than 4 lbs. (between 5 and 6 lbs) cooking was a little longer; however, that was not a problem. It was a simple adjustment. I roasted the cashews, as instructed, at 400F, then dropped the over temperature to 350F to cook the stuffed chicken, in a covered pan, for 2 hours, then uncovered for 15 minutes, to allow for a lovely crispy brown skin. I have used fruit addition in regular (bread)dressings, but have never stuffed a large chicken with a rice dressing. (a wild rice and nut dressing with cornish hens is the exception) It was as if Chef wants us to dress the chicken with a risotto. I loved the combination of citrus and cashews. Because raisins are an integral part of the dressing, I did include them; however, because I cannot not eat cooked raisins, I carefully removed these from my portion only. I think next time I would use more lemon rind; I love what lemon rind addtion does to food. I would use this recipe again, and would not hesitate to serve Roast Chicken with Rice and Fruit Stuffing to my guests. I believe this dressing would be a beautiful additon to roast duck, and wild birds such as pheasant and quail. A welcome addition to my cook book; thank you Mirj for your ongoing contribution of talent.

From: canarygirl

On Feb 17, 2005

This is the first time I've stuffed a bird with anything other than bread stuffing, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious rice stuffing can be! After adding the dried fruit, I thought that the stuffing may be overpowered by the fruit, but it really was a nice balance. I did think it was a bit sweet for our tastes, but I think this could easily be rectified adjusting the seasonings to personal taste. Baking temp for the chicken wasn't mentioned (unless it was assumed to be 400º as for roasting the cashews), and since I normally roast my chicken at 375º, that's what I did. It did take 1 1/2 hours, and I removed the cover for the last 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes to get a nice browned and crispy coating. Overall, we were quite pleased with the dish. Good luck!