Best Holiday Fruit Stuffed Roasted Chicken Recipes

ROAST STUFFED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F.
• Mix hot water and margarine in large bowl until margarine is melted. Add stuffing mix; stir just until moistened. Set aside. (Do not stuff chicken until ready to bake.)
• Stuff chicken lightly with prepared stuffing; close openings with skewers and string. Place, breast-side up, on rack in baking pan; sprinkle with thyme.
• Bake 1 hour 40 min. or until chicken is done (165°F) and stuffing is heated through (165ºF), basting occasionally with pan juices.

SIMPLE/EASY STUFFED ROAST CHICKEN WITH GRAVY (FOR BEGINNERS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Empty contents of stuffing box, both the bread crumb and seasoning envelopes, into a medium bowl.
• Add hot water and butter; stir to mix.
• Add chopped water chestnuts, onion and poultry seasoning, mix thoroughly and set aside.
• Check inside the chicken for giblets, remove and set aside.
• Rinse chicken inside and out with cold running water.
• Dry thoroughly inside and out with paper towel.
• Sprinkle salt and fresh ground pepper inside the cavity and all over the outside.
• Place chicken in a roaster.
• Loosely pack the stuffing mix into the main cavity and any left into the neck cavity folding the skin over it.
• If necessary secure the neck skin with a pick.
• Take a length of kitchen string and tie the ends of the legs as close together as possible.
• Rub the butter all over the outside of the chicken making sure to cover the whole outside surface.
• Take two lengths of aluminum foil, place one piece over the chicken lengthwise, take the other piece and place it sideways over the first piece.
• Tuck the foil tightly to the chicken so it is touching the bottom of the roaster but not under the bird.
• If the bird is not completely covered (except for the underside) Use a third piece to finish covering.
• Place the roaster on the middle rack of the oven and roast at 400f degrees for 15 minutes.
• Reduce the heat after 15 minutes to 350f degrees and roast for approximately 2 hours.
• At about 2 hours, carefully lift the aluminum foil and poke the chicken with a fork, if the juice runs clear, remove the foil and roast a further 30 minutes to brown the skin to golden.
• If the juice is not yet clear, roast a little longer and check again.
• Once the chicken is well browned, remove to platter, cover with foil and let rest.
• In the meantime, if you wish to make giblet gravy, take the giblets (and neck if it's there), place in a saucepan, cover with water, add salt and pepper and a little poultry seasoning if you wish, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least an hour.
• Remove to strainer, reserving liquid.
• Chop the giblets and pick any meat off neck bones, add to a blender and add the liquid.
• Blend to liquefy level, add 3 or 4 tablespoons flour or corn starch and blend to mix well.
• Pour off as much fat as possible from the roaster, take a whisk and move up any bits and pieces of stuffing/chicken stuck to the bottom, remove any large pieces of skin, add the giblet mix from the blender, whisk around; place in 450°F to 500°F degree oven until bubbly, about 10 minutes; add a small amount of hot water if necessary if it is too thick until it is the consistancy you want, cook another 5 minutes.
• (We like ours very thick) Whisk and pour into gravy boat and serve hot with the roast chicken.
• Gravy can also be made without the giblets, just whisk up the brown bits in the roaster and add 1 cup of hot water and make a slurry of cold water and either flour or corn starch, add the slurry and whisk, cook the same as above adding a little more water if necessary.

FRUIT-STUFFED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Flatten chicken to 1/4-in. thickness. Combine the apricots, cranberries and plums; place half on each chicken breast. Roll up tightly; secure with toothpicks Place seam side down in a greased 8-in. square baking dish., In a saucepan, combine preserves and lemon juice. Cook and stir for 5 minutes over medium heat; pour half over the chicken. Keep the remaining sauce warm. , Bake the chicken, uncovered, at 350° for 25 minutes or until juices run clear. Serve with warm sauce.

ROASTED CHICKEN WITH HOLIDAY STUFFING

Steps:

• Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Rub chicken inside and out with marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• Stuffing: Soak the dried chestnuts overnight in water. Place them in a pan with water and simmer, covered, until soft, about 30 minutes; drain. Discard the stems and thinly slice the mushroom caps. Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat sides. Add sausage; stir-fry until sausage is slightly crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add shallots, green onions, chestnuts, mushrooms and cilantro. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in oyster-flavored sauce, and sesame oil. Remove pan from heat and add rice; mix well. Let stuffing cool.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Just before roasting, place stuffing inside chicken; enclose with skewers. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of thigh meat, without touching bone. Bake until thermometer registers 180 to 185 degrees, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. During the last half of roasting time, baste chicken occasionally with pan juices.