A very happy holidays to all! I hope most of you are in bed sleeping off whatever happened last night (no judgment)!
I spent most of my day preparing dinner for my family. It is the second year that we did this; but it looks like it is becoming a tradition that I cook for the family on Christmas and make my own eggnog!
I totally love it –the eggnog and the tradition!
Featured above, is the honey rosemary chicken that we feasted upon.
I am hoping with the next few days off, I can get back to writing as I have slacked off the last month or so, but I did want to drop a quick note to wish everyone a happy season and a very merry New Year!
And…share my recipe for the chicken and fruit stuffing.
For Brine:
- 3/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
- neck and giblets removed and reserved
For Stuffing:
- 1/2 cup rice (I use Basmati)
- 1 apple
- 1 pear
- 1/4 cup chopped and pitted dates
- 1/4 cup chopped and pitted figs
- 3 tablespoons of honey
- 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh cranberries
For the brine, bring 4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Add salt, honey, peppercorns and rosemary in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate until needed.
Place chicken in a leak proof ziplock bag,or in a pot or container. Pour brine into the bag or container. Make sure chicken is completely submerge in brine mixture for at least two hours up until 24 hours.
When you’re ready to roast, preheat oven to 350°F, and cook rice as instructed on package. Peel, core, and chop the apple and pear. Once the rice is done, pour in a bowl, and mix in the chopped apple, pear, dates, figs, rosemary, fresh cranberries, and honey. Mix well.
Remove chicken from brine and proceed to add stuffing into the cavities.
Now some folks prefer to add the giblets into the stuffing mixture, but we prefer to cook it on the side; its up to your preference on how you cook the giblets.
Place chicken in a pan and into the oven, baste every 25 minutes. After the first hour and a half, flip the chicken so it can roast on its other side. For the 6.6 pound chicken featured here — roasting was just under 3 hours.
Enjoy! And let me know how it turns out!
@ReporterandGirl
FB: TheReporterandTheGirl
