Georgian Stuffed Chicken Food

GEORGIAN STUFFED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Remove any fat from cavities of chickens, and place fat in a wide saucepan. Add 4 tablespoons of the butter and place over medium heat. When butter melts, add onions and garlic. Sauté until onion softens and begins to brown, about 5 minutes.
• Discard any remaining hard bits of chicken fat. Add rice and chopped cherries to pan. Stir well, and add 2 cups water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to as low as possible. Cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Season rice mixture with salt and pepper to taste and stir in parsley. Spoon rice into cavities of both chickens. Use kitchen twine to tie legs together tightly so stuffing is secure.
• Place chickens in a roasting pan and rub with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Place in oven and roast until skin is crisp and golden and juices run clear when pierced near the thigh with a knife, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Allow chicken to rest before carving. Serve each portion of chicken with some stuffing.

CARAMELIZED ONION AND GOUDA STUFFED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and saute until golden brown, stirring frequently. Continue cooking over medium-low heat until onions turn deeper brown, 35 to 45 minutes. If they start to burn, reduce heat. When completely caramelized, remove skillet from heat.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Cut a pocket into the side of each chicken breast. Evenly stuff pockets with 1 or 2 slices of Gouda cheese (depending on size of breast) and 1 tablespoon caramelized onions.
• Place seasoned coating mix in a shallow dish. Evenly dip each chicken breast in coating mix and place on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven until chicken breasts are no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, 20 to 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

GREEK-STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST WITH LEMON SAUCE

Steps:

• Place chicken breasts on a flat work surface. Slice each horizontally through the middle, being careful not to cut all the way through to the other side. Open the 2 sides and spread them out like an open book. Place each one between 2 sheets of heavy plastic. Firmly pound chicken with the smooth side of a meat mallet to a 1/4-inch thickness.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Season insides of chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Layer spinach, tomato, onion, and feta cheese over chicken in that order. Roll chicken over the stuffing and tie ends with butcher's twine.
• Mix olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper together to make the sauce.
• Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Add chicken; cook until browned, about 5 minutes per side. Brush 1/2 of the sauce on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Pour the remaining sauce over chicken. Continue baking until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), 10 to 15 minutes more.
• Remove chicken and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice into pinwheels and serve with pan juices.

GREEK STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• In a nonstick skillet, saute the onion, garlic and pepper flakes in 2 teaspoons oil until tender. Add spinach; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until heated through. Remove from the heat. Stir in cheeses., Cut a pocket in each chicken breast by slicing horizontally almost to the bone. Fill each pocket with 1/4 cup spinach mixture. Place chicken in a 13x9-in. baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, basil, oregano, salt, garlic powder, pepper and remaining oil; brush over chicken. , Cover and bake at 400° for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until a thermometer reads 170°. Remove skin before serving.

CHICKEN GEORGIA

Steps:

• Melt butter over medium heat.
• Add mushrooms and shallots and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Cook 10 minutes.
• Add chicken and cook 10 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in the middle.
• Transfer chicken to a platter and sprinkle with cheese.
• Top with mushroom mixture.
• Cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

GEORGIAN STUFFED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Make the stuffing 1. Melt butter along with any gobbets of fat from the chicken's cavity in a wide saucepan (one that has a lid). Process or finely chop the onion and garlic, and add to the pan with the butter, frying over a medium heat until the onion softens and begins to color. 2. Discard bits of the rendered chicken, add the rice and chopped cherries, and give everything a good stir so that the rice becomes slicked with the fat. Add the water and a sprinkling of salt and bring to the boil, then clamp on the lid and cook at the lowest heat possible for 15 minutes. While the rice is cooking, preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). 3. When the rice is ready, by which I mean all the water will be absorbed and the rice be more or less cooked, fork through the chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. Make the chickens 1. Spoon the cherry-studded rice into the cavities of both chickens, and secure the openings with two or three cocktail sticks. The easiest way to do this is to pinch together the flaps of skin from each side of the cavity and make a stitch to hold them with a cocktail stick. 2. Rub the secured chickens with the butter and roast in the oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The skin should be golden and crispy and the meat cooked through; test by piercing the bird between thigh and body and if juices run clear, the chicken's ready. The reason why the chickens take longer than you would normally give them is twofold: in the first instance, the rice stuffing impedes the flow of hot air; in the second, having two birds in the oven tends to make each take longer to brown. 3. Pull out the cocktail sticks and let the chickens rest before carving.