Whole Roasted Chicken With Plumped Raisins Toasted Pine Nuts And Arugula Food

ROAST CHICKEN WITH RICE AND PINE NUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375; Rinse Chicken and pat dry; Season inside and out with ½ Teaspoon Salt and ¼ Teaspoon Pepper: Coarsely Chop Giblets.
• In a large saucepan, melt 2 Tablespoons of Butter over medium heat; Add Onions and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes; Add Giblets & Pine Nuts; Cook, stirring, until Giblets are no longer pink; Stir in Rice, Raisins, Parsley, remaining Salt & Pepper, and 2 ¼ Cups of Water; Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, until rice has absorbed liquid.
• Stuff cavity loosely with Rice Mixture; spoon remainder into a lightly buttered baking dish. Tie chicken legs or make slit on one side of opening and pull drumstick through hole to close opening; Place in roasting pan and brush Chicken with remaining Butter (Melted); Bake for 1 ½ hours, basting with pan juices every 20 minutes, until juices run clear, and heat remaining Stuffing in oven during last half-hour of roasting time.

CHICKEN WITH SAFFRON, RAISINS & PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Heat a large frying pan on a high heat and season the chicken. Add the olive oil to the pan, then the chicken. Brown for about 5 mins on each side, remove onto a plate, then set aside.
• Lower the heat to medium. In the remaining fat, fry the onions for 3 mins, then add the garlic and saffron. Cook for 3-4 mins more. Add the sherry, then simmer for 3-5 mins until syrupy.
• Put the chicken leg pieces back into the pan, tip in the stock, thyme and raisins, cover, then gently cook on a low heat for 20 mins. Add the breast meat and any juices left on the plate. Simmer for 10 mins more until cooked through and the sauce in the pan has reduced.
• While the chicken is cooking, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Scatter the pine nuts over a baking sheet, then roast for 10 mins until golden and toasted. Once the chicken has cooked through, season to taste, scatter with pine nuts and parsley, then serve with rice.

WHOLE ROASTED CHICKEN WITH PLUMPED RAISINS, TOASTED PINE NUTS, AND ARUGULA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300°F.
• Put the raisins in a small ramekin and pour in the olive oil and 1 tablespoon water. Add the rosemary. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the raisins are plump. Remove the raisins from the oven and set aside to cool.
• Crank the oven temperature up to 450°F.
• Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity and rinse the chicken inside and out under cold water. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Run your finger between the skin and the reast meat of the chicken, and slip the thyme sprigs in there. Season the body and cavity of the chicken generously with salt and pepper.
• Put a 10-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and add the canola oil. When the oil is hot, lay the chicken in the pan, breast side down, tucking the wings under. Put the skillet in the oven and roast until the chicken starts to brown, about 35 minutes.
• Carefully take the pan out of the oven. Insert tongs or a sturdy wooden spoon into the cavity of the chicken and gently lift the chicken out, being careful not to tear the skin. Tilt the chicken slightly so all of the juices from the inside run out into the pan. Set the chicken on a large plate for a minute. Discard all of the pan juices, which will mostly be fat. Nestle the chicken back in the pan, breast side up. Return it to the oven and roast for 30 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife. To be extra sure, pop an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh; it should read 165°F. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes before carving so the juices can settle back into the meat.
• To make a quick pan sauce, pour off the excess fat from the pan drippings. Put the skillet over medium-high heat and add the wine. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits stuck to bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
• To serve, put a bed of arugula on individual plates or on a platter and arrange the carved chicken on top. Scatter the raisins and pine nuts all over. Drizzle with the pan sauce and a little of the raisin oil.

SIMPLE WHOLE ROASTED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Rub the chicken with the mixture. Cover chicken, and place in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
• Stuff the chicken cavity with the garlic. Place the chicken, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan.
• Roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce heat to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), and continue roasting 15 minutes. Baste chicken with pan drippings, reduce heat to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C), and continue roasting 30 minutes, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH COUSCOUS & PINE NUT STUFFING

Steps:

• Put couscous in a large heatproof bowl, pour over stock, then cover with cling film for 5 mins until liquid is absorbed. Melt half the butter in a pan, then gently cook onion and garlic for 5-8 mins until soft. Set aside. Dry-fry pine nuts for a few mins until golden. Combine onions, pine nuts, apricots and herbs with couscous. Add a good squeeze of lemon juice, season, then stir in egg. Leave to cool.
• Using the back of a knife, stretch rashers to 1½ times their original length. Lay, slightly overlapping, on a large sheet of foil to form a rectangle. Make a few slashes in the thickest part of each chicken breast and lay between 2 sheets of cling film. Use the base of a heavy pan to bash the chicken until about 1cm thick. Arrange chicken over the bacon, fitting so there are no gaps, but leave a border on longer sides. (This helps to roll up the chicken.)
• Spoon stuffing over chicken in a strip along one of the longest sides. Using tin foil to help, roll bacon and chicken around stuffing like a log. Wrap tightly in foil, twisting the ends to secure, then chill for 2 hrs or up to 1 day.
• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Place chicken, join-side down, in a roasting tray. Cook for 30 mins, then unwrap foil and brush roast with remaining butter. Cook, uncovered, for 20-30 mins more until cooked through, and the stuffing is hot (a metal skewer inserted into the chicken's centre should come out hot). Cool and wrap in fresh foil to transport.