Roast Chicken with Rice and Fruit Stuffing

Faye Levy’s International Jewish Cookbook, p. 75

½ cup pecan halves (optional)

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, minced

½ cup chopped celery

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 ½ cups hot chicken soup or water

½ cup orange juice

Salt and pepper

1 small apple

½ cup raisins

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind

3 1/2- to 4-pound roasting chicken

Preheat oven to 400F. If using pecans, toast lightly in oven for 5 minutes. Cool and cut in half lengthwise.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a deep skillet or saute pan, add onion and celery, and cook over low heat about 5 minutes or until tender. Add rice and saute over medium heat about 2 minutes. Add hot soup, orange juice, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, peel, halve, and core apple and cut it into small dice. Add raisins and apple to rice and stir very lightly with a fork. Cover and cook 5 more minutes or until rice is nearly tender. Stir in cinnamon, orange rind, and pecans and taste for seasoning. Let cool.

The stuffing is amazeballs by itself - I'd still have given it five stars even without the chicken.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper on all sides. Spoon enough stuffing into chicken to fill it, packing it lightly; reserve extra stuffing at room temperature. 

Boy is this part awkward.

Set chicken in a roasting pan and roast for about 1 hour; when a skewer or trussing needle is inserted into thickest part of leg, juices should come out clear. If juices are pink, roast a few more minutes. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

The smallest chicken at the grocery was still a good pound and a half larger than what the recipe called for. We live in an age of factory-farmed monster chickens.

Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a skillet or saute pan and add remaining stuffing. Cook 3 minutes over low heat until very hot.

Serve chicken and its stuffing on a platter, and remaining rice mixture in a side dish or next to chicken. If desired, serve roasting juices in a sauceboat.

What a perfect pairing!

My Rating: 5/5 "Nice combinations of sweet and savory going on in this, but it all adds up to a really delicate flavor. The chicken is quite tender after all that time in the oven, and its natural flavor shines through in the final product. You will feel posh roasting the chicken, but more importantly you will really enjoy eating the results."