Chicken With Orange-Apricot Stuffing

Submitted by Jubes

"This recipe was originally from a magazine many years ago. The stuffing is great and it keeps the chicken moist. The chicken meat takes on the subtle flavours. Its gluten free also"

 

• Ready In: 12mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 french shallots, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup short-grain white rice
• 2 teaspoons orange rind, finely grated
• 1 3⁄4 cups fresh orange juice
• 3⁄4 cup dried apricot, chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 5⁄8 kg chicken (No. 16)
• 2 teaspoons soft brown sugar

directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Heat olive oil in a medium heavy-based frying pan over a low to medium heat and gently cook shallots for 3-4 minutes or until softened.
3. Add the rice and stir until rice grains are coated well with the oil. Add the orange rind, 1 1/4 cups of the orange juice, apricots and cardamom. Bring to the boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove from heat, transfer mixture to a bowl and cool completely.
5. Wipe chicken inside and out with paper towel. Spoon the cooled rice mixture into the chicken cavity and seal opening with skewers or toothpicks. Place chicken in a roasting pan.
6. Combine remaining orange juice and brown sugar in a jug and pour over chicken.
7. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally with pan juices. Check the chicken has cooked through -the juices run clear when the chicken thigh is pierced with a skewer at the thickest part.
8. Serve chicken with the rice stuffing.

Reviews

[ncmysteryshopper]

I would give the chicken part of this recipe a definite 5 stars. But, I had a lot of trouble with the stuffing mixture. The rice did not soften in the orange juice and I think the apricots absorbed most of the juice. I added about a cup and a half or so of water over the course of an hour (about a 1/4 cup at a time)and finally the rice was soft enough to use it as a filling. However by the time the rice was soft the apricots were more pasty then solid. I thought cooking the r ice in the orange juice was an ingenious idea, but it just did not work for me. The chicken however, was moist, tender and deliciously flavored. I would make this again except I would perhaps just add the apricots to the rice after it cooked and instead of oj I would use water and stuff orange slices in the cavity for the orange flavor. This makes wonderful chicken salad! Thanks Jubes. ZWT3