Roasted Chicken Stuffed Under the Skin

Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com

Golden and fragrant — Stuffing a chicken under the skin is a great way to infuse more flavor while keeping the breast meat moist and the skin crispy. This makes for a very impressive bird you can serve with lot of success at a dinner party. For this recipe, the delicious stuffing consists of parsley, lemon, garlic, fresh goat cheese and butter. We garnish the chicken with small roasted potatoes, and a white wine sauce.

Ingredients: Roasted Chicken Stuffed Under the Skin 

• An organic chicken 3 lbs (1,5kg)
• 1 3/4 lbs (800 g) potatoes
• Goat cheese
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 lemon
• 1 cup (250 ml) white wine
• 1 tbsp  honey
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper.

Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com

Directions

Prepare the skin’s filling
1. Finely chop parsley and zest the lemon, finely chop or crush garlic, then mix all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Crumble goat cheese over the preparation and mix well
3. Add 1 tbsp of honey and 1 tbsp olive oil.
4. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

Stuff the chicken
1. Rinse chicken with cold water, then salt on all sides.
2. When you’re ready to stuff the bird, run your fingers under the skin starting from the rump and going to the thighs and upper thighs.
3. Stuff the chicken into the “pocket” in between the breast meat and the thighs. Press it down with your hands to make it even.
4. Close both ends of the chicken with toothpicks.

Prepare the garnish and sauce
1. Choose the smallest possible potatoes and wash without peeling them.
2. Cut the onion into thin slices.
3. Place onion and potatoes in a large baking dish or a roasting pan.
4. Add wine and bay leaf. Salt and pepper.

Roast
1. Place the chicken in the center of the dish.
2. Pour a tbsp of oil on the skin and the garnish.
3. Cover with an aluminum foil and roast in oven at 360°F (180°c) for 2 hours.
4. Uncover and roast at 410°F (210°C) on all sides for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Remove chicken from oven and keep warm.
6. Reduce the sauce and finish roasting the potatoes garnish at 410°F (210°c) for about 10 minutes more.

Wine pairing
I recommend that you drink the same wine you used to prepare the filling before baking. So let’s have a good Sauvignon Blanc (France, Chili, New Zealand… any country will be fine)

So, are your ready to stuff your next chicken under the skin?

Photo credit: © Eatwell101.comRecipe originally published on september 21, 2011