Baked chicken recipe

Baked chicken recipe preparation instructions

1. Soak the raisins, prunes, dried apricots and pine nuts in water for 1 hour. Strain them and set aside. (If you don't have time to soak the nuts, skip this step.)


2. Clean the whole chicken, leaving enough skin to sew it together later. Pat it dry with a clean towel. Remove all giblets from the chicken cavity. Make sure that the cavity is completely clean and empty. Salt the whole chicken moderately inside and outside, and set aside.


3. Heat 2 tablespoon lard in a frying pan over medium heat, and add in the following order: the pork tenderloin, the sausages, the dried apricots, the prunes, the raisins, and the pine nuts. Sautee for 5 minutes stirring often with a wooden spoon. Remove the mixture from heat, place it in a dish, cover and set aside.


4. Fill the whole cavity of the chicken with the sauteed stuffing. Many people insert the stuffing of this baked chicken recipe through the neck. My grandmother inserted the stuffing through the tail, so I have always done it like she, and find it much easier. With her method I always have optimum results with this baked chicken recipe.


5. If there is stuffing left, you can add it to the baking casserole later. Sew the chicken skin together with a big needle and a thick thread. Be mindful of the needle, and once you finish sewing the skin, discard it immediately.


6. Preheat the oven to about 375 ºF (190 ºC). Grease the chicken with lard and add 2 tablespoons of lard to the baking casserole. If the chicken weighs more than 8 pounds, add 3 tablespoons. Place the whole chicken in a big baking casserole, and cover. For this baked chicken recipe I like to use an earthenware casserole, but any one apt for baking in the oven is fine. If your casserole doesn't have a lid, use aluminum foil.


7. The baking time of this baked oven chicken recipe is about 2 hours, or 2 1/2 hours if the whole chicken is really big. After 1 hour in the oven, turn the whole chicken over. It is essential that the baking casserole is rather big; otherwise this operation becomes very difficult. Turn the whole chicken over with the help of two big wooden spoons, and be careful not to damage the skin. Ask someone to help you if necessary. Pour some lard from the casserole bottom over the chicken. When the whole chicken has been baking for 1 1/2 hours, uncover the casserole so that the skin becomes golden and crusty. After baking the whole chicken for 2 hours in the oven, this baked chicken recipe is ready for your guests.


8. It is perfectly all right to cook this Mediterranean chicken recipe a day earlier. Next day, you warm it up in the oven and it will taste even better. At the most, the preparation and cooking of this festive baked chicken recipe will take 3 1/2 hours. Place the whole chicken in a serving dish and serve. Traditionally, you cut it up in front of your guests, so that everyone can admire the amazing home cook's job, and ask, and fight for the part of the chicken meat they like most.

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