Stuffed Chicken

A late new year's post this is but I insist on making it a new year's post nonetheless.=)

My first stuffed poultry (chicken).

Inspired by the thanksgiving posts and articles in some blogs and food magazines I've read, I couldn't resist the call of stuffing. The thought of packing a hollowed husk of poultry with a stuffing born from one's most beautiful dreams and wildest imaginations (anything goes) was just too seductive an ode to ignore. I could be as creative, crazy, carefree with what I wanted inside the womb of my chicken. Naturally, I thought to put in/incorporate the dish that I love to cook most abd which could possibly work. Chili. =)

Oh sweet freedom.

Here's a rundown of what happened.

I bought a whole de-boned chicken (which I just learned is readily available thanks to Liv's Food Magazine) and marinated in Lemon butter with roasted garlic and pepper.

Prepped ingredients for the stuffing.

With mad glee I sauteed ground beef in a LOT of onions and tomatoes, spicing it with cumin and chili powder and some liquid seasoning.





Having sauted it till the onions were satisfactorily translucent and tomatoes turned to liquid, I then added mushrooms and red kidney beans (in the absence of pinto beans in the grocery).









When I felt the timing was right, I added tiny cubed potatoes and some fresh chili peppers.







As a final touch, I poured in around three fourths of a big Chiz Whiz bottle.
And tada! Ruy's mexican pistolero chili stuffing was finished.




With just my keen bolero-sewing intuition (meaning I just sewed away without a clue on how its really supposed to be done), I was able to seal in all the stuffing I dared cram inside the chicken.




However, thanks to my ignorance, I didnt think to dust off the garlic bits from the marinade which clung all over the chicken before roasting it. The garlic bits burned and left some not-too-nice looking black pockmarks on the roasted chicken's skin.

Anyway this is how it cooked.





Thankfully except for the pockmark eyesores, the chicken didn't burn and it wasn't raw. It was actually quite juicy and the skin was tasty. Whew!

I just wish the de-boned chicken offered more meat to go with all the stuffing I put inside. As it was, the chicken disappeared way before the surprise that was tucked inside of it.



Now that I write about it, I realize that I am thankful for the opportunity I have been blessed with to embark on such a whimsical but luckily successful project. I'm thankful for all the people who are willing to entrust their lives to my cause by happily eating these things I make (the most willing of whom is my wife) and making sure that I can cook without any thought of food going to waste . =)



To all the people who take the time to read this blog, thank you very much and I wish I could all give you a bite of my first stuffed chicken.=)




With all the love stuffed inside my heart, HAPPY NEW YEAR!