Yankee Girl's Southern Roast Chicken With Cornbread Stuffing

Submitted by Loves2Teach

"This recipe was inspired by a Recipezaar thread where I requested Zaar Southerners to suggest their favorite Southern recipes. Talk about Southern hospitality -- what a response! I learned a lot -- I think I'm part Southerner now! About the stuffing: It does not call for broth, as the cornbread is on the moist side, even after toasting. I like a more crumbly stuffing, and find that the chicken exudes plenty of moisture to make it just right."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 30mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 5

ingredients

• 1 (5 lb) whole chickens
• 4 cups day-old cornbread, broken into pieces (I use the recipe on the Alber’s Cornmeal Box, except I use buttermilk instead of regular milk, and I)
• 1⁄2 cup chopped onion
• 1⁄2 cup chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
• 1⁄2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Rinse chicken, remove excess fat from around the cavity and pat dry.
3. Rub inside and outside of chicken with one teaspoon Old Bay seasoning and set aside.
4. Spread corn bread pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until they dry out a bit – not much longer than that.
5. Combine onion, celery, fresh herbs, pepper, olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the Old Bay seasoning in a mixing bowl.
6. When the cornbread crumbs are toasted enough, dump the hot bread into the celery onion mixture and combine.
7. Place the chicken in the bottom of a small roasting pan that has a cover.
8. Stuff the cavity and the sides of the chicken with the stuffing – you need to separate the skin a bit from the sides to get the stuffing in next to the leg/thigh pieces – also stuff some into the neck cavity.
9. Tie the legs together to hold the stuffing in with kitchen twine.
10. Drizzle the chicken with oil, sprinkle with salt and a little more Old Bay if you like.
11. Cover the pan and roast at 350 for about 1 and 1/2 hours, then uncover, insert a thermometer close to the leg/thigh joint without touching the bone- you're looking for it to read 180 degrees- it will be very close at this point.
12. Roast a little longer uncovered until chicken is nicely browned and the thermometer reads 180 degrees.
13. Allow the chicken to rest about 10 to 15 minutes before carving- this step keeps it juicy.
14. Enjoy.

Reviews

[BLUE ROSE]

For this dish I chose to use cornish hens because that was what we had. The chickens came out perfect! They were not dry at all and the stuffing was also perfect. It was not hard at all to make. We highly recomend anybody making this. 10 Stars!

 

[Geema]

I have to give this high marks because it's my family's favorite holiday stuffing. My parents started to make this many, many, many years ago...and we are Yankees too. The only differences between mine and yours is that I saute the onion and celery in some butter, and I've never used the Old Bay Seasoning and the parsley. It was a real pleasure to make this recipe giving it an interesting twist with the new seasonings. To be honest, I really didn't notice that the Old Bay lended much to the final dish, but it was as delicious as I expected it to be. Thanks for posting this wonderful dressing.