Rice Stuffed Chicken in Honey Pomegranate Sauce

Okay, I’m just gonna say it. This is one of the best chicken recipes I’ve made. Patting myself on the back much? Try it and let me know! DH gets some of the credit for this since he heard me muttering to myself about how to make a special chicken for the holiday and I debated to stuff or not to stuff, that is the question. Stuff the chicken! he said, it will elevate it. And it does, my friends, it does. It looks larger than usual with the mound of rice stuffing under the skin and rather majestic on the plate. You’re also getting a two fer here since it’s both a main dish and a side in one. What could be bad? The rice also keeps the chicken moist and succulent. It made a huge hit with all my feasters and will definitely appear on our table many times to come in the future. Btw, if you have leftover rice that’s also fine (as long as it ain’t old rice) since you must cook the rice beforehand. Just sayin’. K. Let’s wrassle up those ingredients and get going.

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C.

While you can stuff a quarter of a chicken with this (and I did) I particularly like the look of the chicken thighs as a compact and lovely one person serving. K. First cook your rice if you don’t have any cooked rice to hand and let cool somewhat. Simple Basic White Rice . Good now chop up the salami or bologna into small dice like so:

Okay. You can now either sautee your mushrooms in some oil just till cooked, or make them in the oven, a new trick I’ve discovered which I now love to do (I was in a hurry and this turned into one of my favorite hacks) and add to the cooked rice with the chopped salami. Stir well together.

Good, now you will create a little pocket in your chicken thighs which you will stuff.

You may need to pry up the outer bit of skin, but then it should go easily. Be careful not to detach it, you want a pocket.

Now that you have the pocket, take a handful of stuffing (or use a spoon) and gently stuff the chicken thighs. Don’t pack it in too hard. Smooth the flap down to mostly cover. You will have some stuffing peeking out, that’s fine.

See some stuffing peeking out? It’s all good. Now make the sauce by dissolving the coffee in the boiling water and adding the pomegranate syrup, chopped garlic and honey and stirring well till combined. Brush on the tops all about on the chicken.

Don’t worry if it looks a tad patchy, the chicken will brown beautifully. K. Place the chicken uncovered into the preheated oven and roast for about an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and thirty minutes or till chicken is browned and glorious and cooked through. Nice served with some cooked broccoli. A truly delectable dish.

Rice Stuffed Chicken in Honey Pomegranate Sauce

1 tablespoon granulated coffee, dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water

4 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons pomegranate syrup

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

8 large bone in skin on chicken thighs

2 cups cooked rice

1 cup sautéed mushrooms (or oven baked) (directions to follow) *

4-5 pieces deli sliced salami or bologna (or other smoked meat), chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C. Prepare cooked rice Simple Basic White Rice. Let cool.

Mix dissolved coffee, honey, pomegranate syrup and chopped garlic together in a bowl for sauce and set aside.

Sautee mushrooms or “saute” in the oven (recipe to follow).

Mix rice, mushrooms and chopped salami. With your fingers (I use latex gloves) make pockets without detaching skin from chicken. Stuff chicken with rice mixture and place in baking pan. Brush tops of chicken with sauce mixture. Bake in preheated oven for about an hour and 15 minutes till an hour and a half or until chicken is cooked through and beautifully browned.

Oven Sauteed Mushrooms

4 baskets (250 grams each) portobello and regular mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

2-3 tablespoons oil

1-2 teaspoons salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. In large pan which you can put mushroom in one layer (more or less) place sliced mushrooms. Toss with the oil and salt till coated. Bake 25-30 minutes or till richly browned

The mushrooms stay meaty and don’t get mushy.