Buttery sage stuffing chicken with pickled cherries

Name: Buttery sage stuffing chicken with pickled cherries
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 180 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Cusine

30 mins Prep

150 mins Cook

6 Serves

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It’s stuffed with a delicious sage stuffing, basted with brown butter and honey and served with delicious pickled Summer cherries. It will serve between 4 and 6, but will serve even more if you have a few extra side dishes.

For the Chicken:

1 whole chicken, around 1.8kg
1 tsp dark soy sauce
Salt and pepper, to season
120 g baby rocket
Olive oil, to drizzle
2 cups cherries, halved and pitted
¼ cup red wine vinegar

For the Stuffing:

Black pepper, to serve
1 tsp salt
½ cup chicken stock, or water
2 tbsp dried cranberries (optional)
4 sage leaves, finely chopped
50 g butter
1 large onion, finely diced
5 slices wholemeal bread

For the Glaze:

1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
6 sage leaves
50 g butter

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Start with the stuffing. In a blender or food processor process the bread to coarse breadcrumbs. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat and add the butter and onion. Fry the onion for about 5 minutes until softened but not coloured. Remove from the heat and add the breadcrumbs, sage, cranberries, stock, salt and pepper and mix well.
Heat your oven to 120C (fan). Stuff the stuffing into the cavity of the chicken. You don’t need to close it. Brush the chicken with the dark soy sauce and season the skin well with salt and pepper. Place a piece of baking paper in the base of a small oven dish (or ovenproof frying pan) and place the chicken on top. Roast for 90 minutes.
While the chicken is roasting, season the cherries with salt and pepper and stir through the red wine vinegar. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
For the glaze, heat the butter in a small saucepan until it turns golden brown. Remove from the heat and stir through the sage leaves, honey and soy sauce.
When the chicken has finished it’s 90 minutes of roasting, increase the oven to 220C. Brush the chicken with the glaze and roast for a further 15 minutes, brushing with the glaze every few minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven and rest for 15 minutes. Reserve any juices in the base of the roasting dish to serve with the chicken.
To serve, place the chicken on a serving plate. Toss the rocket with a little olive oil and arrange around the chicken like a Christmas wreath. Spoon the cherries over the rocket and serve with the roasting juices.