Roast chicken and stuffing made easy
Believe it or not there is a story behind this dinner. You see everybody you see in this photo is someone who either has lost their land or their business in the tragedy that is Zimbabwe. All of them decided to leave and to try and make a new beginning in a new land. Sometimes it's not the easiest thing to do, but decisions have to be made regarding your children or where to live out your twilight years. All of it in the end is sad because nearly everybody loves their country and to be forced out of something you have given a lifetimes work to, just isn't right. It's that simple and that complex.
Oh it's a funny old world all right, some people say it's a small world. The odd thing is that despite the younger looking couple being Maize seed and Rose growers and our children going to the same boarding schools both at junior and senior level. Now Zimbabwe isn't the largest place in the world and despite what I have said above. We never knew them. Yet we come to live in Ireland and somehow we meet up. Strange?
Entertaining guests back in Zimbabwe is a common occurrence, yet here in Ireland it doesn't happen very often. However with these people, because we think alike and because we love to reminisce about Africa we meet up now and again and rotate which house we have it in. This time it was our house and here is what we gave them for dinner.
Contents at a Glance
The starter
Asparagus
Couldn't be simpler
Just peel the asparagus and cut off the tips
Lightly butter the pan and add asparagus
Season
Stick in oven with chicken 15 minutes before serving
Grate with Parmesan cheese
Serve with a nice bread and some butter
The homemade stuffing
You will need
125ml cooked rice
500g courgettes
50g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
100g smooth cottage cheese
50 ml Parmesan cheese
125ml fresh white breadcrumbs
5ml dried marjoram
1 egg
Grate the courgettes and sprinkle with salt to draw the moisture out, saute the courgettes in 25ml butter and transfer to a bowl
Saute the onions and garlic in the remaining butter
Combine all the stuffing ingredients and mix by hand or better still in blender
Spoon into chicken
Roast chicken
With stuffing
150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken (And 50 Ways to Roast It) by Tony Rosenfeld
Who doesn't love roast chicken? And the best part more...0 points
Not Just Roast: Great Chicken Dishes by Linda Fraser
This is the essential guide to cooking with chicke more...0 points
The condiments
Adding taste with roasted peppers, parsnips and carrots
It's tasty
Peel and wash the carrots and parsnips
Slice up into reasonable sizes
Do same with peppers remembering to take out pips
Have variety of colours for aesthetic purposes and taste
Garnish with olive oil
Season with salt and healthy sprinkling of pepper
Takes about twenty minutes so do not put in oven too soon
Help for the kitchen
Making things easy
Oster BPST02-B Professional Series Blender, Black
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Cuisinart SB-5600 Supreme Super 600 60-Ounce 6-Speed Stainless-Steel Blender with Glass Jar
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Breville BBL600XL Ikon 750-Watt 51-Ounce Blender
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Finishing it off
We also had
To go with the rest of the meal a salad was made and the tips of the asparagus were sauteed and added to the salad. Does a gentleman got to explain to a lady how to make a salad?Rather than have roast potatoes it was decided to have boiled potatoes instead garnished with garlic butter and sprinkled with parsley.
For dessert we had fruit salad with strawberries and ice cream and cream.
That was it and everybody must have had a good time as they left at 2 am.
Even I can do this.
Ah! yes the gravy
I almost forgot
Actually we didn't make it this way but it's worth trying. I happen to be one of those people who cannot eat anything without huge helpings of gravy. For me it is the cherry on top of the cake.-
Making perfect gravy
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This method of making perfect gravy has been used in my family for generations. Interestingly, it has always been my Dad who's made the gravy for our Sunday Roast Lunches and it was he who taught me how to make gravy. My Little Oxford Dictionary, th...
Chicken news
The meal in photo's
Having fun
Roast game hens
with ricotta stuffing
Match® Premium Vegan Stuffed Holiday Roast - Thanksgiving Recipe
Published with permission from and created by Andrell Bower for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Match® Vegan Meats Executive Chef Freddie Holland demonstrates the recipe for a meatless holiday roast that rivals typical stuffed turkey or chicken. Match® premium meat alternative looks like meat. It tastes like meat. It prepares like meat. Because it is meat from a healthier source. Match® is a gourmet-quality vegan match for animal meat. So it provides the taste, texture and nutrition meat lovers ...
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- Jewelsofawe Jewelsofawe Nov 17, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
- A delicious dinner! Blessed by an angel!
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- WindyWinters WindyWinters Nov 14, 2009 @ 1:05 am
- Tasty and delicious lens. Congrats on your Purple Star! :)
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- GrowWear GrowWear Nov 13, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
- Big congratulations for your purple star on this lens. I have to say that roast chicken is one of my favorite dishes. And sharing it with friends makes it truly special. It's so good that you found friends in Ireland who are from Zimbabwe.
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- OhMe OhMe Nov 9, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
- I love this lens. The photos and recipes are wonderful as well as the photos of your friends from Zimbabwe who have moved to Ireland. Blessed by a Squid Angel.
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- clouda9 clouda9 Nov 7, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
- A delicious meal and a beautiful story to go with it! We are fortunate to have our freezer fat with chicken - raised them ourselves over the summer, so will be making your meal and thinking of you.
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- Susan52 Susan52 Aug 30, 2009 @ 12:26 pm
- This makes my mouth water! I like the interesting stuffing recipe; much different than what I make but it sounds very good. The asparagus looks fabulous. What a wonderful menu, a wonderful gathering of friends, and a fabulous lens!
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- mysticmama mysticmama Aug 17, 2009 @ 4:34 pm
- Looks fantastic...I just love asparagus and I'm crazy for parsnips...being Irish, parsnips are one of the staples of life...yummy :-)
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- papawu papawu Aug 17, 2009 @ 1:43 pm
- Looks absolutely scrumptious Kevin! Although I am currently recovering from a fractured jaw and can't really eat solid foods, this is well worth the torture. LoL.
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- davidstillwagon davidstillwagon Aug 17, 2009 @ 12:02 pm
- It really looks great! I didn't know what courgette was either.
5*
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- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Jul 9, 2009 @ 10:53 am
- The photos of the mouthwatering food really make this a tasty lens -- making my tastebuds drool for lunch! We will be having dinner with several good friends on Saturday night!
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- KimGiancaterino KimGiancaterino Jun 22, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
- I really like the way you constructed this lens. A great meal and the history behind it. I just have to remember that Courgette = Zucchini in the U.S. (and I love them!) Blessed and featured on my Squid Angel Diary this week.
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