TASTE OF CATER CARE FACT
Almost everyone loves a roast dinner and this recipe has made the traditional roast a little more interesting by filling each chicken maryland with a North African inspired stuffing of Spanish onion, apricots, pistachio nuts and the quintessentially North African spice blend, Ras el Hanout.
Traditionally Ras el Hanout was only served to highly esteemed guests as a mark of deep respect. Recipes for the spice blend vary and are often a closely guarded secret but usually contain cardamom, cumin, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, allspice, dry ginger, chilli pepper, coriander seed, peppercorn, sweet and hot paprika, fenugreek and dry turmeric.
INGREDIENTS
- Garlic Puree – from 2 Garlic Bulbs (see method).
- 40ml Olive Oil
- 220gm Spanish Onion – peel, halve and finely dice.
- 260gm Dried Apricot – roughly chop.
- 120gm Shelled Unsalted Pistachio Nuts – roughly chop.
- 40 Flat Leaf Parsley Leaves – roughly chop.
- 40 Coriander Leaves – roughly chop.
- 10 Mint Leaves – roughly chop.
- 4 tsp Ras el Hanout Spice Mixture
- To Taste – Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper
- 4 De-Boned, Skin-on Chicken Marylands
- As Required – Butchers Twine
- To Taste – Sea Salt
- 40ml Olive Oil
METHOD
- Preheat an oven to a moderate temperature – 160°C.
- Prick each garlic bulb 4 times with a fork, roast in a moderately heated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the bulbs have softened. Cool and slice 1⁄2 cm off each garlic bulb’s base, squeeze out the garlic puree and set to one side until required.
- Add the first quantity of olive oil to a sauté pan over a moderate heat, then add the onions and sauté, stirring regularly, until they have softened. Remove the sauté pan from the heat and allow the onions to cool to room temperature.
- Place the garlic puree, cooked onion, apricots, pistachios, parsley, coriander, mint and Ras el Hanout in a food processor and blend until the ingredients have combined and formed a coarse paste. Season to taste and remove from the food processor.
- Lay out the chicken marylands skin side down on a clean work surface. Evenly distribute the stuffing along the centre of each one.
- Roll each chicken maryland into a tight roll, so that the stuffing is completely enclosed. Tie each chicken maryland up with butcher’s twine and lightly season each with sea salt.
- Add the second quantity of olive oil to a sauté pan over a moderate heat. Once hot, add the chicken marylands and sear until they are golden brown on all sides, then remove them from the sauté pan and place into a deep sided roasting tray. Place the tray into the oven and roast for 35 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Remove the tray from the oven, cover with aluminium foil and set to one side to rest for 2 minutes.
TO SERVE
Remove the butchers twine from each of the chicken roasts and serve them whole or cut into thick slices.
