Bulgarian style stuffed chicken
Ingredients:
1 chicken
1 bunch of spring onions
1 coffee cup round rice
200 g mushrooms
Parsley
Mint and savory
Salt and pepper
Sweet paprika
Butter or ghee
Potatoes
Peeled and roasted chestnuts (jarred)
Preparation:
Clean the chicken, inside and outside, from all offal and down feather traces. Rinse under cold water. If the chicken is too fat, remove some of the fat around between the legs.
Sauté the onions in a little oil. Then add the rice and mushrooms. Cook 1-2 minutes and pour in a cup of water. Season with salt, pepper, mint, parsley and savory. When the rice absorbs all the liquid, remove the pan from heat.
Rub the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and a little softened butter. Tighten the skin around the neck and sew it with a kitchen string to prevent the stuffing from escaping. Then, fill the chicken with the rice preparation from the hole between its legs. Pour a little boiling water into it to make sure that the stuffing will be well cooked and juicy. Sew that hole as well. Place the stuffed chicken in the middle of a large baking dish. Pour in about 2 cm of hot water in the bottom and bake at 250°C. Once browned, reduce heat to 200°C. While roasting, baste the chicken regularly with its broth. Cook about 1 hour.
Peel and cut the potatoes into cubes or half-moons. Distribute them around the chicken. Add more hot water as needed. Continue cooking for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are ready. Cover the chicken with aluminum foil, if needed. At the end of cooking, add the roasted chestnuts. Mix well with the sauce.
Serve the stuffed chicken on a plate, cut into portions and surrounded with potatoes and chestnuts.