Stuffed chicken for Christmas

How to make a stuffed free-range chicken for Christmas.

Christmas dinner is one of those perfect times to take out the artillery and show off in the kitchen.

Cooking dishes that due to lack of time we would not do the rest of the year, that will make ours enjoy, are premises when choosing the menu of such a special date.

Among the classics that never fail are the stuffed birds , they are the capon , the Argentine-style chicken roll , the stuffed turkey or the pularda and of course a tasty good free-range chicken .

The chicken stuffed Christmas , we can fill it in many ways. Nuts, dehydrated fruits, minced pork or veal meats, vegetables or fruits are ingredients that we can turn to for their preparation.

As it is a laborious recipe (but very easy to prepare) the best option for us not to be in the kitchen all day is to have a quality chicken already boned, it will help us achieve a more successful end result, like a true chef in our house.

In this case the recommendation of Galicia Calidade us makes it very easy, we decided on the free-range chicken from Coren and boning previously, bought as well, the family La Camiseria .

With this type of boneless chicken, the presentation of the dish is simpler and more attractive. We can cut the portions of meat with filling in a simple way and serve it without problems. The result is juicy and aromatic, thanks in part to the sherry wine that will help give more flavor and power to this wonderful meat.

Preparation of the stuffing for the chicken

1. Cut the onion and garlic into small cubes. In a frying pan, heat a splash of olive oil.
2. When the oil is hot, add the onion and the chopped garlic cloves.
3. Sauté over medium heat until the vegetables are tender. This process will take us about 15 minutes.
4. With the ready vegetables we add the bacon, previously chopped, and the minced meat.
5. We fry the meats with the vegetables until we see that it begins to brown. When the meat is over, season with salt and pepper and water with ½ a glass of sherry wine.
6. We cook a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol and remove from the heat.
7. We let the meat warm up before incorporating a raw egg into the mixture. We stir well to integrate it.

Stuffed boneless chicken

1. We place the chicken on a work surface so that we can open it in its entirety to be able to fill it. 
2. We cover the meat of the chicken with the mixture of minced meat and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. We place 2 eggs, which we will have previously cooked , on top of the filling.
3. We join the sides of the chicken to be able to close it. With kitchen wire and a large needle, we will sew the chicken along its entire length to seal it.
4. We introduce the chicken into the mesh, thus we make sure that it maintains its shape during baking and it is perfect.

Baking the chicken. Potatoes and final presentation of the recipe

1. We place the chicken on a tray suitable for the oven, season with salt and pepper and water with the juice of one lemon and ½ a glass of sherry.
2. Bake at 200º C for 30 minutes. Medium tray with temperature up and down, with hot air.
3. While the chicken is cooking we prepare the potatoes. Cook the potatoes, peeled and diced, in water with a pinch of salt, for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve.
4. Once the chicken has been baked for 30 minutes, remove the tray from the oven and add the drained and precooked potatoes.
5. We water with 1 glass of sherry and 1 glass of water.
6. We put the chicken back in the oven and bake at 200ºC for 50 minutes. The last 10 minutes we cover with aluminum foil so that it does not burn us.

To serve, we put a piece of stuffed chicken that we have prepared and the garnish with potatoes.

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes that we offer you in the special Christmas recipes .

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for Christmas stuffed chicken . Do not miss any detail so that they come out of you delicious.

Tips for a Stuffed Free-Range Chicken

• If we want to give the dish more level, you have many garnishes that go well with stuffed chicken. Among our favorites are creamy mashed potatoes, glazed onions, chestnut cream, or classic applesauce. Your guests will hallucinate in colors.
• If we prepare this dish from one day to the next, it is usually taken cold, we leave the sauce in the fridge so that the fat rises to the surface and we can easily remove it with a spoon when it has curdled.
• When finished filling, touch the most laborious part, with a needle and kitchen thread we sew the opening of the capon through which we have introduced the filling and try to keep it as closed as possible. It is important to try not to break the skin in this process.
• The final baking times (not the initial 30 minutes) are approximate, as each oven is a world. The time will depend a little on the size of the chicken and the amount of filling that we have put on it.
• Nobody better than you to know how to bake, you will have the point caught. But 50-60 minutes is more than enough for me to be perfect. Remember that if the chicken is browning too much, we will cover it with aluminum foil.
• If we prepare this dish from one day to the next, it is usually taken cold, we leave the sauce in the fridge so that the fat rises to the surface and we can easily remove it with a spoon when it has curdled.