Chicken with Millet Stuffing
This is made with Pasture Bird chicken, which is the best tasting chicken I have ever had. It's sold direct to consumer and will show up at your front door if you order from the link on this page. These chickens feed on wild grasslands and their diet is not supplemented with any corn or soy. This is a whole chicken that is spatchkock, meaning the backbone has been cut away so that it lies flat. It's surprisingly easy to do, and I'll show you how in this recipe.
Yield: 8
Equipment
- 2 12x16 Baking Dishes
Materials
- 1 ea Whole Chicken
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper to season chicken
- 1/2 tsp Salt to season chicken
- 1/4 tsp Thyme Dried to season chicken
- 2 ea Medium Onions Diced
- 10 ea Celery Stalks Diced
- 7 ea Carrots Diced
- 2 cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
- 1/2 cup Ghee
- 1/2 tsp Rubbed Sage Dried
- 1/2 tsp Thyme Dried or 2 tsp fresh
- 1/2 tsp Dried Garlic
- 1/2 tsp Parsley Dried or 1 tbsp fresh
- 1 cup Millet, rinsed Use 1 1/4 cup if you like your stuffing a little drier. This is very veggie...
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt Iodized sea salt is best
- 1/4 cup Dry Red Wine or Dry Sherry
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, cut away the packaging from your thawed chicken.
- Using a cutting board and a chef's or boning knife, grab the chicken by the tail and begin to cut just to the right of the tail. You will be surprised by how easy this is.
- Cut straight down half way through the bird they lay it breast side down and continue to cut next to the spine. If it is not cutting easily you are either too close to the spine or too far.
- Once the first side is cut away stand the bird back up and begin to cut along the backbone one the other side of the tail.
- Again, lay the bird breast side down and cut next to the spine.
- Once the spine is separated from the bird you can lie it flat, which makes it cook more evenly. Drizzle both sides with olive oil and season with thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Place the chicken in a 9x12 backing dish, skin side up and bake for 30 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, dice your onion, celery, and carrots.
- Add the rest of the seasoning, millet, melted ghee, stock and wine to the mixture.
- Press the stuffing into a 12x16" pan. Remove the chicken from the oven and place it over the stuffing. (You may need to pin the wings down with toothpicks). Tent with foil and bake for 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and check the temperature of the chicken in the deepest part of the thigh away from the bone. It should be 165 degrees. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
The stuffing may seem too wet when you take this dish out of the oven, but the moisture in the stuffing will absorb as the chicken rests. This chicken is tender and lean. So, you don't need to worry about the stuffing getting too greasy. Spatchkock chicken is also great for slow grilling or roasting by itself. 