Festive Roast Chicken with Bacon, Cranberry & Macadamia Stuffing

This slow-roasted chicken is so juicy and, to be honest, the stuffing is some of the tastiest I have ever made. It has the added bonus of being very easy to do!

This would make a great main course on Christmas Day, or any time that you have family around over the holidays. It takes very little work, and will quietly cook away in the oven whilst filling your house with a fabulous smell.

I used macadamia nuts in the stuffing. These are an Australian nut, but if you can’t get them then I think maybe brazil nuts (or a similarly creamy textured nut) would work just as well.

Serve this chicken with your favourite roasted vegetables or mashed potatoes, plus gravy too of course.

Ingredients – serves 6-8:

• 2.2kg/5 lb chicken
• olive oil, to drizzle over the skin
• dried mixed herbs, to sprinkle over the chicken

Stuffing:

• 1/2 medium onion
• 50g/2 oz macadamia nuts
• 2 slices bread, any kind (I just used normal white bread)
• 50g/2 oz dried cranberries
• 50g/2 oz cooked bacon, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• squeeze of lemon juice (from a bottle is fine)
• 1 large knob (approx 25g/1 oz) butter

Method:

• Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan forced/320F.
• Blitz the onion and macadamias together in a food processor until finely chopped, then put into a medium bowl.
• Blitz the bread and cranberries in the food processor, then put into the bowl with the onion & nuts.
• Add the cooked bacon, egg, herbs, garlic and lemon juice to the bowl and mix to combine all the ingredients.
• Rinse the chicken under cold water, pat dry with a paper towel, then place in a roasting dish ensuring that the breast is facing upwards.
• Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the chicken’s breast at the neck end, without tearing the skin. Push about a third of the stuffing under the skin.
• Place the knob of butter with the stuffing under the skin and press gently to seal the skin down.
• Put the rest of the stuffing in the body cavity.
• Drizzle olive oil liberally all over the chicken and sprinkle with some dried herbs.
• Cover the dish in foil and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Then cook without the foil for 1 hour, basting with the pan juices halfway through and at the end of that time. You may need to cover just the breast area with a piece of foil to prevent over-browning.
• Turn up the oven to 220C/200C fan forced/430F, and cook for another 20-30 minutes. Test that the juices run clear when the thickest part of the leg is pierced with a skewer.
• Remove the chicken from the roasting dish, put on a plate and cover loosely with foil. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
• Enjoy!