Mother's Challah Stuffed Chicken

Challah Stuffing:

• 1 dried out challah that you forgot you had and it went stale.

• 1 minced onion

• 1 bunch finely minced FRESH parsley.

• 3-4 stalks chopped celery

• 1/2 tsp. dried basil.

• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano.

• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder.

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Water to moisten, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups

Fry the onion in a little bit of oil until clear. Mix in everything else and make sure
it is well distributed. Kvetch (squeeze) out any excess water and you are ready
to get stuffed!

Stuffing the Chicken:

Wash out the cavity of a roasting chicken. LOOSELY stuff the chicken cavity.
Tie the wings on to the body of the chicken.. This prevents them from burning,
or you can wrap the wings in tin foil for the same effect. Use skewers and laced string to hold the stuffing in place. If when the chicken is done the stuffing looks
a little messy, a fresh large sprig of parsley does wonders for appearance. Cover the stuffing cavity with parsley sprigs! The pulkalech (legs) can be tied to the tuchas (tail) of the chicken. Poor thing!

Baking the Chicken:

Preheat the oven at 400F. Place the stuffed chicken in a roaster. Cover. Put the roaster in the oven.

For the first 15 to 20 minutes cook at 400F. This sears in the juices and the chicken will be nice and tender. Otherwise the chicken gets rubbery. Now reduce the heat to 325F. The chicken should roast for about 1 1/2 hours. DEPENDING
on the type of oven you have, it may be as long as 3 hours!! You can tell if the chicken is done when you can move the tied drumsticks back and forth easily!
If you stick a meat thermometer in you will break the skin and the juices which collect directly under the skin will be lost. FOREVER! If you want a crispier skin
on the chicken, take the cover off for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Baste the chicken with its natural juices found on the bottom of the roaster.

Serving the Chicken:

Line a serving platter with lettuce. Place chicken on the lettuce on the serving plate. You can cut slices of lemon and place down the center of the chicken.
The chicken can then be surrounded with alternating round slices of lemon,
orange and lime. Another circle of sliced red, green and yellow peppers would surround the chicken. The outer circle would consist of alternating slices of tomatoes and cucumber.



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