By now you know I love food. I love to eat it, prepare it, shop for it, learn about it and talk about it. Most of my readers thus far probably know I have two sons and through my marriage have two step daughters and two step sons. When I first became involved with my husband Keith, our kids ranged in age from 15-28 and only one of them was involved with the person he ultimately married. Today, our family has grown from seven to 22! We now have five married kids, the youngest getting married this year, and 8 grandchildren. For the first several years of gatherings at the farm, when the kids packed in, home from college or work, I did most of the shopping and cooking and my husband was the dish guy. I enjoyed cooking for the kids because they like food too.
Over the years, through marriage and maturity, many of the kids have developed a love for food almost as much, and in some cases more than, me. So you can imagine how excited I am when they prepare food for me. With each passing year at family gatherings the kids and I happily take turns with the food planning and prep. I get a huge kick out of the obsessive planning. I used to think it was a “McGee thing” to be talking about the next meal while eating the current meal. But it’s not, it’s a food-lovers thing.
I’m currently visiting Keith’s daughter Ellen and her family in sunny Florida. Here, I’m enjoying darling grandchildren, spectacular sunrises and sunsets, the remarkably clear emerald gulf coast, pure white sand, and Ellen and Christopher’s delicious food.
Last night Christopher prepared a whole deboned chicken roll. I’m kicking myself for not documenting the entire process, but I have to confess to taking a nap while he attempted the deboning process. “It’s a lot easier on youtube.” He remarked. “You definitely need the right tools to debone a chicken.” (Note to self, Christopher needs new a filet knife for Christmas.)
When I awoke from my slumber and entered the kitchen, the bird was skin side down, boneless and ready for stuffing. I just couldn’t help myself, I had to get involved. The following recipe is Christopher’s chicken roll preparation. I cut the garlic and the string, he did the rest.
Ingredients: One deboned whole chicken (I might have the butcher do it for me), wings keep bones
The following are estimates on quantities. We didn’t really measure anything.
1 lb. diced potatoes, fried until tender
1 bag of raw baby spinach
½-1 lb. feta cheese
4-5 bacon slices
4-5 garlic cloves, pressed
fresh basil, thyme
paprika, salt and pepper
cooking twine
Christopher deboned the chicken, fried the potatoes to pre-cook.
With the chicken skin side down, I rubbed the minced garlic around the cavity, sprinkled in all other seasoning.
Next, we placed the raw spinach covering the center of the cavity, we put in as much as we thought we could roll. Then added potatoes and cheese.
The roll is not a pinwheel, instead, you bring both sides up and flip.
He topped with bacon, then secured with the twine.
He lined the bottom of the pan with more diced raw potatoes, then placed the chicken on the rack.
350° for 1.75 hours.
The possibilities for stuffing the bird are endless. And of course while we ate it, we discussed many of them. Sausage bread stuffing, prosciutto lining the cavity, mushrooms, olives, more spinach…can’t wait.
