You’ll need
Sourdough Stuffing
350g Pecan and Apricot Brekkie Sourdough, stale & cubed
5 mushrooms, diced
1 brown onion, diced
50g butter
650ml chicken Stock
5 sprigs thyme
3 garlic cloves, diced
10g wattleseed, crushed
Pan Sauce
1 eschallot, finely diced
30g unsalted butter
500ml chicken stock
100g orange marmalade
20ml olive oil
20ml white wine
4 sprigs thyme
Roast Chicken
1.8-2kg chicken
350g pecan and apricot brekkie sourdough stuffing
200g butter
2 sprigs thyme, leaves removed
To Serve
1 chicken, roasted and stuffed
350ml pan sauce
1 bunch parsley
Method
Sourdough Stuffing
In a pot over medium heat, warm the chicken stock to a bare simmer, remove once heated through and add in cubed sourdough. In a large pan over medium heat, brown mushrooms in butter, then add garlic and toast until golden. Add onion, thyme and wattleseed and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook until the onion becomes translucent. Remove thyme sprigs and add toasted nuts. Squeeze the liquid out of the sourdough cubes and mix all ingredients together to form the stuffing. Refrigerate until use.
Roast Chicken
Stuff the chicken with the sourdough stuffing. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cover chicken in 200g softened butter and thyme leaves and place in wide roasting pan. Roast in oven at 200c for 1 – 1.5 hours, basting periodically with butter from the roasting pan. Chicken is ready if juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thigh. Remove from oven and allow to rest on a roasting rack for 15 minutes.
Pan Sauce
In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil and sweat shallots on low heat with a pinch of salt, deglaze with white wine once eschallots are translucent and let liquid reduce by half. Add chicken stock and thyme, cooking until it has reduced by ⅔. Add 100g orange marmalade, mixing through until thoroughly combined, bring to a boil, then immediately remove from heat and stir in butter to emulsify. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Serving
Place chicken on a platter and pour the pan sauce over it, making sure to coat thoroughly. Garnish with parsley. Enjoy!