Ingredients
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1 (5 lb) whole chickens
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4 cups day-old cornbread, broken into pieces (I use the recipe on the Alber’s Cornmeal Box, except I use buttermilk instead of regular milk, and I)
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1/2 cup chopped onion
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1/2 cup chopped celery
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1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
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1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
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1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
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2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
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1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
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1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Rinse chicken, remove excess fat from around the cavity and pat dry.
- Rub inside and outside of chicken with one teaspoon Old Bay seasoning and set aside.
- Spread corn bread pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until they dry out a bit not much longer than that.
- Combine onion, celery, fresh herbs, pepper, olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the Old Bay seasoning in a mixing bowl.
- When the cornbread crumbs are toasted enough, dump the hot bread into the celery onion mixture and combine.
- Place the chicken in the bottom of a small roasting pan that has a cover.
- Stuff the cavity and the sides of the chicken with the stuffing you need to separate the skin a bit from the sides to get the stuffing in next to the leg/thigh pieces also stuff some into the neck cavity.
- Tie the legs together to hold the stuffing in with kitchen twine.
- Drizzle the chicken with oil, sprinkle with salt and a little more Old Bay if you like.
- Cover the pan and roast at 350 for about 1 and 1/2 hours, then uncover, insert a thermometer close to the leg/thigh joint without touching the bone- you're looking for it to read 180 degrees- it will be very close at this point.
- Roast a little longer uncovered until chicken is nicely browned and the thermometer reads 180 degrees.
- Allow the chicken to rest about 10 to 15 minutes before carving- this step keeps it juicy.
- Enjoy.