Roast Chicken with Sour Cherries, Green Olives, Fennel & Thyme

 I got a good deal on a whole organic, free range chicken at the grocery store the other day. I was wanting to do a roast chicken. I know what you are thinking, roasting a chicken on a warm summer day? Who the heck does that!  I do!   This chicken roasts quickly, in about an hour, which doesn't heat up the kitchen overly much, and the flavors are amazing.

I have a cookery book entitled, The Perfectly Roasted Chicken, by Mindy Fox.  It is filled with lots of lovely recipes for roasting chicken and for using up the leftovers and for sides to serve with them.  There was a chicken recipe in the book which used green olives, lemon, garlic, fennel and thyme to stuff it.  I thought that sounded really interesting and delicious.

I decided to cut my chicken in half, so that it roasted quickly and easily and then I could freeze the other half ( cut into quarters) for another time. Essentially giving me three delicious meals from one chicken. That is called a win!

 

I had some lovely green olives that I had bought at Costco that I wanted to use. Castelvetranos. They are my favorite of all the green olives.   They have a lovely, mild and buttery flavor.  When I was pitting them, I spied my bag of dried sour cherries over in the corner and got curious. What would a sour cherry taste like with one of these fabulously mild olives?

I took one of the sour cherries and one of the olives and ate them together with a very pleasant surprise!  This was a FABULOUS combination!  I was onto a real winner here and so I added chopped dried sour cherries to the filling.  Adding to that the garlic, lemon zest,  fennel seeds and fresh thyme, and this was truly a wonderful combination.

Stuffed between the flesh of the chicken and its skin, this lovely mixture flavors the chicken beautifully.   I added thick lemon slices as a trivet to roast the chicken on, imparting even more flavor into its meat and helping to keep it moist and tender.

I really hope you will want to try this recipe and that you will fall in love with it as I have done.  Different can often be really delicious!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE ROAST CHICKEN 

WITH SOUR CHERRIES, GREEN OLIVES, FENNEL AND THYME

There is really nothing that complicated here. Do try to find the right kind of olive to make the stuffing.  It is worth seeking them out.

• 1/2 whole chicken (1.9 lb/3/4 kg./878g)
• 10 whole green olives, stoned and finely chopped
• a small handful of dried sour cherries, finely chopped
• 1 TBS finely chopped thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 lemons, divided
• 2 tsp flaked coarse sea salt
• avocado oil

 

I cut my own chicken in half. It is not hard to do if you have a good sharp pair of kitchen scissors.  You can watch a tutorial on how to do it here.   Its a very good one.

The olives I used were Castelvetranos, which you can buy at Costco. You can also buy them on Amazon. They are a lovely olive with a beautiful mild and buttery flavor.  The flavor is creamy and sublime, not at all harsh.  Don't use regular green olives.

Sour dried cherries can be purchased in just about any grocery store. I buy them by the bag as I like to enjoy  them on my morning oats from time to time. They are not overly sweet, but have a beautifully tart fruity quality which goes perfectly with the buttery flavor of the olives.

You can use dried thyme if you cannot find fresh, but if you can find fresh, DO use it.  If using dried thyme you will need roughly half the amount.

When zesting the lemon, zest it right over and into the bowl with the other stuffing ingredients, that way you capture the flavorful oil that sprays from the lemon as you zest it.

Don't leave out the fennel seed. It gives a mild licorice flavor that goes very well with both the olives and the cherries.  

 

HOW TO MAKE ROAST CHICKEN 

WITH SOUR CHERRIES, GREEN OLIVES, FENNEL & THYME

This is really quite a simple manner of roasting a chicken.   That beautiful olive mixture really helps to keep the meat moist and imparts a delicious flavor!

Preheat the oven to 420*F/220*C/ gas mark 7. Have ready an oven proof skillet.

Mix the chopped olives, chopped sour cherries, garlic, thyme and fennel seed together in a bowl. Zest one of the lemons and add this to the mixture.

Using your fingers, very carefully loosen the skin of the chicken from the meat of the chicken on the thigh and breast. Try not to tear it.

 

Stuff the olive mixture into these pockets, again, taking care not to tear the skin of the chicken. Gently rub your hand over the outside of the skin to smooth out the mixture and gently push it further down between the skin and the meat.

Cut the zested lemon into thick slices and place them into the bottom of the skillet. Place the chicken, cut side down on top of the lemons.

Drizzle with a bit of avocado oil. Sprinkle with the sea salt. Cut the remaining lemon in half and squeeze the juice over top, placing the spent lemons in the skillet as well.

 

Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. If the chicken is getting too brown, tent lightly with a piece of aluminum foil.

Continue to roast at the lower temperature for a further 25 to 30 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear and the internal temperature measures 165*F/74*C.

Remove from the oven and leave to sit in the pan for 15 minutes, then baste with the juices from the pan. You can also squeeze a bit of the roasted lemon over top.

Carve into thick slices to serve, with some of the stuffing and some of the pan juices spooned over top.

 

I really shouldn't have been surprised with just how delicious this roast chicken was, but, well, I was!  The stuffing imparted a beautiful flavor to the meat of the chicken and kept it nice and moist.  The bed of sliced lemon in the base of the skillet served the same purpose.

It may not look like much, but this was one very tasty roast chicken. I enjoyed it with some mashed roasted sweet potato and a mix of vegetables.  This was a fabulous meal!

 

Is Roast Chicken your favorite meal?  If so, then you might also really enjoy the following recipes!

BUNDT PAN ROAST CHICKEN -  This is a unique method of roasting a chicken.  Fresh vegetables (potatoes, onions, carrots) are placed in the bottom of a Bundt cake tin.  Cover the hole in the center with some foil and invert a whole well seasoned and buttered chicken over top with, the stem of the Bundt pan holding the chicken upright.  As it roasts the chicken bastes itself and the vegetables in the bottom of the cake tin.  Everything ends up beautifully cooked and filled with flavor!

ROAST CHICKEN WITH A LEMON/HERB STUFFING - This is an incredibly moist and delicious chicken with a nice crisp skin.  The chicken itself gets flavored from the inside out by a delicious Lemon and Herb Stuffing. Plus you get the bonus of roasted potatoes which roast along side of the chicken absorbing some of the chicken flavors.  Parts of them are crisp and parts of them are sticky.  All of them are yum!

Yield: 2 servings

Author: Marie Rayner

Roast Chicken with Sour Cherries, Green Olives, Fennel & Thyme

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 15 M

A deliciously moist half chicken, with a sour cherry, green olive,, fennel and thyme stuffing. Use a green olive such as Castelvetranos. I get mine at Costco. They have a mild lovely buttery taste

Ingredients

• 1/2 whole chicken (1.9 lb/3/4 kg./878g)
• 10 whole green olives, stoned and finely chopped
• a small handful of dried sour cherries, finely chopped
• 1 TBS finely chopped thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 lemons, divided
• 2 tsp flaked coarse sea salt
• avocado oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 420*F/220*C/ gas mark 7. Have ready an oven proof skillet.
2. Mix the chopped olives, chopped sour cherries, garlic, thyme and fennel seed together in a bowl. Zest one of the lemons and add this to the mixture.
3. Using your fingers, very carefully loosen the skin of the chicken from the meat of the chicken on the thigh and breast. Try not to tear it.
4. Stuff the olive mixture into these pockets, again, taking care not to tear the skin of the chicken. Gently rub your hand over the outside of the skin to smooth out the mixture and gently push it further down between the skin and the meat.
5. Cut the zested lemon into thick slices and place them into the bottom of the skillet. Place the chicken, cut side down on top of the lemons.
6. Drizzle with a bit of avocado oil. Sprinkle with the sea salt. Cut the remaining lemon in half and squeeze the juice over top, placing the spent lemons in the skillet as well.
7. Roast in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. If the chicken is getting too brown, tent lightly with a piece of aluminum foil.
8. Continue to roast at the lower temperature for a further 25 to 30 minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear and the internal temperature measures 165*F/74*C.
9. Remove from the oven and leave to sit in the pan for 15 minutes, then baste with the juices from the pan. You can also squeeze a bit of the roasted lemon over top.
10. Carve into thick slices to serve, with some of the stuffing and some of the pan juices spooned over top.

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