Roasted chicken & rice stuffing for a crowd

This chicken is so tender and juicy that even if you prefer dark meat, you're sure to like every part of this chicken.

Buy a good oven roaster. I buy my healthily-grown young chickens from Giant.

Remove giblet package from cavity and set aside. Thoroughly wash chicken and clean out cavity. Cut away any large flaps of fat near cavity.

Set chicken aside while you prepare stuffing.

Since I'd had regular bread stuffing for T'giving, I thought I'd try something new: rice stuffing.

Prepare 1 cup RAW rice, either white or brown, according to pkg directions.

Saute these tasty flavorful ingredients (use what you have in your fridge)

half onion chopped
two stalks celery chopped
half green pepper chopped
half carrot grated
2 large mushrooms chopped

Optional: Take pack of giblets and boil them till done in several cups boiling water. You'll use this as a flavorful stock for the extra stuffing that won't fit in the bird.

After veggies are cooked, combine with rice in a large bowl. Add seasoning. You can use already prepared 'poultry seasoning' or fresh herbs such as a packet of fresh poultry seasoning I found at the Giant containing:

sage, tarragon, and thyme
fresh parsley

Use of fresh herbs brings a delightful piquant flavor to the stuffing.

Now you're ready to stuff the bird.

Place bird on large platter. Thoroughly salt it, which leads to a crispy crust. Add pepper and/or paprika if desired.

Stuff the cavity with as much of the rice mixture as will fit in. Do not overload.

If you have twine or string, you may wish to truss the bird. Tie the top wings onto the bird with one piece of string, and truss the legs with another piece which will keep the stuffing from spilling out the end.

If you have leftover stuffing, put it in a baking pan, a glass Pyrex is fine, and pour the liquid broth on top. You'll bake this extra stuffing for 20 minutes.

TO BAKE THE BIRD

Put in an oiled roasting pan and cover with a lid or foil.

Set oven to 375 and bake for about 90 minutes. Be sure it's thoroughly done when you remove from oven, no pink! The pop-up thermometer may not be a true measure of doneness. Take a peek inside the thigh.

Carve the bird and set slices on a platter.

Dive in.