Our Thanksgiving Feast - Roast Chicken With Cranberry And Macadamia Stuffing plus Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving is a time of the year where everyone in the family to get together to have meal and give grateful for things like family, friends, food and etc. To be frank this is my first year preparing Thanksgiving feast for the family and instead of the usual baked “turkey” I decided to swap with something smaller. So for this year, I prepared Roast Chicken with Cranberry and Macadamia Stuffing together with medley of colourful vegetables. And I also made our all-time favourite Pumpkin Pie with buttery crust for dessert.

I am thankful that this feast was able to complete and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner as planned. It was because during the preparation (if you have read about the mishap (here) on my Instagram (@cuisineparadise)) my old build-in oven (12 years) actually fused off while I was preheating it for the bakes. But thanks God with my Samsung microwave convection oven I am still able to prepare the dishes with slight changes or else I won't be able to know what to do. 

ROAST CHICKEN WITH CRANBERRY AND MACADAMIA STUFFING

Actually my initial plan was to get the dinner ready in less than 2 hours by roasting the chicken in the big oven together with the vegetables and baked the pumpkin pie in my microwave convection oven. In this way it saved waiting time for the food to take turn to bake in the oven plus we will be able to enjoy the dessert after the dinner which still taste warm for serving.

(Serves: 2 - 4 | Preparation: 20 minutes |  Ready In: 1 Hour 15 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 1.2kg Whole Chicken
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 Medium Potato, cut into wedges
• 1 Medium Carrot, cut into 1" thick
• 1 Sweetcorn, cut into 2.5" thick
• Some Cherry Tomatoes
• Some Fresh Thyme Sprigs

Macadamia Stuffing

• 1 Small Onion, finely chopped
• 10g Butter
• 60g Roasted Macadamia Nuts, chopped
• 60g Dried Cranberry, chopped
• Rind Of 1 Orange, shredded
• 1.5 Tablespoons Honey
• 2 Cups Fresh Breadcrumbs
• 1 Egg, lightly Beaten
• Some Fresh Thyme Leaves, chopped

Method:-
1. Saute onion with butter in a frying pan over medium heat until softened. Remove from heat.

2. In a mixing bow combined fresh breadcrumbs, cranberry, macadamia nuts, orange rind, honey, thyme leaves, onion and beaten egg together and mix well. Season with pepper and set aside.

3. Preheat oven (convection mode for samsung oven) to 180ºC (degree celsius). Spoon stuffing into the chicken cavity (trim the fat and clean the cavity ahead), secure with a toothpick to enclose the filling. Tie legs together with kitchen string and transfer chicken to baking tray/roasting pan.

4. Rub the chicken with 1/2 tablespoon each of olive oil and honey, season with salt and pepper. Arrange seasoned vegetables (except tomatoes) around the chicken as shown above. Roast for 30 minutes.

5. Next basting the vegetables with juice or lightly brush them with olive oil and honey, continue to roast for another 30 minutes, turn the vegetables, add tomato to pan.

6. Roast for another 15 minutes or until juices run clear when chicken thigh is pierced with skewer.

7. Remove strong from chicken, served it warm with soup or salad green of your choice.

Tip:
- I made my own fresh breadcrumb using two days old baguette which I cut it into small cubes and toast them till lightly browned and crisp.

Although I have tried a few roast chicken recipes with assorted vegetables but this was the first time I incorporate stuffing into the chicken cavity. For this, I used a mixture of dried fruit like cranberry together with macadamia nuts, fresh breadcrumbs, thyme and orange rinds for that fruity fragrance. Personally I love this stuffing which we agreed it somehow resemble fruitcake taste perhaps due to the ingredients used.

PUMPKIN PIE

Pumpkin Pie is a traditional dessert which often made and eaten during Fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And also during this period of time you can easily find canned pumpkin puree (LIBBY'S® is one of the brand) in major supermarkets where you can used it for the pie. Here instead of the ready-made pumpkin puree, I made my own puree using fresh Australian pumpkin that in season.

Recipe adapted from Joyofbaking here.

(Make: 8" Round Tin  | Preparation: 20 minutes | Baking Time: 50 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 175g All-Purposed Plain Flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
• 115g Unsalted Butter, cut into small cubes
• 2 - 3 Tablespoons Ice Water
• 30g Each Of Pecans And Walnut (optional), coarsely chopped

Pumpkin Filling:

• 3 Eggs (55g Each)
• 2 Cups Fresh Pumpkin Puree (430g)
• 120ml Thicken/Heavy Cream
• 110g Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Of All Spices
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Method:-
1. To make fresh pumpkin puree: Cook 500g of fresh pumpkin cubes in microwave oven for about 8 - 10 minutes on HIGH (900W) stirring at least twice between cooking time.

2. When the pumpkin cubes soften, mashed it with a fork/spoon while hot till no trace of lumps found. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

3. To make the pie crust: In a food processor, process flour, salt, butter and enough ice water together to form a soft dough.

4. Or using the rub-in method, rub chilled butter into flour and salt mixture till it resemble breadcrumbs texture, slowly drizzle ice water till it form a dough. Flatten dough into a disk, cover with baking paper and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

5. Remove the dough, roll into a big circle with extra allowance to fix the pie dish. Gently transfer the dough to the pie dish, press down the base and trim the pastry to the edge.

6. With the remaining pastry make decorative cut-outs and attach them around the edge of the pie dish. Next if you are adding some nuts for the base, press the mixture evenly onto the base and chill the crust for at least another 20 minutes before preparing the fillings.

7. In a large bowl lightly whisk the egg then stir in the sugar, cream, pumpkin puree and spices one after another and stir to combined.

8. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and bake in preheated 180ºC (degree celsius) oven (convection mode for samsung oven) for about 45 - 50 minutes or until the filling is set, crust has browned and a knife inserted (1" deep) and come out almost clean.

9. Cool the pie for at least 2 hours before serving it at room temperature.

I have adapted the recipe (with minor changes) from Joyofbaking plus there is also demo video on how she prepares the pie which makes it easier to follow through the recipe. We love the buttery crust and the soft pudding like texture of the pumpkin filling; and with a dollar of fresh cream and some berries it definitely makes a perfect dessert for this festive season.

Till then have a great weekend ahead. Cheers!