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From Recipes Remembered by June Hersh
Excerpted from George Lang's Cuisine of Hungary, Wings Books, New York 1994
This matzo-stuffed chicken is Jewish family fare during Passover holidays. The stuffing is so different from the usual bread-based kind that regardless of religion or time of year, you should try it. If you are able, put some of the stuffing under the skin of the bird.
Ingredients:
1 fat fowl, 4 to 4 ½ pounds
3 whole pieces of matzo
1/2 small onion, chopped fine
3/4 cup rendered chicken fat
4 chicken livers, very carefully cleaned*
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 pound mushrooms, chopped
Salt and pepper
2 eggs
2 tablespoons crushed matzo
1 medium-sized very ripe tomato, cut into pieces
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 garlic clove, mashed
Directions:
Soak the chicken in salted ice-cold water for 1 hour. Soak matzo in lukewarm water till soft, then squeeze till dry.
Cook chopped onion, covered, in 2 tablespoons of the chicken fat; do not brown. After 5 minutes add chicken livers, parsley and mushrooms. Cook, covered, for another 5 minutes. Let the mixture cool.
Add squeezed matzo and put the whole mixture through the grinder. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add eggs and bread crumbs and mix well. Let the stuffing rest for a couple of hours.
Mix in 6 tablespoons chicken fat
Remove chicken from ice-cold water, wipe it well inside and outside and salt it. Fill with the stuffing. Sew up the opening.
Spread 2 tablespoons of chicken fat on the bottom of a baking pan. Put in tomato, sliced onion and green pepper. Add garlic, a sprinkle of salt and ¼ cup water.
Spread remaining 2 tablespoons fat on top of the chicken, put the chicken in the pan, cover the pan, and cook the chicken on top of the stove over low heat. Baste often.
Preheat the oven to 475° F. When the chicken is done, take it out of the pan and keep it warm. Put vegetables through a sieve or blender to make sauce.
Put chicken back in the pan and place it in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes to make it brown and crisp.
Serve the sauce separately.
Notes:
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Recipes: Passover, Poultry, Chicken, Matzo Stuffed, Kosher
* Editor's note: Your butcher can kasher the livers for you or broil them prior to adding them to the recipe.
Recipes: Passover, Poultry, Chicken, Stuffed, Kosher