Merry Christmas!!. I hope you had an amazing time. Our Christmas was very nice. We went to New York for it. I didn’t cook this Christmas instead, I relaxed and enjoyed Christmas meals  :). We also got to see the Famous Macy’s Santa this year.

I will share with you this year the Arabic way of a Christmas Meal. Stuffed Chicken is essential every Christmas and is also repeated for New Year’s Day.

I don’t have good pictures but I will make sure to update them once I have better ones.

Ingredients:

Whole Chicken (1.5 Lbs)
One cup of Rice
Ground beef
Almonds or Pine Nuts
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

How to Prepare:

Clean the inside of the chicken with salt and water to get rid of the blood. Then place it on a tray to dry.

Soak the almonds in hot water for 15 minutes so it can peel easily.

To prepare the stuffing, use a medium pot, fry the peeled almonds, and the ground beef with some butter until the beef is cooked.  Then, add a dash of salt and pepper and stir for a few minutes.

Add to the pot, one cup of rice and one cup of water and bring it to a boil. When it starts to boil, lower the flame and cover for about 10 minutes until the water dries.

Put the ground beef and rice on the side until it cools down.

Sew one side of the chicken by the neck then stuff the inside of the chicken with the stuffing. Also, place a small layer of the stuffing under the skin, making sure that the skin stays loose so it does not rip off.

Sew the other side and tie the legs together and cover the chicken with a stocking (women’s stockings…yes you read it right – and yeah make sure they are new and clean).

Place the chicken in a large pot with water and boil for an hour to an hour and a half. Place salt, pepper, cinnamon, and bay leaves in the pot. Make sure to skim the froth as it appears.

After it is boiled, take it out of the stocking and place on a baking sheet that has been brushed with olive oil. Lightly brush the chicken. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until it becomes red.

Now it is ready to be served! Enjoy! Happy Holidays…