Gallina rellena

Ingredients

Hen

• 1hen or large chicken, about 3 kg

Marinade

• 4 tbspWorcestershire sauce
• 3 tbspyellow mustard
• juice of 2 bitter oranges, or 1 orange and 1 lime
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbspachiote paste
• 1 tbspdried oregano
• 2 tspground black pepper
• salt

Stuffing

• 500 gminced pork
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 1red pepper, diced
• 2carrots, diced small
• 2potatoes, diced small
• 100 ggreen olives, sliced
• 3 tbspcapers, rinsed and chopped
• 100 graisins
• 2 sliceswhite bread, soaked in milk
• 1egg
• 1 tspground cumin
• salt and pepper

To roast

• 250 mlchicken stock
• 50 gbutter, softened

Equipment

• kitchen string, a large roasting tin, a trussing needle if you have one

Directions

1. Mix the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, citrus juice, garlic, achiote, oregano, pepper and salt in a bowl. It should be a thick loose paste rather than a thin liquid. Rub the marinade over the whole bird, working it under the skin of the breast where you can. Put a good spoonful inside the cavity as well. Put the bird in a bag or a covered dish and refrigerate it overnight.
2. Turn it once if you remember, so the marinade reaches everywhere. Cooking it first matters, because raw pork stuffing will not reach a safe temperature inside a whole bird.
3. Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and red pepper and cook them for six minutes until softened. Add the minced pork and break it up with a spoon as it browns. Cook it for about ten minutes, until no pink remains and the liquid has cooked off.
4. Add the diced carrot and potato and cook them for another five minutes. They should be part cooked but still firm, since they will finish inside the bird. Stir in the olives, capers, raisins and ground cumin. Squeeze the milk out of the soaked bread and crumble it into the pan. The bread binds the stuffing and keeps it from falling apart when sliced.
5. Season it well and take the pan off the heat. Let the stuffing cool completely before it goes anywhere near the bird. Beat the egg into the cold stuffing to bind it properly. Never put warm stuffing into raw poultry, since it sits in the danger zone for hours.
6. Take the hen out of the fridge an hour before you want to cook it. Spoon the cold stuffing into the cavity, pressing it in gently. Leave a little room at the opening, since the stuffing swells as it cooks. Heat the oven to 190C and set the bird breast up in a roasting tin. Rub the softened butter over the breast and legs.
7. Pour the stock into the bottom of the tin, around the bird and not over it. Roast it uncovered for thirty minutes to colour the skin. Continue roasting for about two and a half hours for a hen of this size. Baste it with the pan juices every forty minutes or so.
8. Remove the foil for the last twenty minutes to crisp the skin again. Now checking that it is done, which matters more than the clock. Lift the bird onto a board and tent it loosely with foil. Let it rest for twenty-five minutes before cutting into it.
9. Skim the fat off the pan juices and set the tin over a low heat. Scrape up the browned bits and let the juices reduce for five minutes. Taste it and add salt only if it needs it, since the marinade was already salty. Now carving, which is done in slices across the bird rather than in joints.
10. Cut the string, spoon out the stuffing, and keep it warm in a dish. Carve the breast in thick slices and separate the legs and thighs. Serve each plate with meat, a spoonful of stuffing and the pan sauce poured over.

Technique

• Cook the stuffing first and cool it completely, since raw pork stuffing will not reach a safe temperature inside the bird.
• Check both thigh and stuffing reach 75C before you take it out.
• Marinate overnight, since a few hours does not reach the meat.

Substitutions

• A large chicken in place of a hen, with about an hour less roasting.
• Orange and lime juice mixed, in place of bitter orange.

Variations

• With prunes added to the stuffing.
• Deboned entirely and rolled, then sliced into rounds.
• Cooked as a stuffed turkey for larger gatherings.

History

The Nicaraguan Christmas Eve dish, prepared over two days and carved at midnight after Mass.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gallina rellena?

Gallina rellena is a main from Nicaragua: hen stuffed with pork, capers, olives and vegetables, roasted then sliced. The Nicaraguan Christmas Eve dish, prepared over two days and carved at midnight after Mass.

How long does Gallina rellena take to make?

Gallina rellena takes 1 hour plus overnight marinating of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Gallina rellena?

Yes, within limits. A large chicken in place of a hen, with about an hour less roasting. Orange and lime juice mixed, in place of bitter orange.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gallina rellena?

Mix the Worcestershire sauce, mustard, citrus juice, garlic, achiote, oregano, pepper and salt in a bowl. It should be a thick loose paste rather than a thin liquid. Rub the marinade over the whole bird, working it under the skin of the breast where you can. Put a good spoonful inside the cavity as well. Put the bird in a bag or a covered dish and refrigerate it overnight.