Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Roasted Stuffed Chicken Parcels

These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy. 

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

A couple of years back, I popped into my nearby Island butcher just to see what was fresh and on special. I ended up buying a few of his lovely meaty pork sausages but something else in the display case caught my eye.

I had to lean in for a closer look and to read the price label because I had never seen anything quite like it before. Turned out to be stuffed chicken parcels, looking pretty much like the ones I’ve made here. No idea what their stuffing was like because I didn’t buy any but they were so cute that I knew I had to give them a try myself. 

Roasted Stuffed Chicken Parcels

I stuffed mine with half of my classic buttery bread dressing recipe, which I’ve shared the method for again here. If you need photos of the process, you can find those by clicking here. Use the ingredient amounts given below though which are perfect for stuffing about five chicken thighs. 

Ingredients
For the stuffing:
1/2 loaf quality sandwich bread with soft crusts (about 10 oz or 280g)
1/4 cup or 57g butter
1 onion, diced
2 slim stalks celery, de-stringed and diced finely
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup or 120ml chicken stock (made from stock cube is fine!)
1 tablespoon salt-free poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the chicken: 
5 chicken thighs, deboned, skin on
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, optional
trussing string

Olive oil for the roasting pan

Method
For photos of the stuffing method, click here.
Cube the bread and put it in a large mixing bowl.

Put the butter in a large pan with the chopped onion and celery.

Melt the butter over medium heat and cook until the onions and celery are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally. Add a good pinch of salt, a few grinds of black pepper, along with the cayenne and poultry seasoning.

Pour the buttery celery and onions over the bread cubes in the mixing bowl. Use two spoons like salad tongs to toss and combine.

Sprinkle on the parsley. Add the stock and toss again to combine.

Check for seasoning and stir in more salt and pepper as needed. Depending on the saltiness of your stock, you might not need much (or any) salt.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Note: I found it impossible to find boneless chicken thighs with the skin still on here so I had to debone them myself. If you find yourself in the same position, you need a sharp knife, but it’s easy. Click here to find deboning thigh instructions on Serious Eats. Do not remove the skin! 

Lay the chicken thighs out skin side down. Season them with a sprinkling of salt, black pepper and cayenne, if using. Divide the stuffing between the thighs.


Fold the chicken thigh meat and skin over to enclose the stuffing. Turn the parcels over and secure with trussing string. 


Drizzle a little olive oil in your roasting pan and tuck the parcels in. Season the outside with a sprinkle of salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Add a sprinkle of cayenne, if desired. 


Roast in your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the skin is a lovely golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. 

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

Remove the trussing string and serve hot. 

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

Welcome to the 18th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter R. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the R recipes below:


To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.



Pin these Roasted Stuffed Chicken Parcels!

Food Lust People Love: These roasted stuffed chicken parcels are made with skin-on, boneless chicken thighs, filled with buttery bread dressing and roasted until golden and crispy.

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Sunday, August 30, 2026

Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies

These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed. 

Food Lust People Love: These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed.

Growing up in Houston, the only sugar we would ever buy was refined from pure cane syrup about 10 miles from my childhood home in a little town called, appropriately, Sugar Land. (The two-word name is one way we separate Texas transplants from locals, as newcomers tend to want to write it, Sugarland. It’s an amusing test.) 

Starting with a single sugar mill back in 1843 and then incorporated in 1905, Imperial Sugar is still my sugar of choice for all the varieties but nowadays it’s no longer a family enterprise. It is run as a subsidiary of United States Sugar Corporation. Thankfully, quality remains high though.

Over the years, Imperial Sugar produced many cookbooks, often in collaboration with the Parent-Teacher Association of Sugar Land as fundraisers. The 48-page promotional cookbook - A Bag Full of Recipes, 1930 edition - this recipe was adapted from was one of those, featuring classic household recipes and baking tips. 

Icebox cookies were a homemaker's ace-in-the-hole for unexpected guests! Kept chilled, they could be baked at a moment's notice. These days, we can freeze the dough and keep it fresh even longer. 

All of the Imperial Sugar vintage cookbooks are available for download on the Imperial Sugar website here: https://imperialsugar.com/vintage-cookbooks/ Such a motherload of vintage recipes! 

Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies

It is essential that you roll, wrap and chill this dough for at least three hours before slicing to bake the cookies, because they will spread out. The dough can be frozen, well-wrapped, for a couple of months. This makes about 3-4 dozen 2-inch cookies, depending on your slicing. 

Ingredients
½ cup or 60g chopped pecans 
½ cup or 113g unsalted butter, at room temperature 
¾ cup, tightly packed, or 150g dark brown sugar 
1 large egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 ¼ cups or 156g flour 
½ teaspoon fine sea salt 
¼ teaspoon baking soda 

Optional for decoration: pecan halves

For wrapping the dough:
Baking parchment or waxed paper

Method
Place the chopped pecans in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. 


Add the butter and brown sugar and pulse to combine. 


Add the egg and vanilla and pulse until combined. 


In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda. 


Turn the flour mixture into the food processor and pulse until smooth. 


Tear off a sheet of waxed or parchment paper about 15 inches long. Spoon the dough onto the paper and roll into a log about 15 inches or 38cm long. 


Wrap the dough up and chill for at least three hours or preferably overnight. (You can also store the log in the freezer in a zipper-top bag for up to 3 months.) 


When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375ºF or 190°C, with a rack in the middle. 

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it back and forth on the counter until it is about 1½ inches in diameter. Mine was a challenge to roll into a neat round tube. Is my fridge too cold? Who knows! I just wish I had rolled it more round before chilling! You should. 

Slice the dough roll into circles just under 1cm or ½ inch thick.


Arrange them on a silicone- or parchment-lined baking pan, at least 1 inch or 2cm apart.


If desired, press a pecan half into each round. I like to do this because 1. If someone has a nut allergy, it’s an immediate red flag that says: Do NOT eat, and 2. They are prettier with a pecan on top! 


Bake, one pan at a time, until the cookies are golden brown and crispy around the edges, about 8 minutes. 

Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 


Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the pans between batches. Alternatively, as mentioned above, it can be frozen, well-wrapped, for a few months. Slice and bake at will! 

Store the cookies for up to a week in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed.

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing cookie recipes, just ‘cause we want to. Because who doesn’t want more cookie recipes? Exactly no one. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below. 

 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.



Pin these Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies!

Food Lust People Love: These Vintage Pecan Icebox Cookies are made from a tried-and-true classic recipe from Imperial Sugar Pure Cane Sugar. The dough is chilled (or frozen) before baking so you can slice and bake as needed.

 .

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Baked Quail Egg XO Sauce Appetizers

These baked quail egg XO sauce appetizers are savory, rich and delicious, super easy to make and they are pretty too! Make two, three or as many as you need! 

Food Lust People Love: These baked quail egg XO sauce appetizers are savory, rich and delicious, super easy to make and they are pretty too! Make two, three or as many as you need!

When I made homemade XO sauce last year, I was trying to think of creative ways to use it in non-traditional recipes. I just happened to have a couple fresh quail eggs on hand at the time, along with a baguette. This was just one result!

Baked Quail Egg XO Sauce Appetizers

My husband and I each enjoyed one as a small appetizer and, frankly, wished we had more! Next time I make them, I’ll use a muffin pan and make a few. I suggest you do the same. 

Ingredients
For each appetizer:
Butter or olive oil for greasing a ramekin or muffin pan
1 slice baguette
2 tablespoons XO sauce (homemade from this recipe or store bought)
1 raw quail egg
For garnish: chopped chives

Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and grease your ramekins or muffin pan with olive oil or butter.

Cut your baguette in thick slices.


Place one slice of baguette in each ramekin or muffin cup. Top with the XO sauce, spread around to cover the baguette. Make an indentation in the middle to help cradle the yolk.


Carefully cut the top off the quail egg shell.


Tip it out onto the XO sauce.


Bake in your preheated oven for 3-6 minutes, checking at 3 minutes and watching closely until the whites are just set and the yolks reach your desired doneness. 


Sprinkle on the chopped chives for garnish. 

We ate these with small spoons to cut the bread base and scoop. So good!

We ate these with small spoons to cut the bread base and scoop. So good! 

We ate these with small spoons to cut the bread base and scoop. So good!

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 17th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter Q. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the Q recipes below:


Pin these Baked Quail Egg XO Sauce Appetizers!

Food Lust People Love: These baked quail egg XO sauce appetizers are savory, rich and delicious, super easy to make and they are pretty too! Make two, three or as many as you need!

.