Alright so here's how this test came about.
I was looking for a recipe that I could do for dinner yesterday and I came across this one a few days before. I hadn't looked into it to much which was a mistake on my part because you have to understand that my husband hates cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, ranch, salad dressing and tomatoes.
I happened to look at the recipe after I put the chicken into a bowl to thaw out. And there was cream cheese. Great.
I mentioned all the above things my husband doesn't like because almost every recipe I found as a filling for chicken stuffed recipes had one of the above mentioned.
I eventually gave up on not finding one that didn't have cream cheese and decided instead of that I would just use butter to replace it and then use the other ingredients.
I know the filling sounds interesting but that's what made this taste so good!
Long explanation later..... this is what I did.
Original recipe I wanted to use:
Website
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Bacon-Wrapped-Chicken?keycode=ZPIN1112
2nd recipe that I altered the filling of
website
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/stuffed_herbed_chicken_with_boursin_cheese/
Ingredients:
- 6 medium, boneless chicken breasts
CUT IN HALF and FLATEN to a 1/2 inch
Makes 12 pieces.
12 pieces of bacon strips
*Trust me when I say this. 6 pieces is not enough for 3 people.
Filling:
*When making the filling keep wet and dry separate. It's easier to portion on each half.
Wet ingredients
- 1/2 a stick of butter (melted)
- 1/4 tsp cajun
- 1/2 tbls of Parmesan
- Pinch of salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4-1/2 tsp of oregano
dry ingredients:
- 1/2 tbls of basil
- 2 tbls of crushed walnuts
- 3 tbls of bread crumbs ( I used plain, progresso brand)
- 1/2 tsp of parsley
- salt and pepper to taste ( yes I mentioned it twice)
Step 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9x13 dish.
Step 2. Take chicken breast and cut in half. Once done flaten them with a meat hammer to 1/2 inch.
Step 3. Melt in a small bowl and then combine cajun, parmesan, salt, pepper and oregano
Step 4. mix all dry ingredients together. Basil, walnuts, bread crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper.
Step 5. Take now flattened chicken and spoon on butter mixture. And with a separate spoon, portion out the dry ingredients.
*It's done this way because that way you'll get the nice texture and even mix so that way it won't be soggy when you cook it.
Step 6. After all pieces of chicken halves are done. Roll them up and wrap around a piece of bacon.
Step 7. Now seem side down, place the chicken in previously greased pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes uncovered. Then remove oven and place in another dish. There will be lots of bacon grease and you don't want the chicken to get soggy on the bottom.
Once transfered to another dish, put back in oven and broil for 5-6 minutes or until bacon is crispy.
*Keep an eye on the oven because the bacon grease most likely touched the heating element and you don't want to start a fire. Broiling can do that :P
And Voila!
I served mine with Rice that had olive oil, sea salt and herbs de provence on them and caramelized carrots.
My family actually like it considering that it had such an interesting twist in them. I wish I would have made more!
Finished product!
I cook everything in a glass dish because all we have here at the moment is dark pans and that always burns my food.
