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Ham and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Roulade Recipe
This recipe is so simple but a lot of people do not think about stuffing their chicken breasts before cooking them. Why not? Stuffing your chicken breasts means you can add any flavor you like to the meat, as well as adding color and another texture or two to the dish. All you have to do is to slice into the chicken breast and lay your filling ingredients inside. That might be cured mean, spinach, basil leaves, sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus, bacon or anything else you want to use. The chicken is best if you first sauté it in a pan so it is golden brown on the outside and then bake it in a warm oven until it is cooked through.
Chicken needs to be white all the way through so you know it is done. This is the same whether or not it is stuffed. Since the inside is the last part to cook, if you are going to use bacon to fill the chicken (bacon is nice wrapped around the outside too!) you might want to use cooked bacon, else it will not cook.
The same applies to hard vegetables like asparagus. Just par-boil them first. Soft veggies like mushrooms will cook inside the chicken breast in the oven. This wonderful recipe can be served with fries, boiled potatoes, or rice. It is a versatile dish and it goes nicely with all kinds of tasty side dishes. What about making it kid-friendly and using fries or potato wedges?
Chicken Breast Stuffed with Cured Ham, Cheese and Sage
Ingredients -
4 chicken breasts
3 ˝ oz cured ham
3 ˝ oz Edam cheese
Fresh sage leaves
1 small pot sour cream
2 tablespoons butter
Paprika
Preparation:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Open each chicken breast with a long, thin knife. Cut in from the thin end and make a pocket. Wrap a slice of cheese and a sage leaf with a slice of cured ham. Stuff deeply into the pocket and close each chicken breast with a toothpick. When the 4 chicken breasts are stuffed in this way, heat some butter in a frying pan. Pan fry the chicken breasts until golden brown then cook them in the oven for 15 minutes.
Whisk the sour cream with some salt, pepper, and paprika until creamy. Cut the chicken breasts into inch-thick slices and arrange them on the serving plates. Decorate the rest of the plate with the sour cream sauce.
(Serves 4)
Wine Suggestion:
Which Wine for Chicken Roulade
Try a red wine with this easy stuffed chicken breast recipe. What about a California Zinfandel? This is a full-bodied red wine with berry flavors which contrast well with the cheese inside the chicken breast. White wine is often served with chicken but when it contains strong-flavored ingredients like cured ham and cheese, a big, bold Zinfandel can really work with it.
Photo Description:
As you can see from the picture, this is a very elegant looking recipe. All it is really is stuffed chicken breast but your dinner guests do not have to know how easy it was to make! You can either serve a sour cream based sauce with this or use the chicken juices to make your own gravy. Learning how to make gravy is very easy and it really keeps the chicken moist when you pour gravy or sauce over it. This is an exciting dish but best of all it is quick and easy to make.
Chicken Cooking Tips
When you are adding chicken to a recipe calling for a measured amount, you can tell how much chicken you have by using the standard rule of one pound of boneless chicken equals three cups of cubed chicken. You might not need to know that for a chicken roulade filling recipe but it is handy to know for other chicken recipes. Remove chicken pieces as they are cooked to allow the remaining pieces to finish cooking. Smaller pieces like wings and breasts and white mean will cook faster than dark meat like thighs and legs. To see if your roast chicken is done, hold on to a leg and then move it side to side and around. If it moves freely at the joint, the chicken is done. It is a good idea to use one or two other methods to test for doneness too, like a meat thermometer or cutting into the thickest part to check that no pinkness remains.
Chicken Cooking Times
It is useful to know that covered chicken cooks slower in the oven than uncovered chicken. Also, an un-trussed chicken will roast more evenly and quicker than a trussed one. For neat slices and pieces, use a sharp knife when carving chicken. A blunt one will make your chicken roulade look ragged.
Learn More About Wine>> California Wine Country Mini Articles are spread through out the site get a list of articles at this link.
