Need ideas for stuffed chicken breasts

[starbucksbrew]

What should I stuff chicken breasts with? No cream cheese, sour cream, blue cheese, or hot peppers please.

[smartie]

I've never tried making Chicken Kiev - butter, garlic and parsely, but now I am Jonesing for it, it's been years since I've even seen it on a menu or even thought about it.

[pilotgirl210]

Just like two of my favorites....Monte Cristo sandwiches and cobb salads. You rarely see either on menus anymore :=( But both are served at the Bleu Bayou Restaurant overlooking the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. Hubby orders one as an entree, I order the other. We eat half and then switch plates.......tee hee. Probably a good thing they aren't readily available anymore. There's a kazillion calories in each.

[chef chicklet]

Flatten each chicken breast and then cover them with plastic wrap, put back into the fridge to keep chilled. Cut the breast in half horizontally if they happen to be very thick breasts, then pound out. Don't tear the meat.

In a bowl, mix 1 box of spinach (frozen-really well drained is okay) and creamed cheese. Add 2 garlic cloves, and a pack of the 8oz cream cheese, add an additional 2 T of mayonniase. Mix well in a blender or food processor. Salt and pepper. make sure that all the spinach is chopped and you're able to spread the cheese spread. PUt it back into the fridge to set up.20 minutes, then..

Put about 2 T on the flattened chick breast. Then wrap the chicken securing with toothpicks. I would then lightly dust with flour, brush it lightly off, and then dip in egg whites, and then the roll the breasts in panko crumbs seasoned well with black pepper and sea salt. Very important. Put these back into the fridge for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking, or they will not cook as well. This step helps the crust stay together If you have done this right, the meat will be about 1/2 inch thick, and what you're aiming for is that the meat is cooked and the center is nice and ooze, bubbling hot. It will take about 10-12 minutes to cook the chicken and warm the filling. Do this carefully as not to overcook the panko crust.

Add oil to the pan turn the heat to med hi, and add about 1 inch of oil, fry until golden brown. Reduce the heat, once they're cooking it's ok to turn the heat down. You don't want to cook these too hot. or they will be burn on the outside and be raw in the center. Keep a close watch, you don't want to lose the filling either. Find a nice medium heat, and test the breast for doneness using a thermometer and internal temp is 180 degrees. Pull and drain on paper towels. Cover with paper towels, served with the butter sauce.
The spinach, garlic and cream cheese/mayo make a great stuffing for the chicken.
You can use artichoke heart also (with a little fresh lemon juice)
AT the end make a little butter sauce with lemon juice, and serve poured over the breaded breasts. YUM!

[karykat]

Question for you: It looks like you have a three-step process for breading these (flour, egg white and then panko) followed by chilling.

What do you think the three steps accomplish? Do they make the panko layer thicker or stick better? What is the crust like?

[ROCKLES]

it appears that in order to get the liquid to stick to the meat you need a light dusting of flour
if you double dip the panko i guess it gets an even crunchier crust, and the chill helps it from falling off when cooking

[starbucksbrew]

Than you all so much for the ideas! I used your ideas to come up with this, which is different from those posted but I definitely got inspired by your recipes:

Chopped and sauteed swiss chard, chopped garlic, chopped cooked bacon, pine nuts, mozzarella and swiss cheeses, mustard and just a little brown sugar. I did butter and panko crumbs on top. They were so good! So excited for leftovers tonight.

[beggsy]

My favourite recipe - with or without the hollandaise sauce- is this Chicken Breast Stuffed with Asparagus.

.http://www.bestofbridge.com/Recipe131...

[Beach Chick]

pound the chicken breast..panko crust them..roll them with either feta or goat cheese and fresh spinach..you can wrap everything up in a couple slices of ham or not and cook those bad boys up..out of this world goodness.

[katecm]

Corn bread, prosciutto and sage stuffing, with a sage-brown butter sauce. Yum!

[ewilke]

Do you have a recipe for that? That sounds very good!

[janetms383]

chicken cordon bleu!!

[pilotgirl210]

Yummmm! Always my favorite!

[Boccone Dolce]

Are you ok with goat cheese? I make a paste of sun dried tomatoes, smear that on, add a hunk of goat cheese. I've done spinach and breadcrumbs with a hunk of mozzarella, and also spirals with fresh spinach, ham and swiss. Pesto is a fantastic idea from Chai.

[Emme]

pound and flatten, then spread with roasted garlic (mashed to a paste). layer on carmelized onions and sauteed mushrooms, and optionally some julienned sundried tomatoes and fresh herbs such as basil or parsley. roll up and secure. dip in egg white, then coat with cornmeal (or panko), and bake! or, throw them in pan to just crisp the outside, then pop in the oven to finish the inside.

[Jacey]

This sounds great and fairly healthy. Have you tried it without the cornmeal/panko?

[todao]

Try wrapping skinned and flattened chicken breasts around a chunk of Jack cheese and spreading them with whipped butter to which you've added oregano, marjoram and chopped parsley. Coat with corn starch, dip into beaten egg then roll in a plate of Panko crumbs. Lay them in a single layer in a baking dish (closely spaced but not touching) and bake about twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Remove from the oven, drizzle generously with a mixture of butter and Sauterne then return to oven for another fifteen minutes or so. At least long enough to brown them nicely and to achieve the USDA food safe internal temperature. Spoon the sauce over top to serve. Simple, delicious, a crowd pleaser.

[mamachef]

Nice do-ahead too. I also love the ideas of making these and rolling them and then slicing them to serve as hor's d'ouvre, on bread rounds, with a chutney or salsa of some type.

[goodhealthgourmet]

- spinach, olives & feta
- goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes & sauteed mushrooms

or you can try this Mark Bittman recipe:

EAST FANCY STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS
Makes 4 servings; takes 45 minutes

This recipe is nice because you don't have to cut a pocket, or pound the chicken — just tie it. Plus this method just requires one skillet.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pound fresh spinach leaves
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup panko crumbs, optional
• 4 boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut six 8-inch pieces of butcher twine. Put 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the raisins, pine nuts and garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the spinach, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring constantly, until wilted and fairly dry, about 10 minutes. Remove and roughly chop; stir in the panko crumbs. Note: Be sure to cook filling first, because it won’t cook inside the chicken and you want it to be fairly dry.

2. Spread two chicken breasts out on a work surface so that the side where the bones were is face up. Flatten them a bit with the palm of your hand. Put the stuffing on top of the two breasts, then top with the remaining breasts, end to end, so that the tapered side is on the same side as the rounded side (this ensures a tidy roll and even cooking). Tie each stuffed breast in three places with twine. Sprinkle all sides with salt and pepper and roll them around in the same pan you used to cook the spinach, adding another tablespoon of olive oil to coat them well. Transfer to the oven and bake, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through and opaque, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Make a quick pan sauce while the chicken is resting: Remove the chicken from the pan and tent with foil. Set the pan over medium heat and add the vinegar, mustard and a little water. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens into a thin syrup. Add a few more grinds black pepper. Remove the string from the chicken and slice crosswise into thin or thick pieces. Serve with a spoonful of the sauce drizzled over all.

[chai]

Try using pesto. You can also wrap the breast in a couple of slices of prosciutto and then bake at 375 for about 20min.

[Robin Joy]

Second this, it works really well with all different pesto variations. I might brush with olive oil and cook rather longer, or is 20 min. really enough?

[eight_inch_pestle]

So hard to say with the wildly varying size of breasts these days.

[Robin Joy]

Uniformity is more important than absolute size, I think. That and presentation.