How is everybody hanging in with these fun quarantine times?! I’ve been adding substitute teacher to my resume now for the past several weeks and I won’t say I hate it but its certainly not what dreams are made of. There was absolutely a reason I did not become a teacher! Patience is unfortunately not one of my strong suits, but I’m working on it!! Always working on it. Everyday is a new day right :)? Otherwise, everyday seems SO busy! I don’t seem to have one free moment to sit down and catch up on things I usually enjoy doing during downtime. I have this odd, always feeling busy, yet never quite knowing what to do next cycle going on and I’m not loving it. I thrive on organization and I’ve lost my footing in that area. I have been spending loads of time in the kitchen though. I find it easy to kind of zone out and leave my worries behind when I’m getting a recipe together and cleaning up after myself etc. Nice little break from the uncertainty of things. I like to make things that LOOK like they came from a fine dining restaurant. Culinary art is a passion of mine for sure and I like to create things where the presentation is just as important as the taste. With that said… stuffed chicken ALWAYS impresses. No matter who I am cooking for. It just seems so elaborate you know? Even when its not.

I have several different recipes that I call stuffed chicken but this is the simplest with just three main ingredients and its absolutely YUM!! I usually make a bechamel -like sauce to go with it so I’ll add the recipe for that too for those that would like to try it that way. Give me a shout if you try this :)!

Stuffed Chicken III

• skinless boneless chicken breasts… preferably from free range well treated chickens :).
• Goat cheese, room temperature
• spinach leaves

First take one chicken breast and slice it long ways into really thin strips. You will need a really good sharp knife for this. This isn’t “hard” but it takes some practice. What I do is lay the breast flat and push it down hard with one hand than insert your knife a little less than a 1/2 inch down and cut through. Than do that same thing again. Ideally you will end up with three to four separate chicken breasts from what was formally ONE… like in the first picture below. You can also pound the cutlets you have already cut to thin them out a little more and make them more even. Next take your goat cheese and spread a thick layer all along one side. Cover with spinach leaves and roll it up starting from one end until you have a ‘chicken roll up’. Press it down a little and put it on a baking sheet. Below you can see a few ready to roll up and a few already rolled.

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Continue with the rest of your cutlets and hopefully you will have six to eight to bake up depending on how the cutting went. Salt and pepper them all generously and drizzle with olive oil. You can also add some fresh lemon juice, especially if skipping the cream sauce. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Serve with roasted asparagus or any of your favorite vegetables. I usually pair it with asparagus it seems. Read more if you want to try the sauce as well. We always do 🙂

Cream sauce for a topping

• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• butter
• 1/4 cup broth
• 1/2 cup – 1 cup freshly grated paremesan cheese
• capers (optional)
• salt and pepper

In a small saucepan heat up heavy cream, butter and broth. Let it come to a good simmer and add in parmesan cheese slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon as you go. Once the cheese is melted in nicely, add in some salt and pepper and capers. Stir a few more times and allow it to cook on low for a few minutes to thicken up. I serve this on top of the recipe above or on filet of beef.