Chicken Breast with an Accent

 Growing up, Sunday dinners were always a big deal, often celebrated at my grandparents’ house. What I looked the most forward to was my grandmothers’ pies. There was always the smell of fresh pie in her kitchen on Sundays. Unfortunately she died before she could teach me that skill. I did however make blueberry jam last night so maybe I will make waffles for a treat later. Sundays have changed and the big family dinner tradition has become more of a let’s see what we come up with. I decided today to do chicken so I put on some Van Morrison and this is what happened:

Stuffed Chicken Breast w/stuffing, wild rice,asparagus and sauce

There is no recipe because I made it up today as I went along. This is what I did:

Melt about half a stick of butter in a pan and add 1 finely diced shallot onion and 1 celery stalk. Add your seasonings; I used a bit of sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper but use what you like and have on hand. I didn’t have any white bread so I used a garlic baguette that I had warmed up and then cut into small cubes. I added the bread cubes to the onion mixture and half a cup of chicken stock. Think thanksgiving stuffing. The final touch for this stuffing mixture is a handful of freshly grated Parmesan. Let this cool while you prepare your chicken breasts. I flatten 2-4 breasts and sprinkle them with seasoning (no salt).  If you use a meat hammer make sure you cross punch and the meat is evenly flattened. NOT TO THIN!  Flatten some of the stuffing mix on each breast, roll it up and fasten with toothpicks. Put the rest of the stuffing mix in the baking dish with the chicken. Brush the tops with butter and stick it in the oven at a medium temperature, let it bake until finished. How long will depend on the thickness of your breasts but I would say about 30 minutes. If you are unsure check to see there is no blood running out when you lightly stick it. Undercooked chicken is dangerous and over cooked tastes dried and bad.

Serve your chicken with whatever you want, but don't forget to take out the toothpicks before serving. I used wild rice, fresh asparagus and topped it all off with a Bretagne sauce (paprika and garlic). So what is for dinner today in your house?