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Italian Stuffed Chicken Breast with a Marsala Sauce

Yet another experiment and another success I am pleased to say. This is very easy to do and tastes delicious, the only fiddly thing is tying it with the kitchen string and I hate that anyway. Well actually that’s not entirely true, it is more if I am stuffing something with cheese as you have to get the string as tight as possible to stop the cheese from melting out. Anyway enough about kitchen string and more about the dish. Feel free to serve it anyway you want I served mine over celeriac mash which was a really lovely accompaniment, but regular mash would be fine, or just vegetables if that is what you are in the mood for. If you would like to make the celeriac mash click here for a link to my recipe. I only made this for 2 so I hope I have guessed right on the amount of cheese, please adjust if this is not enough.

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts
5-6 Tablespoons Appenzeller
5-6 Tablespoons Gruyere
2 Tablespoons Parmesan (All 3 cheeses should make a cupful maybe a little over, that should be enough for the 4 breasts.)
8 Sage leaves, 2 per breast
4-8 Slices of prosciutto (I have said this, as if they are quite wide slices, 1 per breast and if they are thin slices, you will need 2.)

Marsala Sauce

1 Cup Marsala
2 Teaspoons chicken stock granules
1/2 Cup reduced fat cream
1/2 Cup thick double cream
2 Teaspoons tarragon
1 Teaspoon cornflour
Pepper to taste

Method

1. Pound chicken with a meat mallet until it is close to the same thickness all over about 1/4 inch.

2. Lay a slice of prosciutto over breast, 2 if they are thin, top with two sage leaves, laying them top to bottom down the centre of the breast. Distribute cheese equally among the breasts again lay it top to bottom down the centre of the breast.

3. Fold breast over to join, secure with kitchen string at close intervals, tying as tightly as you can, to prevent cheese from melting out of the chicken breast during cooking.

4. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan, add chicken breasts and brown on both sides to give the breast a nice rich colour.

5. Transfer breasts to an ovenproof dish and finish cooking in a pre-heated oven 180c. It will take about 30-40 Min’s depending in the size of the breasts.

Sauce

1. Add 1 cup of Marsala, 2 teaspoons chicken stock, heat through, add 1/2 cup reduced fat cream and the double cream, mix a little water with the cornflour add a little at a time, to thicken, add pepper to taste and stir in tarragon.

To serve: Place a couple of spoonfuls of mash on a plate, slice chicken, and arrange over the top drizzle sauce over.

All Photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Spatchcocks with a Herb Butter and Sage and Bacon Sauce

Spatchcocks are just baby chickens usually weighing between 450-600g a bird, they have great flavour, although a little fiddly when eating. I love this recipe I think it so full of flavour.

                                                                                                                                                                  Ingredients

4 Spatchcocks (about 500g each.)
60g Butter
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
2 Tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons basil, finely chopped
8 Sprigs fresh thyme
4 Slices prosciutto
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Sage and Bacon Sauce

1 Red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons seeded mustard
2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
1Teaspoon Chicken stock granules
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1/3 cup cream (can be lite cream)
1 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 bacon rashers, chopped

Method

1. Combine butter, garlic and herbs in a bowl.

2. Loosen the skin of the spatchcock by sliding fingers between skin and meat at neck joint, divide butter evenly between spatchcocks, and spread as evenly as possible under the skin. (don’t worry if it is a little lumpy, it melts once in the oven which helps it to disperse. I know this step can be a little tricky since I have made this several times, but it is worth it.)

3. Place 2 thyme sprigs inside the cavity and tie legs together with kitchen string. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each spatchcock and place in a baking dish.

4. Drizzle combined oil and juice over spatchcocks and roast in a preheated oven 180c for 45-50 Min’s or until cooked through.

Serve spatchcocks with bacon and sage sauce.

For the Sauce

1. Heat oil in pan, add onion, garlic and bacon. Cook, stirring until onion is soft and bacon lightly browned.

2. Add water, stock, wine and mustard.

3. Bring to boil, simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes or until reduced to 1 cup.

4. Stir in cream and sage

5. Serve sauce over spatchcocks.

I served mine with stuffing balls and asparagus.

For photo purposes I didn’t pour sauce over.

All photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.