Stuffed Chicken Breasts With Cider Vinegar Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
• For stuffing boil enough water to soak apricots and cranberries. Let soak for 15 minutes. Let apricots cool slightly and cut into small pieces and add to bowl with tomatoes and feta cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Using sharp knife, cut horizontal slit 3/4 way through each chicken breast. Open like a book and place on a cooking sheet. I use a cooking stone sheet with great results. Place a couple of layers of spinach on each inside side of chicken breast. No need to steam first. Place as much of the stuffing mix as you can on one side and close the breast over. I don't use string, but you can if you find it easier. I stuff as much as I can, almost to the point of overstuffing.
• Lightly brush olive oil over breasts. Cover with foil for the first 10 mins of baking and then remove foil for last 30 mins or so. Actual time depends on breast size. I remove from oven when internal temp is 175 degrees. Cover with foil while you complete the sauce. I usually let sit covered for 10 mins or so.
• For sauce melt 1 tbsp butter in sauce pan on medium heat. Add garlic and brown. Add the cider vinegar and boil 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beef stock and reduce temperature slightly and continue to boil until sauce is reduced to desired thickness and taste. About 10-15 mins should do it. You can dilute with additional stock if you boil down too much. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You can play around with sugar and vinegar amounts to get the flavor that is right for you.
• You can serve breast as is or sliced. I prefer whole as I find that it tends to fall apart. Pour sauce over and serve.

Steps:

• Boil the kettle, tip the mushrooms into a small bowl, pour over boiling water to just cover, then leave to soak for 15 mins. Drain and squeeze out the mushrooms (save and freeze the liquid to make a base for a gravy) and roughly chop.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the shallots and garlic for 3 mins. Turn up the heat, throw in the mushrooms and cook for a few mins more. Add the spinach, turn the heat up to high and cook until wilted and all the liquid has evaporated. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Beat in the cheeses and season with loads of pepper and a little salt. Set aside.
• Take the chicken breasts and remove the small fillet from the back. Cut a slit into the side of each chicken breast then stuff each one with a quarter of the spinach mixture, closing it with the cut-off fillet. Carefully wrap each stuffed chicken breast in a slice of prosciutto and chill until needed. Can be prepared up to a day ahead.
• To cook, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line up the chicken on a baking tray and roast for 20-25 mins until the prosciutto is frazzled at the edges, the cheese is oozing out and the chicken is cooked through.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Mix the mascarpone with the rosemary, garlic and seasoning. Place the chicken breasts on a board and lift, but don't detach, the skin. Put a spoonful of the mascarpone mix under the skin of each breast. Wrap 2 slices of prosciutto around each, as neatly and tightly as you can, to keep the filling enclosed.
• Heat a non-stick frying pan, add the olive oil and quickly brown the chicken on both sides. Transfer to a roasting tin, then finish off in the oven for 15-20 mins until just cooked.
• Add the lemon juice to the roasting tin and stir over the heat, scraping off any crispy bits. Spoon the juices over the chicken and serve with potatoes and green beans.

Steps:

• To make the stuffing, process the nuts in a food processor or blender until they are finely ground. Add the butter and process until smooth. Add the cream, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne and process until well combined.
• To prepare the chicken breasts, place each breast half between sheets of wax paper and flatten with a mallet, the flat side of a cleaver or a rolling pin to a thickness of about half an inch. Place the breasts smooth side down on a work surface and discard the wax paper. Lay one slice of ham on each breast half. Spread approximately three teaspoons of stuffing on top of the ham. Beginning with the narrowest end of the breast, roll up into a neat, plump shape, tucking the edges in. Secure with toothpicks.
• Strew the onions, carrot and apple in a baking dish large enough so that the rolled breasts fit snugly. Place the breasts on top of the vegetables. In a saucepan, melt four tablespoons of the butter and brush some of it on the breasts. Bake uncovered in the center of a preheated 375-degree oven for 10 minutes. Baste with butter and bake 10 minutes more. Turn the breasts over, baste and bake another 10 minutes. While the chicken cooks, boil the cider and vinegar in a saucepan over high heat until reduced to six tablespoons. Set aside. Transfer the chicken breasts to a warm platter and cover with foil.
• Transfer the onions, carrot, apple and any juices from the baking pan to a food processor. Add the cider reduction and puree until it is smooth. Press through a sieve set over a medium saucepan, reheat over low heat and whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter. Keep warm.
• To prepare the garnish, heat the butter in a large, heavy skillet. Dredge one side of each apple slice in sugar and place sugared side down in the hot butter. Cook over medium-high heat for four to five minutes or until deep golden brown. Sprinkle the remaining sugar on the apples, turn over and brown the other side.
• Add any juices that have collected from the chicken to the sauce; reheat sauce if necessary. To serve, cut each chicken breast into one-quarter- to one-third-inch slices; discard toothpicks. Divide the sauce evenly among four plates, place slices on top of sauce in an overlapping pattern and garnish with two or three apple slices. Pass remaining sauce separately.