Mmmmm, Chicken!

Once upon a time, I promised this blog would have occasional recipes. And I posted...one. As of today, we are going to have 100% MORE recipes! Meaning, I'm posting another and now there will be TWO.

With holiday travel coming up, I realized I had a ton of food in my tiny fridge that needed to be eaten ASAP. So what's a girl do? Invite The Boyfriend to dinner and hit up Google for something tasty to make with what I have on hand. And it turned out amazing!

I made a few tweeks. I used baby bellas and not shiitakes, since that was what I had. I was also missing shallots, so I added a little onion and garlic power for zing. And lastly, the chicken that I had was tenders, so I pounded them out thin, layered them in the pan, covered them with the stuffing, and then added a second layer of chicken. And I cooked it all at 400 degrees.  Who cooks at 500???

I'll be making this again for sure!

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Shiitakes and Provolone

When cutting the pockets for the stuffing, make them as large as possible on the inside without enlarging the 3-inch-long incision on the outside.

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 45 min

Ingredients

1 (6-oz) piece provolone
6 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded
1/4 cup chopped shallot (1 large)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 chicken breast halves with skin and bones (2 1/2 to 3 lb total)

Preparation

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 500°F. Line a shallow baking pan with foil.
• Coarsely grate cheese and set aside in a medium bowl. Pulse mushrooms and shallot in a food processor with thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until finely chopped.
• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté mushroom mixture, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir into cheese (some cheese will melt).
• Pat chicken dry, then cut a deep 3-inch-long pocket horizontally in long curved side of each chicken breast half and fill each pocket with one fourth of cheese mixture (some filling will be visible).
• Put chicken in baking pan, then melt remaining tablespoon butter and brush over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast until cooked through and cheese is melted (filling will ooze), 20 to 25 minutes.

Original recipe may be found at: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Breasts-Stuffed-with-Shiitakes-and-Provolone-232608