STUFF IT

I'm stepping away from corn now, and talking about another one of those things that happens at restaurants, that amaze us, at times, but is so simple to do at home that you COULD do it every night.

We all know about things liked stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, stuffed tomatoes, all those lovely veggies that we make ridiculously fattening and unhealthy by shoving full of cheese, meat, etc, etc, etc. I'll be damned if they're not tasty though.

But have you ever thought about stuffing proteins? Fish? Burgers? Chicken? Let's start with chicken, one of my favorites.

Chicken breasts are a perfect "foil" for taking something that is good tasting, albeit bland, and making "special". And it's not hard to do at all. You just have to get over one, or maybe two humps.

One is the hump of skinless chicken breasts. When did we all become wimps and stop eating chicken skin? "Oh, it's so FATTENING." Like the snickers bar you ate wasn't? Unless you have really serious health issues, there is no reason to take the skin off of chicken breasts. Leave it on.

Second hump: boneless versus bone in. Now when did we all get so afraid of bones? CMON. Are you really going to choke on it? You DO know how to use a knife and fork don't you?

Oh.

Well, learn. And this is how you do these wonderful things. First, as far ahead as you can, for example, the night before, uncover your chicken breasts, with the bone and skin :). The day that you're going to cook, turn up your oven to 400, and get a big pan that will hold as many chicken breasts as you will cook in one layer. Cover the surface with oil.

Now, your filling. What to use? Anything you want. My favorite is chopped prosciutto with fontina cheese, maybe with a little fresh sage if I have it, but you could use just sage leaves, you could use just ham, you could use just cheese. The key thing is to NOT overstuff. You dont' want filling falling out and burning in your pan. A tablespoon per breast is fine. One and a half is plenty. Two is overfill. So be cheap there (I know, that's a new one on me). Breadcrumbs with spices are good, so are crumbs with mushrooms, so is spinach with feta or fontina.

I like to include a cheese in the filling, because it melts and gets gooey. You don't have to though. You could recreate the classic "chicken kiev" by putting some kind of butter in the chicken as well. If you go that route, freeze it a little to keep it firm and cold. A compound butter, that is, one where you combine the butter with other things (I make a sun dried tomato/walnut butter. Want the recipe? Maybe I'll give it to you...) will work really well.

Ok, so you've made your filling. Now you have to get it into the bird breast. Make a horizontal cut in the breast, not all the way across. Just try to "make a pocket. Separate the layers a bit, and then gently spoon in your filling. Don't do anything like toothpick it closed, but just press the chicken back together. And then heat up the oil and put your chicken breasts, skin side down, into the pan. Cook them that way, for four minutes or so, then turn them over and cook for another two. that six minutes is establishing your flavor base: the browning and carmelization. Then put the whole pan into the oven, afteryou've turned the chicken skin side up again. Bake for fifteen minutes.

NOW, you have to be careful. I used to forget this, until I got burned a few times. That pan is HOT. Wrap your hand, take out the pan and put it on the stove. Take the chicken out for a minute, and pour off that fat. You don't need it now. And the pan is nice and hot, so you don't need to put on the heat for this step. Get a nice heaping tablespoon of a jelly of some kind, and put it right in the pan. It will melt away, and you should just turn the breasts in this (be careful of your hands), and look how nice and shiny that chicken just got. I use "savory" jellies, like jalapeno pepper, but you could use currant, or apricot, or anything you want. I would stay away from strawberry though, but I think seedless raspberry might be tasty.

And there it is. So now, when you tell your loved one(s) "we're having chicken tonight" you don't have to feel apologetic. Not that you ever should. Hey, you're the cook. You just busted. But now , you can smile about something new and tasty. And you can probably figure out other things you can do this with too.