The night before my Son leaves to go back to college after semester break is always a traumatic one for me. He has a great meal plan at school but I always try to create a meal for him this night to make him miss Mom’s home cooking and maybe Mom too (blah, blah, blah cut the strings, I have heard it all before and ignored it all too). 🙂 With that introduction to this dish, don’t despair on my behalf, it can be used for any occasion as one of my favorite quotes relays “There are exactly as many special occasions in life as we choose to celebrate.” Celebrate!
- To make the “stuffing” sauté your chopped onion in olive oil on medium heat until they are translucent about 5 minutes. Add your chopped green olive and sauté for another 2 minutes to meld the flavors. Take your pan off the heat and add the breadcrumbs and mozzarella cheese. Combine and let the mozzarella slightly melt to bind the “stuffing” together and set aside. As always add pepper and salt to taste but be very careful with the salt because the green olives are very salty, that is why so few are used in this recipe. But the taste is incredible!!!
- Butterfly your chicken breasts, or in other words slice them in half, being careful not to slice all the way through. Season them liberally with some pepper (remember what I said about the salt in step 1). Now stuff those babies with the stuffing. Bring the two edges together and insert 3 toothpicks into each breast to keep them together during the baking process. Lastly wrap those gorgeous breasts with the 2 slices of bacon to keep that outer chicken nice and juicy, the stuffing, believe me, will take care of the inside in just the same way! Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
- Time to get that glace ready! My demi-glace though not made with two different stocks as customary, is super easy and just as tasty in my humble opinion. In a pan, add 1/2 cup of the beef broth to start (add more if you like a wetter sauce) and turn the heat to medium. Add your mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes and then turn the heat up just a bit to boil the broth and reduce it a little. When the sauce is reduced to your liking and the mushrooms to your desired consistency add the beautiful whipped butter and allow it to melt into the glace. This will create that ultra creamy, dreamy sauce to compliment that delicious moist chicken. Season with pepper to taste and a pinch of kosher salt (I did add salt to the glace) to elevate the flavor.
- To crisp the bacon turn your broiler to high and broil on each side about 3-4 minutes or until desired bacon crispness. This step will not, I repeat will not dry out the chicken.
- Finally plate those babies up! Remove the toothpicks from the chicken and discard. Pour some of that creamy mushroom glace over the top and add your desired vege on the side. So, So, So Tasty! Enjoy! 😀
P.S. I also made chocolate chip cookies with a surprise filling. I used this Land O’ Lakes Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, with a few tweaks. I used whipped Land O’ Lakes butter instead of regular and I also up the brown sugar portion to 1 cup and lower the regular sugar to 1/2 cup. It was a tip I tried one time and loved it so much I do it all the time. I also left out the nuts, that is your choice. I then took a portion of the dough flattened it out and added the Oreo cookie surprise, took another portion of dough and sandwiched it on top. I baked them about 14 minutes give or take and there is only one left! 😛
- 3 Large Boneless Chicken Breasts
- 6 Slices Center Cut Bacon
- 1 Large Onion
- 1-2 Cups Sliced Mushrooms
- 1/2-3/4 Cups Unsalted Beef Stock
- 1/4 Cup Whipped Butter
- 4-6 Large Green Pitted Olives
- 1/4-1/2 Cup Plain Breadcrumbs
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- 2 tbsp olive oil -I use Extra Virgin
- Salt & Pepper -To taste
- To make the "stuffing" sauté your chopped onion in olive oil on medium heat until they are translucent about 5 minutes. Add your chopped green olive and sauté for another 2 minutes to meld the flavors. Take your pan off the heat and add the breadcrumbs and mozzarella cheese. Combine and let the mozzarella slightly melt to bind the "stuffing" together and set aside. As always add pepper and salt to taste but be very careful with the salt because the green olives are very salty, that is why so few are used in this recipe. But the taste is incredible!!!
- Butterfly your chicken breasts, or in other words slice them in half, being careful not to slice all the way through. Season them liberally with some pepper (remember what I said about the salt in step 1). Now stuff those babies with the stuffing. Bring the two edges together and insert 3 toothpicks into each breast to keep them together during the baking process. Lastly wrap those gorgeous breasts with the 2 slices of bacon to keep that outer chicken nice and juicy, the stuffing, believe me, will take care of the inside in just the same way! Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.
- Time to get that glace ready! My demi-glace though not made with two different stocks as customary, is super easy and just as tasty in my humble opinion. In a pan, add 1/2 cup of the beef broth to start (add more if you like a wetter sauce) and turn the heat to medium. Add your mushrooms to cook for about 5 minutes and then turn the heat up just a bit to boil the broth and reduce it a little. When the sauce is reduced to your liking and the mushrooms to your desired consistency add the beautiful whipped butter and allow it to melt into the glace. This will create that ultra creamy, dreamy sauce to compliment that delicious moist chicken. Season with pepper to taste and a pinch of kosher salt (I did add salt to the glace) to elevate the flavor.
- To crisp the bacon turn your broiler to high and broil on each side about 3-4 minutes or until desired bacon crispness. This step will not, I repeat will not dry out the chicken.
- Finally plate those babies up! Remove the toothpicks from the chicken and discard. Pour some of that creamy mushroom glace over the top and add your desired vege on the side. So, So, So Tasty! Enjoy! 😀
These portions were big. If you are trying to eat on the lighter side, cut the chicken breasts in half, layer the stuffing on top of each breast and place one piece of bacon on top of each of the halved breasts. You will now have 6 servings instead of 3 and that gorgeous bacon drippings can only enhance the flavor of that mouth watering stuffing! Win-Win! 🙂
Kimberly
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