Perfect Elegant Stuffed Chicken

I love cooking chicken at home, partially because I think my chicken tastes better than restaurants who often overcook their chicken. One of my favorite methods is breading, browning, and stuffing the chicken, so when I found Boursin cheese spread in the Aeon market, I remembered seeing a Rachel Ray episode and thought I'd give it a try with my own flair.

First... it's best to have a good, thick cut of chicken breast. For me, that's Zushi's Toriichi yakatori stand (raw and cooked as well).( -- Check it out Yelp if you live in the Yokohama/Zushi area). While it's a twenty-five minute train hike to my favorite chicken butcher, the difference in an organic chicken breast versus the frozen and shipped across the Pacific chicken is quite obvious. However, any good size chicken breast can be turned into an elegant dinner creation.

While I will chronicle the Boursin/prosciutto stuffed chicken, there are so many ways that you can stuff your chicken... I'll share some ideas at the end.

First, have the following ingredients on hand, then you can whip this meal up when company is unexpected.
- Flavored bread crumbs
- Shaker Parmesan
- Seasonings (such as garlic salt or Pampered Chef Onion mix)
- Butter
- Chicken
- Olive oil

Slice your raw chicken in the center, creating a pocket for your whatever you choose to stuff it with. Mix your dry ingredients and melt your butter. Prepare a pan of olive oil... maybe 4 TBsp. I have a gas stove, so I only keep my stove on low. But you know your stove.

Dip those raw breasts in the butter and then coat in your flavored crumb mixture and brown each chicken breast for about 10- 14 minutes total (depending on how large they are).

While my chicken breasts were getting crispy and flavorful, I was making my stuffing. I used the prosciutto to wrap a TBsp or 2 of the creamy Boursin. Then before putting the chicken into the oven, I placed my wrapped packets of flavor into the pocket created before frying.

Stuff before baking

Finishing the chicken

The chicken still needs a few minutes to fully cook, so preheat your oven to 350 and then put your meal in for about 10 minutes. Cut your chicken periodically to check to see if it's done. Remember, chicken only needs to cook to 165 and if you overcook, that elegant chicken is in the past. You can always put the chicken back in, but you can't remove the time if it overcooks.

Other ideas for stuffing would be
- Swiss cheese wrapped in ham (cordon bleu)
- Steamed broccoli and cheese (I've used Laughing Cow with this method)
- Provolone wrapped in Deli pepperoni or salami... Use the Italian dressing seasoning in your breading)