bonjourhan

Who doesn’t love cheese?

I adapted this recipe from one I found in a delightful cookbook my mom got me called “Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens.” Stephen always lifts an eyebrow when I say “I found a great recipe but I’m going to have to tweak it a little bit because I don’t have all the ingredients.” (Do you keep saffron threads or Manchego cheese on hand in your refrigerator just in case? Didn’t think so.) This one turned out delicious. In the cookbook it’s called Superlative Stuffed Chicken Breast. Here’s my slightly revised version.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil. I used some smoky olive oil for flavor.
• Crumbled feta or other goat cheese
• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 slices uncooked turkey bacon
• 1/4 tsp. dried sage
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut a pocket or widthwise slit into each chicken breast and sprinkle sage inside. Tear each turkey bacon strip into two pieces. Place three halves into each breast. Stuff the pocket with feta cheese and close. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
3. Add olive oil to a sauté pan* and place it on the stove over medium heat. Once hot, place the stuffed chicken breasts in the pan and brown for about three minutes.
4. Flip over the chicken breasts to the other side. Place the whole sauté pan in the oven and leave it there for about 25 minutes.
5. Serve with anything. Really. It’s that good.

* Make sure the sauté pan can be placed in the oven. Check the bottom for manufacturer warnings.

I also slapped together a quick pea salad to go with it. And last night I made some French bread in this old breadmaker my mom gave me a long time ago (someone gave it to her when I was little, and she never used it. I did, so she gave it to me! Hooray!). This little gem has seen countless loaves of bread.

And this French bread was perfectly springy and delicious with almost no work required!

I’ll leave you with a thought-provoking poem our friend David composed (on our refrigerator…).