Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Recipe: Balsamic and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Yes, indeed. It has been a long time since I've put up a recipe on the blog. The reason? Honestly I just haven't created anything worth sharing over the last 6 months... until now. Inspired by an abundance of goat cheese following a party, I decided to experiment with stuffing the goat cheese inside a chicken breast and the results were totally awesome. This is an entree with loads of flavor, and is pretty rich, so it is best paired with a simply prepared side dish (we had green beans). If you like goat cheese, give this one a try.

Balsamic and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 oz goat cheese
1 TB chives, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste




1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 (or similar) baking dish with cooking spray.


2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic in olive oil until fragrant, being careful not to brown it. Add balsamic vinegar to the skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until balsamic mixture is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Stir often.



3. In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, chopped chives and a pinch of black pepper. Set aside.



4. Cut chicken breasts from one side through the middle horizontally to within one-half inch of the other side. Open the two sides and spread them out like an open book. Spread half the goat cheese mixture over one side of each chicken breast and then drizzle both with 1/3 of the balsamic reduction. Close the chicken breasts over the filling and secure with toothpicks.



5. Arrange chicken breasts in prepared baking dish, season lightly with salt and pepper, and drizzle the remaining balsamic reduction on top. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until chicken is no longer pink inside, the filling is hot, and the juices run clear. Baste the chicken a couple of times during baking with the balsamic. The breast should reach 160 degrees at its center.

6. Remove toothpicks, plate, drizzle with some sauce from the baking dish and enjoy!