OK, so I realize it's been a while since I last posted. I have been busy with many adventures over the summer. Unfortunately, I was not able to take pictures of a lot of them, and the ones I did snap a picture of, I just plain forgot about!
I promise I will post them later!
But as my idol, Scarlett O'Hara would say, I can't think about it today, I'll think about that tomorrow...
Because today, I am going to think about this scrumptious yummy dish. Because of the popular demand from friends and family that saw the picture of this meal after I posted to Instagram or Facebook, I'm now posting the recipe here.
So here goes:
First off, I'm just going to go ahead and warn you in advance,
you will need at least an entire stick of this:
I'd like you to meet, Unsalted Butter, My new best friend.
But I have a few other friends that will be joining the stuffed chicken party:
Bacon, my old best friend, blue cheese, chives, and chicken breasts.
Before you do anything else, heat up the oven to 400 degrees & set out the butter so it will be room temperature when you need to mix it. I always forget to do this... so learn from my mistakes.
Once the oven is heated place bacon in a rimmed pan, and cook them on the center rack for about 8-10 minutes on each side. Watch the bacon to make sure it doesn't burn since your oven may cook different than mine (I advocate the non-waste of bacon as a result of burning).
*If you've never cooked bacon in the oven, you will thank me later...it is effortless, cooks evenly, comes out perfectly crispy, and you don't make a huge greasy mess all over the stove!*
Once the bacon is cooked, lay the pieces out to dry and cool on a paper towel, and turn the oven up to 425 degrees.While waiting for the bacon to cool, mince up the chives, and place in the mixing bowl. Add blue cheese crumbles, and a stick butter.
Once the bacon has cooled, take a sharp knife and cut up the bacon into small morsels (and try not to eat too much of it while you do it). Add bacon to the bowl with the other ingredients in the bowl, and fold them together gently.
Next, slit open the chicken breasts down one side, but leave enough so that the filling won't squeeze out the other sides. Fill the chickens with as much of the mixture as you can fit and close up the slit. I use toothpicks to hold them shut and set the slit side up, side-by-side in a meatloaf dish so the filling won't ooze out as it cooks. Pepper the top sides of the filled chickens with ground black pepper.
Cook in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
The butter will melt and spill out into the bottom of the pan. You won't actually consume much of the butter, it just acts as a delicious cooking agent to keep the chicken from drying out. Ah-mazing.
While the chickens are cooking, you can now make the Spicy Garlic Green Beans!
Here's who you'll need:
Olive Oil, Fresh Green Beans, Garlic Cloves, Lemons for Zest, Red Pepper, and unsalted butter
First, fill a medium sized pot with water, and bring to a boil. While waiting for the water to boil (depending on how fast your stovetop is, since mine boils at the speed of sloth) wash the beans, and snap off the stems on both ends.
Boil the green beans in salty water for 2-3 minutes, to blanche them. While the beans are cooking, mince the garlic (or press it in your handy dandy garlic press).
After 2-3 minutes of boiling, drain the green beans and put them in bowl of ice cold water to stop them from cooking.
While the beans are cooling, heat up olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Sauté the garlic and the red pepper in the oil for about 30 seconds, and then add the DRY green beans. Add the lemon zest into the green beans. While the green beans are cooking, I add the butter to the pan and melt over the beans. If you add the butter before when you cook the garlic, the butter will burn.
Sauté the beans until they reach the doneness that you like. Some people like theirs crispier, some like their soft. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Last, prepare to eat every morsel on your plate!
Ingredients
For the Bacon, Blue Cheese & Chive Stuffed Chicken:
Divided out so you can adjust accordingly for as many servings you want to make...
1 stick room temperature unsalted butter for every 2 chicken breast
2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled for every chicken breast.
1-2 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and finely chopped for each chicken breast
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives, for each chicken breast
Chicken breasts
Freshly ground Kosher Salt & black pepper to taste
For the Spicy Garlic Green Beans (serves 2-3)
1 pound green beans, ends trimmed or snapped
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoons butter
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon lemon zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Thanks for stoppin' by, y'all!
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