Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I'm now onto posting what I did with the second lot of chicken breasts but first I would like to address an email I received. The question was why trim your own chicken when you can buy it already trimmed. The bottom line is you can custom make your own cuts, grind your own meats and take advantage of sales. Ideally you can raise your own meat and poultry so knowing how to custom cut your meats is a real advantage.

I had eight lovely, meaty chicken breasts to work with so decided to do a fresh ground chicken for chickenloaf using four pieces. I'll post the pictures and recipe for the chickenloaf tomorrow. The other four were stuffed and the bones were reserved to make a large batch of homecanned stock tomorrow.

Stuffed chicken looks impressive and tastes scrumptious yet is very easy to make. It is one of those dishes that looks like you've spent a lot of time on it. They are sure to please anyone! Plan on one stuffed chicken breast per person. You can use your favourite stuffing or our family favourite bread stuffing (recipe follows). The potatoes in the photo are steamed reds drizzled with a little butter and fresh chopped chives.

Ingredients:

4 bone in, skin on chicken breasts
2 tsp butter
sea salt and fresh pepper
bread stuffing (or stuffing of your choice)

Method:

Place the chicken breast skin side down, thick end towards you. Slide your knife in and along the bone just slightly then using a little upward pressure on the bone with your other hand continue short cuts following the shape of the bone with your knife. Set the bones aside for stock. Turn the chicken breast over so the skin is now face up. If there is a large clump of fat at the narrow end of the piece, carefully slice it away without cutting into the meat. Place the chicken breast so the thick side faces you. Insert your knife or fingers between the skin and meat. Use a gentle motion to separate the skin from the meat without cutting the meat and leaving both ends intact forming a pocket. The chicken breast is now ready for stuffing.

Once stuffed, tuck the skin a little to hold the stuffing. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Place a dab (about 1/2 tsp) butter on top. Place the chicken breasts on a two piece broiling pan with just enough water in the bottom tray to prevent smoking. Bake at 325ºF convection heat (350ºF regular) for about 50 minutes (60 minutes) or until the skin is a deep golden brown and juices from the chicken are clear.

Bread Stuffing:

1/2 loaf bread, broke into chunks
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 - 2 tsp poultry seasoning
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
2 tsp butter cut into small pieces

Place the bread chunks in a large bowl. Mix in the onion. Sprinkle with poultry seasoning. I don't measure so start with 1 tsp and add more to taste. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Mix well. Stir in butter pieces and mix again. The stuffing should be pressed together with one hand to form a ball about the size of your fist when stuffing chicken breasts or a whole chicken.