Ever since I bought this book
These chicken breasts were good, but not what I expected - I truly believe that marinating the chicken for a couple of hours - instead of seasoning it right before baking it - would do wonders in the flavor department. Not sure I’d give this a go again, though.
I reduced a little balsamic vinegar just to decorate the plate.
Parmesan-stuffed chicken breasts
from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
¼ cup plain dried breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
grated zest of 1 lemon - about 1 tablespoon
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 bone-in chicken breast halves - about 1,350g/3 pounds (the ones I bought were much too large, I guess the chicken was a mutant or something)
Preheat the oven to 230ºC/450ºF. In a small bowl, mix the parsley, breadcrumbs, parmesan, and zest. Season the mixture with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
Divide the parsley mixture into 4 mounds. Carefully loosen the chicken skin with fingers, tuck the parsley mixture under the skin – I needed to use a couple of toothpicks to secure the stuffing inside. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a greased 22x33cm (9x13in) roasting pan.
Bake until the skin is crispy, the chicken s cooked through and an instant-red thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat register 73ºC/165ºF, about 30 minutes – I baked mine for 1 hour.
Serves 4
I agree pre-seasoning chicken definitely gives it a further depth of flavor. But anything with parmesan taste delectable in my book!
ReplyDeleteChicken with parmesan is such a good combination! I make something like this with thighs instead of breasts...I find the thigh meat tastier, but you would have to be a dark meat person :)
ReplyDeleteThe chicken looks good but if you want more flavour...try marinating it with tarragon or rosemary.
ReplyDeletePatricia, The chicken looks delicious, but I totally agree with you on the pre-seasoning. I try to pre-season all meats for at least half an hour .
ReplyDeleteYour Brazilian anthill cake looks really yummy, I enjoyed reading your post on it, the boys were really sweet!
The balsamic vinegar on the plate is a nice touch. I really love chicken breasts stuffed with just about anything.
ReplyDeleteI love chicken and I love parmesan...so I think I'll love this recipe as well:D
ReplyDeleteHow about brining the chicken before cooking, or using Kosher chicken, which is basically pre-brined? That might add the little bit of saltiness to the dish that would bring out the flavor of the parmesan. I love this cookbook, too; haven't used it much, but I have many recipes bookmarked to try.
ReplyDeleteThat lookds like restaurant food!
ReplyDeleteSo dissapointing when the taste doesn't live up to what you're expecting but it sure does look delicious.
Your Chicken looks lovely as does that Ant hill cake Patricia!!! I was watching TV chef today and he did about the same only he used dijon mustard and butter then roasted ontop of some onion slices. Then chopped the onion up afterwards and with more mustard and some other ingredients made a paste. Put that ontop of some toasted bread and then sliced the chicken and placed ontop of the bread mix. Will see if I can find the recipe for you.
ReplyDeletehttp://cooks.itv.com/default.aspx?page=recipesexpansion&scid=286
ReplyDeleteMaybe the mustard would help with the flavour.
Oh yum! The presentation is gorgeous too, the ring of vinegar around the plate is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI make a similar version of this nearly every week and wonder why it's never occured to me to marinade it. Definatly must try it along with the other suggestions.
That looks really good, and it sounds really good. Do you think a pan sauce made from the deglazed pan would help it a bit? Though the balsamic vinegar reduction is beautiful, and something I would have never thought of!
ReplyDeleteThis sounda like a good combo. If I make it, I will marinade the chicken before hand just like you said Pat. :D nothing is worse than a piece of unseasoned meat! :P
ReplyDeleteIt looks really beautiful! I love the balsamic reduction on the plate! What a nice touch!
ReplyDeleteI'm always looking for a new way to cook chicken. We're pretty much poultrytarians here, so this looks like a wonderful addition to our chicken rotation. Lovely plating!
ReplyDeleteThe chicken certainly looks good! I tend have trouble with stuffed meat in that the stuffing tends to ooze out when I cook it.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about chicken breast if finding tasty things to stuff it with and parmesan is one of those things.
ReplyDeleteWow! this sounds great! I've never tried cheese in Chicken, you're tempting me now Pat!
ReplyDeleteVeron, my dear friend, the reason why I chose this recipe was because of the parmesan - I love it, too! :)
ReplyDeleteJoey, I'm gonna try with thighs the next time, Haalo (from "Cook almost anything at least once) has an amazing recipe for that. I prefer thighs too! :)
Peter, I will. Tks for the hint!
Carol, thank you for your sweet words!
Janet, I think that the stuffing really adds a lot of flavor.
Sunita, they're great together.
Lydia, I will try that - no more flavorless chicken for me! :)
Amanda, you are far too kind, sweetie. Tks! :)
Pat, thank you for taking the time to find me the link! I'll check it out - the idea sounds delicious!
Butta Buns, thank you! Marinating sounds like a good idea, let me know if you try it, please?
Pam, deglazing sounds interesting! I would never have thought of it - tks for the suggestion.
Anh, I couldn't agree with you more, sweetie.
Jenn, thank you, dear!
Lynn, I'm glad you like the recipe!
Kevin, I was so careful because of that, I was afraid it would happen! That's why I used toothpicks.
Cynthia, parmesan makes everything better! :)
Valentina, you definitely should! :)
Patricia, first thing I thought of when I saw this was the Parm oven fries you made recently - I should have know they're from the same cookbook. ; ) The balsamic vinegar adds a nice little kick, particularly since you thought these weren't quite flavorful enough.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pity you weren't sure about it, it still looks good though! I like the book too, although I've not made anything yet...
ReplyDeleteI think you're correct about marinating. It would improve it though yours looks fabulous as is! I love the presentation.
ReplyDeleteHi Patricia, that looks very fancy. The balsamic reduction is a nice touch :-)
ReplyDeleteI am with you about the marinating of chicken. I usually marinade it for at least 30mins if it's a stir fry and at least 2 hrs if it's a whole roast chicken.
Patricia - Unless roasting with herbs and cirtus in the cavity or braising with veggies and broth, chicken usually needs quite a bit a help. Haalo at Cook (almost) Everything At Least Once put rainbow chard under the skin and said it tasted amazing. Perhaps you needed something more intense than parmesan and maybe legs instead of breasts would have been more flavourful - unless, of course, you prefer the chicken breast to its thighs.
ReplyDeleteI agree that marinating it for a couple of hours would probably make it tastier. Of course, that would take away the "Fast" principle in the title!
ReplyDeleteI think if I wanted to stick with the "fast" idea, I would probably add some lemon juice to the stuffing, and use more herbs in the stuffing as well - like tarragon, for instance. Knowing me, I'd probably put a bit of mustard over the top, too!
p.s. The comment window wouldn't open all the way, so I couldn't read the other comments before posting my own. Nice to know that someone else came up with a mustard idea, too!
ReplyDeleteIt looks absolutely fantastic! The balsamic vinegar really highlights the chicken.
ReplyDeleteBrining works wonders for chicken as well as pork chops. You can even do a "quick brine"--use 1/2 cup kosher salt and 1/2 cup sugar per quart of water, and soak about an hour.
ReplyDeleteAnything that involves cheese and chicken is ok in my book!
ReplyDeleteIt's always disappointing when a dish doesn't live up to your expectations of it. Still looks pretty good, though, Patricia--and the balsamic vinegar is a lovely touch.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I dipped the chicken pieces in the vinegar while eating and it really helped with the flavor.
ReplyDeleteI tend to choose recipes with Parmesan. :)
Kelly-Jane, you should try something, sweetie! You are such a wonderful cook.
Truffle, thank you, dear!
Nora, you are too kind, my friend! I usually marinate it, but this time I wanted to follow the recipe exactly... :S
Shaun, I remember that dish from Haalo's blog - it looked delicious! Thighs are much more tasty than breasts.
I'm glad you stopped by, tks!!
Toni, the mustard idea sounds great to me, I love mustard!
Nicisme, tks for visiting! I'm glad you liked my idea of using the vinegar.
Sarah, that is totally new to me! Tks for sharing, sweetie!
Jeff, I hear you!
Terry, I agree with you, my friend - I'm willing to try other recipes from the book, anyway.
Patricia, Fezoca gave me this book and it was the best gift, I just love every recipe in it. Did you make your own panko?
ReplyDeleteIt has the delicious air !!
ReplyDeleteDo you like the book overall? I haven't seen it.
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious! I am always on the lookout for new chicken recipes. Yum!
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you, chicken breasts sometimes need a marinade (especially the giant mutant ones ;P) but it still looks delicious and stuffing with parm sounds mouthwatering!
ReplyDeletei sometimes try the recipe from the magazine, it's a hit and miss sometimes. but this recipe looks easy and your chicken looks yummy :D
ReplyDeletethank you for the b'day wish!
I wonder how this will work using veggie chicken.
ReplyDeletejoy
The Goddess In You
I hate it when a recipe doesn't live up to expectations.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you this though...that photo and the presentation sure make it tempting to try!
Cris, that is a great gift! I love that book.
ReplyDeleteI used stale Italian bread I had at home and made my own breadcrumbs with it.
Maoka, tks for visiting!
Susan, I do! I love the book!
Helen, thank you, sweetie!
Amy, they do! You are so right. :)
Eliza, I'm glad you like it!
joy, thank you for stopping by - I don't know veggie chicken, I'm sorry!
Kristen, me too, sweetie - but it's part of the business, right?