Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce

For the Chicken

• 4 6 oz. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Salt and Ground White Pepper, to taste
• 4 oz. Goat Cheese
• 1 tsp. Fresh Tarragon, chopped
• 1 tsp. Fresh Parsley, chopped
• 1 oz. Baby Spinach
• 1/5 cup Flour
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbls. Water
• 1/2 cup Italian Bread Crumbs
• 2 Tbls. Grape Seed Oil

Place each piece of chicken between two pieces of plastic film. Using a meat mallot, flatten the chicken to 1/4″, being careful not to tear the chicken.

Season the chicken with salt and white pepper.

Combine goat cheese with tarragon and parsley. Divide the cheese mixture evenly among the chicken pieces. Top the cheese mixture with the baby spinach. Starting on the short side of the chicken, roll the chicken around the cheese mixture.

Put the flour in a shallow dish. In a separate shallow dish, beat together the egg and the water. In a third dish, put the bread crumbs. Roll each chicken piece in the flour to coat well, dip in the egg and then roll in the bread crumbs, being sure to coat each piece well. Place each piece of chicken on a clean piece of plastic film and roll the chicken in the film, making a tight roll. Twist the ends of the plastic to form a tight jellyroll.

Place the pieces of chicken in the freezer for at least 1 hour.  This allows the bread crumbs to settle into all the nooks and crannies so that when you cook your chicken the stuffing doesn’t fall out.

When ready to cook your Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken, heat the grape seed oil in a heavy skillet. Remove the chicken from the plastic film and brown all sides of the chicken. Transfer chicken to a baking sheet. Finish cooking chicken in a pre-heated 350 degree oven until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees, about 20 minutes.

While your Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken is cooking, prepare the Mushroom Cream Sauce.

For the sauce

• 1 Shallot, finely diced
• 6 oz. Button Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbls. Unsalted Butter
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 1 cup Chicken Stock
• 1 sprig Fresh Tarragon
• Salt and Ground White Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauce until mushrooms are tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the shallot and continue to cook until shallot is softened. Deglaze the pan with the wine and reduce by half. Add the chicken stock and fresh tarragon and reduce heat to simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper to taste and stir in heavy cream. Continue to simmer until cream is heated through.

To serve, slice the Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken rolls on a diagonal into 3 equal pieces. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve warm.