Bacon-wrapped Chicken Breast

with Gruyere Cheese and Sage Filling 

Recipe

Whoever invented bacon is a sage ( pardon my pun).  Among our 4 kids aka "piggery", only my son Joaqui loves to eat chicken breast.  

I personally  am not keen on eating this part of the chicken because its dry.  But cover it all in bacon and it becomes moist and flavorful and make a filling of cheese and sage inside...succulent and yum!  My family and I just became converts :))

I saw this recipe in one of the reality shows in TV.  The title escapes me at the moment but its about regular people ( not chefs) who take turns preparing dinner for the other participants who rates the dinner prepared by the host. Whoever gets the lowest score will be eliminated. The dish looked so good, I had to try it :)

So here's the recipe :

chicken breast fillet ( no skin)

gruyere

sage

salt and pepper to taste

Method :

1. I asked my butcher to fillet the chicken breast for me and make me a pocket to put my sage and cheese in.

2. So 50% work already done by the butcher....yay!!

3. Just put in a slice or 2 of gruyere ( or any cheese you prefer ) which I love and a little  portion of sage leaf or a dash of dried sage powder ( if   sage leaf is unavailable)  inside the pocket of the chicken breast.

4. Tuck in the edges of the chicken and cover the whole breast fillet with bacon. No need for tooth pick to secure the filling inside, bacon does the job for me.

5. Set aside and let rest in the ref for 30 minutes to an hour.

6. Preheat your oven to 375deg F

7.  In the meantime, ready your pan and make sure its in medium heat. We want to sear the bacon part of the ensemble till its brown and crisp. But we don't want to burn it. I normally don't put any oil in my pan anymore because the bacon has its own fat. Its like rendering.

8.  If you are using a cast iron pan like I am, you can put the pan-chicken breast/bacon/cheese/sage ensemble in the oven and bake them. Or you can put the seared bacon/chicken/cheese/sage combo in an oiled pyrex dish ( just to make sure it doesn't stick and ruin everything) in the oven.

9. It takes about 15 minutes for the insides of the chicken to be cooked and the cheese to melt. I check halfway though for cast iron pan to turn the chicken breast...wouldnt want to burn the bacon.

10. If you think the bacon might burn, you can cover the whole thing with an aluminum foil.

11. Serve over a bed of green salad or rice or mash potato

Options  for filling :

1. I also use home made pesto mixed with cream cheese, cheddar, blue cheese and asiago  for filling. I just mix it all together and stuff it inside the chicken before covering it all up in bacon.