Chicken breasts stuffed w/garlic, ginger, ham and tarragon

4 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
6 Boneless chicken breasts
Salt & fresh ground pepper
3 tablespoons Lemon juice
½ pounds Ham; finely chopped (about one cup)
2 To 3 garlic clove peeled & finely chopped
2 tablespoons Fresh ginger peeled & finely chopped
4 tablespoons Fresh tarragon; chopped (or preserved in vinegar)
1 large Lemon; chopped zest of
Lemon juice or white wine
Butter
Vegetable mirepoix
1 cup Chicken stock
1 cup Whipping cream
Salt and pepper; to taste

Directions

To prepare chicken breasts, place between sheets of waxed paper. Gently pound with a mallet until flat and tender. Sprinkle each with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Keep covered in refrigerator.

To make stuffing, combine ham, garlic, ginger, half the tarragon and about ⅔ of the lemon zest in a bowl, blending well. Add a dash of lemon juice or wine to moisten.

To stuff breasts, place equal amounts of filling on center of each. Bring sides up to encase filling, shaping with your hands into a round package and tucking in ends to seal. Greasy the shiny side of six, foot-long strips of foil, about 2 inches wide. Encircle each breast with foil, greased side in, pulling tightly so that foil wraps around breast. (This retains shape during baking.) Fold over edge on top to secure foil. Brush tops of chicken with butter. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a little tarragon. Can be refrigerated, covered at this point, if baking is to be done several hours later.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place the vegetable mirepoix in bottom of a large baking dish. Place chicken breasts on top of vegetables. Pour enough wine around bottom of pan just to cover mirepoix. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, then turn heat down to 350 degrees. Baste chicken. Cover pan loosely with foil and bake another 15 minutes or until chicken breasts are done but still moist inside. Remove foil covering from pan; turn broiler on to brown chicken tops, about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from oven. Place chicken on heated platter and keep warm; carefully remove foil strips. Meanwhile, remove and discard mirepoix vegetables from roasting pan. Place pan on top of stove. Remove any surface fat and bring to a boil. Add chicken stock and cream and reduce over high heat, stirring until of desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings.

To serve, garnish chicken breasts with remaining lemon zest and tarragon.

Place a little sauce on a heated plate, then place chicken breast on top.

Good served with rice-stuffed tomatoes.

Serves 4 to 6, depending upon size of chicken breasts.

Note: Mirepoix means aromatic vegetables (carrot, celery and onion) chopped and placed in the bottom of a roasting pan).

Most of this dish can be prepared in advance.

From Nancy Enright's Canadian Herb Cookbook. By Nancy Enright. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Publishers, 1985. Pp. 56-57. ISBN 0-88862-788-2.

Posted by Cathy Harned.

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