Every once in a while, my wife and I decide it’s time to take inventory of what food we have in our house, because it tends to start overflowing in the refrigerator(s) and pantry(ies). And by -ies I mean in bags on a shelf in the basement. So I went and took inventory and one thing we had overstock in was frozen chicken breast. I asked my wife what we should make — let’s call my wife Jenny, because, well, that’s her name. She said, “How about we pound the chicken flat, stuff with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and roll them up? I thought for half a second and said, “Brilliant!”
I’ve been the main cook in our house, but Jenny has been cooking 1-2 times per week lately. Still, this recipe was all on me to execute, while she made the sides. Jenny wrote on a little chalkboard, “Tonight: Chicken with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes with a nice array of vegetables.” She was in charge of the vegetables–roasted asparagus and red and yellow bell peppers. I set out to make the main event.
So I cut the chicken breasts into 3-4 oz. pieces and then pounded them flat in a large zip-lock bag. I sauteed some spinach in olive oil and added salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder, and when cool enough added about 1/4 cup of slivered sun dried tomatoes (from a jar packed in oil). Then I placed a small mound of spinach mixture on each chicken breast piece, and rolled them up, securing with a toothpick. Obviously you cannot pan fry them with toothpicks sticking out, so I only used the toothpicks to hold the chicken momentarily together. And it worked!
I heated some olive oil in a large non-stick skillet, and cooked the chicken rolls on each side over medium heat (maybe 8 minutes total) until browned and cooked through. Then I attempted to put the dish over the top. I melted a pat of butter in the pan, added a teaspoon or so of olive oil, then added a little white wine, scraping up the brown bits in the pan. Then I added a little chicken broth and some salt and pepper. As the sauce reduced down, I then added some water and let it reduce more, and then added some lemon juice and parsley, pouring the sauce over the chicken rolls on the plate. Jenny added the “nice array of vegetables” and a new dish was born in Mikey’s (and Jenny’s) Kitchen.
Thanks for the fine folks at Grassland Butter, I took my wife and 5-year old son to the Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival two weekends ago. We moved to Wisconsin two years ago and this was the first time we went to the fest. It also certainly won’t be the last time. The food was great, the rides were great for our thrill-loving boy, and the weather was perfect as well (75 and sunny).
Grassland was an official sponsor of the event, which meant their butter was the perfect companion to the sweet corn. We were amazed at the production line for the corn–as we waited with our tote, we watched the corn come out of the steamer in husks, after which we had to peel (ouch!) ourselves. Then we brought the corn to the butter table, where the fine folks rolled our corn in a gigantic block of Grassland butter, and then we made our way to the hanging salt shakers before gorging ourselves with the corn. Of course, it was peak season and the corn was delicious, but the Grassland butter really did take it to another level. My only regret was that I totally forgot about the grilled cheese sandwiches, which are also slathered with the butter and supposedly a fair favorite. Next year though!
Before we ate, our son dragged us to pretty much every ride there was, and every weird haunted house “ride.” My wife had the pleasure of going on just about everything, while I skated by only going on the flying swings with him once. He had the best time, and that is always the most important thing.
So, is it next August yet?
