This is a gourmet meal that you can wow your guests with. It isn't too hard to prepare but it tastes fantastic. You can bake, pan fry, or charcoal broil your Cheese Stuffed Bacon Chicken. Serve it with rice or French fries and a salad.
Instructions
1. Pound each chicken breast with a mallet on a cutting board until it is 1/4-inch thick. This will increase the area of the chicken. Set aside the meat for later.
2. Mince the basil, dill weed and chives. Add them along with a tablespoon of minced garlic into the tub of cream cheese. Stir this until the herbs and garlic are evenly spread throughout the cheese.
3. Fill the chicken with the cheese and herb mixture. Place one thinly pounded breast on the cutting board. Put one heaping teaspoon of the cheese in the center of the breast. Then carefully roll the meat around the chicken and fold in the ends so that none of the cheese can escape while cooking.
4. Wrap one piece of bacon around the rolled up cheese stuffed chicken breast. Then wrap a second piece of bacon around the chicken so that there is no chicken meat visible. Secure the bacon and the chicken with 2 or 3 toothpicks.
5. Put the cheese stuffed bacon wrapped chicken into a dish and cover it with plastic wrap so that it is air tight. Chill this for at least 2 hours or overnight. This will allow the flavors to permeate the meat and also the rolls will firm up.
6. Choose cook the cheese stuffed bacon wrapped chicken. If you bake it, place it for about 28 minutes in a 425 degree oven (cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil until the last 10 minutes). If you fry it, place it in a large frying pan. Turn the meat frequently until the bacon browns. Then turn down the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook for about 30 minutes. If you charcoal broil it, wrap each piece in aluminum foil. Cook over hot coals for 30 minutes. Then unwrap the meat and finish the bacon--the flames will increase as the bacon fat drips.
7. Serve one cheese stuffed bacon chicken breast to each guest along with sides and salad. I like to serve this with a home made biscuit to sop up the juices that escape with so much flavor. Make sure that your guests are aware that there are toothpicks so that they do not swallow them by accident. I always say, "Watch out for the bones!"
Tags: cheese stuffed, chicken breast, about minutes, along with, aluminum foil
