I put off making this recipe for a few days. I have been struggling with stomach issues my whole life but over the past few months they have become increasingly worse. Over the past few days have been filled with frequent stomach pain and eating meat stuffed with another meat was the last thing I wanted to do. I feared that it would be too rich for my body to handle and I put off making it for days after I picked up the groceries to cook it. To my surprise, this dish was not heavy or strange and was delightfully fresh and delicate for, as I said, a meat stuffed with another meat.
RECIPE
From pages 304 to 305
- 2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed with a heavy knife handle and peeled
- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1/2 pound any lean cut of pork, ground
- Salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
- 2 large whole breasts of chicken, filleted
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
In a skillet, sauté the crushed garlic cloves in the oil over medium heat. When the garlic has colored lightly, add the ground pork, a large pinch of salt, the pepper, and the rosemary. Stir and sauté the meat for ten minuets, crumbling it with a fork as it cooks. Then, with a perforated label or slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a dish and allow to cool. Discard all but 2 1/3 to 3 tablespoons of fat from the skillet.
Lay the chicken breasts flat and sprinkle very lightly with salt and pepper. Spread the sautéed ground pork in the fillets, and roll each fillet up tightly. Tie up each roll securely with string as if you are preparing miniature roasts. (You can prepare the dish up to this point several hours ahead of time.)
Add the butter to the skillet in which you cooked the pork and turn the heat up to medium high. When the butter foam begins to subside, put in the stuffed chicken rolls. Brown well on both sides, but do not overcook, Remember, it takes about two minutes to cook filleted chicken breasts. When the rolls are well browned, transfer them to a warm platter and remove the strings. Add the wine to the skillet, turn the heat to high, and loosen any cooking residue in the pan. When the wine has evaporated, pour the sauce over the chicken rolls, and serve hot.
Notes
I forgot to add the wine sauce, which I’m sure is an important factor in the flavor of this dish. However, it is just as delightful without as I’m sure it is with. I am often very wary of cooking chicken and chose to cook the chicken a bit longer than two minutes. I do not know how thin the fillets Hazan was working with were but mine were much to thick to cook in just two minutes. When cooking chicken I often put it in the oven at 350 for a few minutes juts to be sure it is cooked through.
Afterthoughts
This dish is surprisingly fresh and mild, the rosemary giving the dish a springy air about it. The chicken and pork pair well together, bringing out the flavor in both the meats. This dish is perfect for spring and one should not shy away from it for fear it is too strange or risky. I wholly enjoyed this dish and would definitely cook it again, with the inclusion of the forgotten wine sauce.
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