Chicken Roulades

I had recently watched an episode of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef where Anne made chicken rolled around a filling made of chorizo, Manchego cheese and almonds, breaded and fried, and served over a bed of sauteed Kale.

I started by butterflying 4 chicken breast halves and pounding them to make them thin and even. The chicken was set aside while I started the stuffing. I sauteed some chopped onions in olive oil with salt and crushed red pepper until softened. Some garlic went in for a couple of minutes to soften before crumbled chorizo was added and allowed to cook for about 5 minutes. The pan came off the heat and the mixture was allowed to cool a bit. The chorizo mixture then went in a bowl and I added some breadcrumbs, grated Manchego cheese, chopped parsley, chopped, toasted, almonds, and an egg to bind everything together. The stuffing was thoroughly combined and divided among the 4 flattened, butterflied chicken breasts, rolled up and secured with a toothpick. The stuffed chicken roulades got the standard breading procedure by being dredged in flour, dipped in beaten eggs, and rolled in Panko breadcrumbs. They were loosely covered with parchment paper and allowed to chill in the refrigerator for an hour.

After the hour chill, the rolls were browned in oil in a skillet on all sides and then finished in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. In the same skillet, a chopped shallot was sauteed while the chicken was finishing in the oven. After a few minutes some sherry vinegar was added and allowed to reduce by half. Some chicken stock went in the pan and allowed again to reduce by half. Finally more chicken stock went in and allowed to reduce again by half. The sauce was finished by adding some butter and gradually stirring it to combine it in the sauce.

While the chicken was finishing in the oven and I was reducing the sauce, I worked on the kale. I started by sauteing some garlic cloves with some crushed red pepper in olive oil, until the garlic was golden. I removed the garlic cloves since their job was to flavor the oil. I added some cleaned, chopped kale and tossed it to cover it with some of the flavored oil. I seasoned the kale with salt and added some chicken stock before covering the pan and letting it cook for a couple of minutes. I uncovered the pan and made sure the kale was cooked evenly before adding some sherry vinegar.

The chicken rolls came out of the oven, were sliced and placed over a bed of the sauteed kale and drizzled with the sauce.

This dinner was a lot of work and yielded okay results which seems to be the case with several of Anne Burrell's recipes. I think she has a heavy hand with salt and a love of vinegar which is just a little too much for me. The food looks great but the flavor is just off.

Gerry didn't mind this dinner, but I think I'm done with Anne for a while.