Ali's Kitchen: Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Fresh Figs and Goat Cheese

Today is an exciting day because I am making one of my FAVORITE recipes ever. I'm not, as I had promised a few posts ago, doing something from a cookbook, but I figure that's okay, because I'm also still the only one posting, and I was promised I wouldn't be a few posts ago, TOO. So. GUILT TRIP!* Ahem hem. Anywho.

This is today's recipe:

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Fresh Figs and Goat Cheese
by Marie Simmons, from Fig Heaven

As you can see over at Leite's Culinaria, the recipe calls for: Chicken breasts, fresh thyme leaves, Kosher salt and pepper, fresh green or black figs, goat cheese, olive oil, pancetta or bacon, and dry white wine.

Some alterations we are making:

- First of all, the chicken breasts I bought in the "Value Pac!" were huuuge. I don't even want to know what they fed this chicken. Probably something radioactive. I may have superpowers by tomorrow, or possibly an extra toe. So we're throwing out any timing instructions, and just using a sturdy meat thermometer to time things.

- We're not using Kosher salt. We're not even using REAL salt. We're using "Nu-Salt," which is basically potassium in a form that looks like, and is intended for those of us who puff up from water retention just by LOOKING at salt. (No, actually, it's intended for those with high blood pressure.)

- We're using dried thyme because we already had some, and I didn't feel like yanking a bunch of tiny thyme leaves off a brittle little branch today. Lazy Sunday.

- We're not using pancetta or bacon, not for any nutritional reason - just because I forgot to buy it. Also? Pancetta is expensive, and bacon is NOT classy enough for the regal fig.

Ah, the fig. Behold its wonder:



I make this recipe EVERY time they're selling figs in the grocery store. EVERY time. I kid you not. Figs are the Queen of Fruit (and pomegranate the King).

So get your figgies and your garlic all nice and chopped/diced, respectively. Dump 'em in a little bowl with the "salt," pepper, a little bit of olive oil and thyme. I didn't measure a thing, because this recipe will work out fine no matter the proportions. These ingredients are such a yummy match that it doesn't matter too much which one comes out on top.



Now you get your little (ha.) chicken breasts and butterfly them. The recipe says to remove the fillets and save for a stir-fry. I'm not that motivated today, so we're leaving them on. I think I have all the other times as well, and it worked out juuuust fiiiiine.

Sprinkle the chicken breasts inside and out with "salt," pepper and thyme (I forgot to do this and just did the outside). Stuff the, erm, stuffing into the breasts, and close.

Put in a Pammed pan (ha), and bingo bango, pop 'em in the oven at 400 degrees.

The recipe says 10 minutes per side (also, we don't need to flip them, necessarily, since there's no pancetta to crisp, but I suppose you can if you like). Let's start with 25 minutes for these Frankenstein chicken boobs. Let's hope we don't overcook them. Everyone here is very tense:



During today's intermission, I'd like to take a moment to extol the virtues of distilled white vinegar. Did you know you can put a small dish out, like zees?



and it will keep fruit flies away from your kitchen? This way you will be able to keep out, say, cut tomatoes instead of having to commit the unholy transgression of refrigerating tomatoes. Also with vinegar? You can clean the milky deposits off your crystal and glassware. You can also clean your countertops without using dangerous bleach or chemical-based cleaning supplies or overpriced "granola" cleaning supplies. You can throw it in at the rinse cycle as a scent-free fabric softener. You can clean your floors with it, people. And don't even get me started on the wonders of baking soda. Those two are like Brahman and Vishnu of green AND cheap household cleaning. *End Intermission*

When your chicken is done (it took Frankenstein chicken about 35 minutes! And it wasn't overcooked!), set aside and cover. Bring your roasting or baking dish (whichever you've used - if you're like me you don't have a small roaster and regular old Pyrex has to do, even if the bottom side of whatever meat you're cooking does get a little soggy from its juices) and pop it onto the stovetop. Add in the white wine and boil the liquid down for about 2-5 minutes, depending on how much liquid you're working with.



Now drizzle over your chickies and nom nom nom!



Tarot and I put this one together with some orzo tossed in the extra goat cheese, and a simple side salad. The salad had the fun jazzing-up of persimmon tomatoes, an orange heirloom variety, which you already know if you got your Cooking Light this month like a good little cook.



* I kid, I kid. I know my schedule is particularly conducive to this stuff.

Whoops. I keep forgetting to add my "roundup."

Favorite things about this dish: FIGS. I LOVE FIGS. And I'm not complaining about the goat cheese, either. And thyme may or may not be my favorite herb. You can see why I cook this recipe all the damn time.

Least favorite things about this dish: Leaving out the pancetta really isn't as good. You need the salty piggy to balance out the sweet figs and tart goat cheese. I hoped it wouldn't make a difference, but it did. Definitely better with the crispy pig on top of the Frankenstein chicken.

Surprising thing about this dish: This is a rare instance in which adding wine to a broth does not, for my tastes, help. I would have left out the wine this time. Maybe it was the Sancerre I used - very tart.

New skill learned: Putting Pyrex on top of a stove! I've never done that before! I'm always afraid the glass will shatter or something, though when I think about it, the temp in the oven is probably much hotter and more stressful to the glass. Or maybe not. I don't "do" physics.