The Recipe I Should Have Shared!

Look at that! My last post was supposed to be about my MIL’s birthday weekend, and instead, I started whining. I am going to do my best to stop that, friends. First, by sharing the awesome recipe that impressed everyone at the birthday dinner. It’s so easy, and it makes you look brilliant.

What you need:
Chicken breasts (I cut min in half long ways, so the portion size was a little more delicate)
Salt
Pepper
Phyllo dough
Melted butter or cooking spray (like Pam)
Spreadable herbed goat cheese (I used the 4oz. Chavrie logs)

It was originally a recipe that called for puff pastry, but I bought phyllo dough instead. You take chicken breast halves, season well with salt and pepper, and brown on both sides in a sauté pan. Put those in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before you’re ready to cook with them. I did this part the day before and it saved a lot of time on the big night. The chicken will cook the rest of the way in the oven, so you don’t want them to be cooked through just yet.

Set your oven to 400 degrees. Take out the defrosted phyllo dough. Put down one sheet and brush with a little bit of melted butter or spritz with a tiny bit of non-stick spray. Put down a second sheet of phyllo on top of that. Take a pat of the goat cheese and smear it down the middle of the phyllo. I used my fingers, and sort of mushed bits of it down where I wanted it, because the phyllo tore pretty easily. Put a chicken breast half over the goat cheese, then roll up the phyllo. I brushed another little bit ofmelted butter on the ends to help them stay folded under the chicken breast.

Put all the chicken packets on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and bake in the oven for about 35-40 min! Serve and impress the socks off your in-laws, including the one who thought she wouldn’t like goat cheese.

Disclaimer: this is the version of the recipe that I ended up cooking, but you can find the original on allrecipes dot com. It's called herbed chicken in pastry.

-January