Holiday Meal #3 - Bacon wrapped chicken, Risotto stuffed tomatoes

Apologies for the small delay in posting over the holidays. It got crazy in Tahoe!

This meal was a lot of fun and also featured one dish that always seems to test my stress level. 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken, stuffed with rosemary, sage and garlic: Taking from a very traditional Tuscan dish, the main part of the meal was a chicken breast, stuffed with rosemary, sage, and garlic. This is usually made with turkey, tied then roasted.  I took it a step further. I wrapped it in bacon, then tied it.  Roasted it in a little white wine.  Now, where this dish usually gets me is internal temp and bacon crispiness.  So, when the chicken was almost cooked, I took them out and then pan fried to crisp up the bacon.  Worked like a charm!  With the time I had while this was roasting, I decided to make a sauce.  I took a healthy portion of the already amazing pan drippings and added it to a sauce pan.  Added a couple pads of butter, some sherry, sage, and dijon mustard.  This gravy turned out as a perfect compliment to the chicken breast. 

Also on the menu was some risotto stuffed tomatoes, and a light chopped asparagus salad (pictured to the right of the sauce).

Recipe: 
8 Chicken breasts, pounded flat
12 pieces of bacon (varies, just need to have enoug to wrap each chicken).
5-6 cloves of garlic
Fresh rosemary
Fresh sage
Butcher twine

Sauce:
Pan drippings, Dry Sherry, Dijon Mustard, Sage, Peppercorns, white wine, salt, brown sugar.


Finely chop garlic, rosemary, and sage and combine together in a bowl. Take chicken breast and lightly stuff a pinch of the herb mixture in the center, then roll. Wrap this roll up with bacon to cover, then tie off with butcher twine.  Roast in the oven at 350* for 30-35 min.  I also like to add about a cup of white wine to the pan to keep moisture and add a flavor base.