Taking It To The Max

A few weeks ago, I promised The Maximum Leader a recipe. Maxy, this one's for you.

When I ask Mr. P what more I can do to please him, this recipe is usually about number 8 on the list. Yes, it's that good.

Rolled Fillets of Breast of Chicken with Pork and Rosemary Filling

2 garlic cloves
2 tablespooons vegetable oil
1/2 pound ground pork
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
2 whole boned chicken breasts, halved and pounded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Sturdy round toothpicks
1/2 cup dry white wine

1. Lightly mash the garlic with a heavy knife handle, just hard enough to split the skin, which you will remove and discard. Put the garlic in a skillet together with the oil, turn on the heat to medium, and cook the garlic until it has become colored a pale gold. Add the ground pork, salt, pepper, and the rosemary leaves. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring and crumbling the meat with a fork. Discard the garlic and using a slotted spoon or spatula, transfer the meat to a plate.
2. Lay the chicken fillets flat on a work surface and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread the pork filling over the fillets, and roll each fillet tightly. Fasten each roll with a toothpick inserted lengthwise.
Ahead-time-note- The rolls can be prepared up to this point several hours in advance.
3. Spoon off most of the fat from the pan in which you have cooked the pork. (If you made the chicken rolls sometime in advance, degrease the pan at that time. and reserve the juices in the pan for when you are ready to resume cooking.) Add the butter, turn the heat on to medium high, and when the butter foam begins to subside, slip in the chicken rolls. Cook them briefly, about 1 minute altogether, turning them to brown them all over. Transfer to a warm serving platter, using a slotted poon or spatula, and remove the toothpicks.
4. Add the wine to the skillet, and while it simmers briskly for about half a minute, use a wooden spoon to scrape up the loose cooking residues from the bottom and sides of the pan. Pour the cooking juices over the chicken rolls and serve at once.

4 to 6 servings
from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan

Now, this recipe is wonderful as is, but what puts it over the top for Mr. P is for me to substitute chopped, fresh sage for the rosemary - fool around with the amount. The fresh sage makes it a perfect Fall dish along with roasted potatoes, a few brussel sprouts tossed with balsamic vinegar and sea salt, and pureed butternut squash enhanced with maple syrup and sweet butter followed by a Nantucket cranberry pie for dessert.

Enjoy Maxy.

Mrs. P

Comments

[Debbie]

Yum Yum. That sounds great. I may try that this next weekend. Thanks for sharing.

[Old Dominion Tory]

Excellent recipe, Mrs. Peperium. A superb autumn dish. Thank you for posting it.
Cheers,
Old Dominion Tory

[Robert the Llama Butcher]

But, but....discard the garlic? Why?

Going to try this regardless!

[The Maximum Leader]

Sounds wonderful. I've printed it out to try...

If I had to guess why the garlic is discarded... Could it be because overcooking at high heat could make the garlic turn bitter?

[Sqn Ld A.K.B. Cusack, &c.]

Mrs. P, do you think you could manage roast guinea fowl with stuffing as the entree for the Annual Regimental Do of the Imperial Flying Corps?