Chicken roulades without cheese! YUMMY!
Im often adding cheese to meat roulades, as you know I am not a big fan of it , so I created my own no – cheese version.
Do you like chicken? Remember to buy meat from checked sources. Maybe you have a friend on the farm, or at the small central square, or at the eco shop, or other proven and trusted shop with meat. Remember that chickens “produced” on a large scale, are stuffed with chemistry and antibiotics. Food full of those “extras” may bring more problems than benefits in the future.
Preparation
Wash the meat thoroughly, place it on a chopping board and bash the living daylights out of them with a rolling pin or kitchen hammer.
Season with herbs salt on both sides. Chop the onion and chanterelles finely, then simmer with coconut oil or ghee butter.
Add salt and pepper. In a separate pot cook the spinach, then add the onions and chanterelles, mix it all together.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the filling on the chicken breast, roll it and pin it with toothpicks. Place the rolls on a baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully cut into strips and remove the toothpicks.
Best served with vegetables or salad, for example pepper, tomato, avocado, red onion, olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.
Bon Appetit!
How to flatten the breast without tearing it
The mallet does the work, but the covering decides the result. Put the breast between two sheets of baking paper or inside a freezer bag before you start, and hit outwards from the middle rather than straight down. Straight down drives the fibres apart and makes holes, and a hole is where the filling escapes in the oven. Aim for an even half centimetre across the whole piece: a thin edge with a thick middle rolls badly and bakes unevenly.
Why the filling has to be cool and dry
Spinach holds a surprising amount of water and chanterelles release theirs as soon as they hit the pan, so both need to lose it before they go inside the roll. Cook the spinach, then press it in a sieve or squeeze it in your hands; simmer the mushrooms until the pan is dry rather than just soft. Then let the filling cool. Warm, wet filling steams inside the roulade, which is how a rolled breast ends up loose and grey instead of holding its shape.
Rolling, pinning and resting
Roll along the shorter side so the roll comes out short and thick rather than long and thin, and keep the filling a centimetre away from the edges. Two toothpicks per roll are enough if the meat is even; if you have kitchen twine, one turn around the middle holds better than any number of toothpicks and comes off in one pull.
Give the rolls five minutes out of the oven before you cut them. That is what stops the filling sliding out with the first slice, and it is also when the juices go back into the meat instead of onto the board. Chanterelles are seasonal, so outside their months use mushrooms with the same treatment: simmer them dry, and they behave the same way.
If you would rather have dinners like this one written into a plan with a shopping list, that is what the Diet & Training by Ann app does.
Chicken roulades with spinach and chanterelles
Ingredients
Method
- Wash the meat thoroughly, place it between two sheets of baking paper and flatten it with a rolling pin or a kitchen mallet to an even half centimetre.
- Season with herbs salt on both sides.
- Chop the onion and the chanterelles finely, then simmer them with the coconut oil or ghee butter until the pan is dry. Add salt and pepper.
- Cook the spinach in a separate pot, press out the water, then mix it with the onions and chanterelles and let the filling cool.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C. Place the filling on the chicken breast, keeping a centimetre from the edges, roll it and pin it with toothpicks.
- Place the rolls on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Let them rest five minutes, then cut into strips and remove the toothpicks. Serve with vegetables or a salad.
Notes
Frequently asked questions
Put it between two sheets of baking paper or inside a freezer bag, and hit outwards from the middle rather than straight down. Straight down drives the fibres apart and makes holes, and a hole is where the filling escapes in the oven. Aim for an even half centimetre.
Because spinach and chanterelles both hold water, and warm wet filling steams inside the roll. Press the cooked spinach in a sieve, simmer the mushrooms until the pan is dry, then let the mixture cool before it goes onto the meat.
About 25 to 30 minutes at 180 degrees, then five minutes of rest before slicing. The rest is what keeps the filling from sliding out with the first cut.
Two toothpicks per roll are enough when the meat is evenly flattened. Twine holds better, since one turn around the middle keeps the whole roll closed, and it comes off in a single pull.
Any mushroom, given the same treatment: chopped finely and simmered until the pan is dry. It is the dryness rather than the variety that decides whether the roll holds together. Dinners like this one come planned with a shopping list in the Diet & Training by Ann app.
Comments No Comments
Join the discussion…