If It’s Tuesday It Must Be Athens

Chicken is one of my favorite foods, its flavor infinitely adaptable to mood, style, and cuisine. A simple roast chicken with herbs can speak to you of a French bistro or an Italian trattoria. Braise it with cumin, turmeric, and cinnamon and you have a Moroccan tagine. Dip it in seasoned flour and fry it and you’re tasting the American South. No other meat is so ready to change its personality from one meal to the next. No meat so willing to please.

Chicken is also relatively cheap — at least compared to beef, lamb, and pork — as well as low fat, so I serve it not only to myself but to clients. All of which means I’m constantly looking for new chicken recipes. I’ve run across several recipes for

chicken with a feta cheese sauce, but they didn’t particularly impress me. When I ran across another one — actually one I’d already seen several times — I suddenly knew what to do. I call this Athenian Chicken because of the feta and because the chicken itself is prepared somewhat like both Chicken Kiev and Chicken Florentine.

It’s a real knock-out. And to go with it I baked peach halves dusted with ground chipotle and a touch of butter.

Athenian Chicken
2 ea boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp minced thyme, oregano, and parsley
1 clove garlic, lg — minced
3 oz feta — crumbled
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 c white wine
1/2 c half and half
ground white pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375F.

Pound chicken breasts flat* — they should be about 3/8 inch thick.

Combine 3 tablespoons of minced herbs with garlic and 1/3 of cheese. Spread half of mixture on each breast, roll up, and either tie with twine or pin with toothpicks. Lightly season breasts with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, then, treating the breasts as though they’re 3-sided, brown on 2 sides — about 3 minutes per side. Turn un-browned side down and place skillet in oven on the middle rack and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove skillet from oven and place breasts on a plate and tent with foil.

Being very careful of hot handle, add wine to skillet and deglaze over medium heat, reducing wine by about half. Add half and half and bring to a good simmer. Add remaining herbs (reserving a couple of pinches for a final garnish), feta, and white pepper to taste. Cook for about 30 seconds. Plate chicken breasts, removing twine or toothpicks, pour sauce over them, and sprinkle with final pinch of herbs.

*I’ve found the best way to flatten chicken breasts is to spritz the inside of a gallon plastic bag with water, put the breast inside it, and then pound with your pounder of choice.

Technorati: Food | recipe | main dish | chicken | feta | chicken with feta

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