FLOWER POT KITCHEN: CHEESE STUFFED CRISPY PAN FRIED CHICKEN

28 Oct 2023

CHEESE STUFFED CRISPY PAN FRIED CHICKEN

Oozy gooey crispy butter pan fried chicken breast stuffed with three cheeses and jammon serrano.

This is a family favourite and it’s amazing how much cheese you can actually stuff inside a chicken breast! Simple to make and sure to be a winner dinner.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 2)

1 glug olive oil

30g salted butter with 10g reserved

2 large chicken breasts

100g fresh grated mozzarella

100g fresh grated medium cheddar

100g fresh grated red Leicester cheese

4 slices jammon serrano torn into pieces

1 red serrano chilli sliced optional

2 eggs beaten

100g flour (for gluten free use gram flour)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp sweet paprika

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 pinch fresh ground black pepper

1 pinch sea salt

Good glug of rapeseed oil

Pre heat your oven 180 C / 354 F.

Take the fillet of the back of the chicken breast and trim of the membrane, leave to one side, take the chicken breast and holding the thickest part at the top on the right side slide a paring knife into the breast towards the center making sure not to pierce through the breast. Gently move the knife side to side and up and down cutting the inside pocket wider and deeper, go as close to the inside edges of the breast as you dare!

Mix the three cheese with the jammon and stuff as much as you can into the pocket, then cut the reserved chicken fillet to the size of the hole and stuff into the hole at the top of the breast to create a plug.

Place the beaten eggs in a shallow bowl or tray and season, gently whisk the flour, onion and garlic powder, paprika, salt, black pepper and dried thyme.

Dust the chicken in the flour, then dip in the egg and coat all over then back into the flour making sure the whole breast is coated.

(If you want to deep fry these, I would at this point dip back into the egg and then coat in panko breadcrumbs and deep fry at 180 C for 6-8 minutes).

Heat a oven proof pan medium hot, add the butter and a glug olive oil, place the chicken in the pan and leave to sear for around 3-4 minutes on each side, turning only once to ensure that crispy crust. Add the reserved butter to the pan and once melted baste he chicken several times. Pop the pan in the oven for 5 minutes to ensure the cheese is fully melted.

Leave to rest for a couple of minutes before serving. Enjoy.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.