http://www.democraticunderground.com/115727645Oh my.
I thought for sure
would show up at this campfire, but she didn't.
Aerows (14,997 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 01:12 PM
Stuffing chicken breasts?
I wanted to try making some stuffed chicken breasts. I know how to debone them, but I'm wondering what is the most effective way to stuff them with, say, mushrooms and cheese. Do you slit them along the sides, or pierce them in the bottom, wider part to do it?
Thanks for the advice .
Oh, and I figured I'd probably use a filet knife (for fish) for this exercise, but let me know if that isn't the best way.
Kali (34,653 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 01:21 PM
1. pound them flat between two pieces of plastic wrap or in a gallon size bag
then roll them around your stuffing. you can use tooth picks to secure.
Aerows (14,997 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 01:22 PM
2. I wanted to split them in the middle and fill them. I could do that, but I wanted a "prettier" way of doing it. Not that you didn't have a great idea, I just want to do it a bit differently. I'll definitely do that for fish, and I hadn't thought about that!
Kali (34,653 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 01:39 PM
3. then I would split them the flat way, along the sides
the nice thing about pounding them is it makes them nice and tender - you can cut with a fork. doing them "unflattened" risks them shrinking up and getting "thicker" which squishes the stuffing out and also takes longer to cook.
Kali (34,653 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 01:53 PM
5. and besides when you are cooking with cheese?
you can cover up any "ugly" with MORE cheese!
And then Ugly butts in:
Warpy (69,912 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 02:21 PM
7. Put each one between sheets of plastic wrap on a cutting board and take your best heavy skillet and start smacking them flat.
Once they're about the size you want (and it doesn't take much if you have a cast iron pan), just fill, roll, and secure with a toothpick and set into a pan. Then on to the next one.
My favorite filling was broccoli, mushrooms and water chestnuts.
Aerows (14,997 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 02:22 PM
8. Okay, that seems to be the consensus
Will they stay together when you cook them, and not be oozing the stuffing out of the sides? And yes, I have a heavy as hell cast-iron pan that I use to make cornbread.
Warpy (69,912 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 02:30 PM
9. There will always be a little stray stuffing
but that's why you cook them in a pan with sides.
Aerows (14,997 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 02:37 PM
10. It's funny
I've inherited different cookware pieces from relatives. The cast iron frying pan is from my great aunt. I have a bunch of other things from my grandmother that could can anything up to and including sunshine. There was nobody else except me and my sister (who could burn boiling water and had dusty pots when we went to cook Thanksgiving dinner) unless they wanted to give them to the boys.
I'm not complaining, I love that I've been entrusted with fine cookware, but it's a shade intimidating, too. Everyone seems to think I can be the one to make the most use of them, and I do try, because I like it, and it makes me feel closer to my grandmother and my aunt. It's just... I don't like to fail their memories by making bad dishes IN them.
Does that make sense?
Warpy (69,912 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 03:56 PM
11. Perfect sense.
My mother hated cooking and it showed, so I didn't inherit anything from her kitchen. I've gotten my cookware here and there, mostly open stock and on sale so it's a motley collection that doesn't go together.
There is nothing finer than a cast iron frypan for smacking chicken breasts into stuffable flatness. I'm reduced to Calphalon these days because my wrists couldn't take the cast iron any more. I gave them to a next door neighbor who loves to cook.
Aerows (14,997 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 04:11 PM
13. My mother hates to cook, too!
She's at least better than my sister. My sister, she's older than me, thinks food is cooked through a drive through window. God love her, she's a good person, but she and my brother-in-law are the reason McDonald's exists. Their kids think fried chicken is McNuggets, and nearly fainted in joy when I fried actual chicken.
cbayer (120,760 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 04:06 PM
12. I am going to support the alternative.
I like to slit them along the longest end, then stuff them and secure with toothpicks. Pounding them can lead to leaky holes and also means a longer edge to try and secure.
Whatever you do, that cheese is probably going to seep out, but that's ok if you are baking them.
^^^the problem with that is, given the lilliputian size of the boat the cbayer primitive and her eccentric English husband live on, she can do only one breast at a time, since there's not any more room.
Aerows (14,997 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 04:14 PM
14. Too late now, it's in the oven
But I'm going to try it that way the next time I'm trying to make healthy things for my father since he is having a gout attack. Keeping the man away from pork is like keeping a bee away from honey, but I do try on Saturdays and Sundays (thus the turkey sandwiches yesterday). I can't control what he eats during the week since I have to work, but when I can, I do my damnedest.
cbayer (120,760 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 04:25 PM
15. It's wonderful what you are doing for your father and I have a suggestion.
Have you experimented with pork tenderloins at all?
If he loves pork, the tenderloin is a very lean cut that can be cooked many different ways.
It looks expensive, but every single bit of it is edible and there is very little fat. There are usually two in a package and you can freeze one. Leftover meat also can be used in a lot of ways.
The trick is not to overcook, but to get it right to the point of doneness.
It looks like sombody's posting behind the back of her guardians, who don't think she should be, because she makes herself look bad:
grasswire (37,013 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 08:40 PM
20. and besides, the pre-marinated pork has loads of sodium
I like to cook a small pork loin on top of the stove with some fresh rosemary and lemon slices. Brown it on all sides with a little bit of olive oil or butter, add the rosemary, lemon, and salt and pepper, and gently cook it until no longer pink inside. Great served with some buttered pasta or brown rice and a vegetable.
cbayer (120,760 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 08:55 PM
21. Maybe it's the sodium that turns me off.
I have a general dislike of pre-marinated meats, except for things like corned beef.
Your recipe sounds so good and so simple.
grasswire (37,013 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 09:32 PM
22. another thing I don't like about pre-marinated meats is the fakey garlic flavor.
It's probably powder. I just don't like that stuff and it seems to be everywhere.
cbayer (120,760 posts) Sun Jun 30, 2013, 09:37 PM
23. That, too. I have always felt that it degraded the meat too much.
I have read many times that marinades should be relatively short for that reason. Pre-marinated meats seem to have a gumminess or something that just turns me off.
I never use garlic powder, but I am thinking of starting to keep some of that garlic paste in a tube. I am now using basil, wasabi, tomato paste and anchovy paste in tubes and they are great. But I've never tried the garlic.
<<<uses garlic salt a lot; garlic ain't nothing without that salty flavor.
