Baked Chicken Roulade
Ingredients
- 1 c finely chopped smoked sausage (preferably Andouille)
- 57 g butter (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 c finely chopped onion
- 1/2 c finely chopped bell pepper (mixed yellow and red)
- 1 c chopped crawfish tails (coarsely chopped)
- 1 T granulated onion
- 1 T granulated garlic
- 1/2 t cayenne pepper
- 1/2 t ground white pepper
- 1/4 c chicken stock (double-strength)
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 1.5 c bread cubes (stale)
- 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, 5oz each)
- 1/4 c Tandoori seasoning
Method
Preheat oven to 350F / 175C / Gas 4.
In a saute pan over medium heat, saute sausage until it browns and begins to stick. Add butter, diced onion, and bell pepper; saute until vegetables are soft.
Add crawfish, granulated onion, garlic, cayenne, and white pepper; stir together well.
When the pan begins to sizzle and smoke just a bit, add stock and stir to deglaze the pan. Cook until mixture is hot. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Add egg and bread cubes and mix well; set aside.
Place a piece of clear plastic wrap on a cutting board. Place chicken breast on top, skinned-side up. Cover with another piece of clear wrap and press down to seal on and around the chicken. With a meat mallet, pound chicken carefully until flat and as thin as you can get it without tearing it apart. Remove from plastic and arrange on the cutting board for stuffing. Repeat for the rest of the breasts.
Place one-fourth of the stuffing onto the middle of each chicken breast. Roll the chicken over the stuffing to make a roulade. Tie with butcher's kitchen twine. Sprinkle the chicken with Tandoori seasoning.
Lightly brown the roulades on a hot grill or in a saute pan. Remove from heat and finish baking in oven for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and let chicken rest untouched for 5 minutes.
Plating Instructions:
Remove string from chicken and cut on a bias into 1/4" thick slices. Place about 1/4 cup of mango curry cream sauce on the center of each plate. Unmold rice and place in the center of the sauce. Arrange chicken slices around the rice. Spoon a dollop of chutney outside the sauce. Garnish the finished plate with a piece of fruit or fresh herb. Serve immediately.
Notes
Note: This calls for being served with Mango Curry Cream sauce ( http://myst.starforge.co.uk/index.cgi?block=3&op=view&id=571 ), Chutney-Infused Rice (http://myst.starforge.co.uk/index.cgi?block=3&op=view&id=573 ), and a dollop of Chutney ( http://myst.starforge.co.uk/index.cgi?block=3&op=view&id=572 ). I can't have mango, so I won't be making that, at least not as written; I generally don't like chutney, so I've omitted that, and will serve it with either plain white rice, or dirty rice.
SJ Note 6 Aug 2011: This is very tasty! I used larger chicken breasts (7oz) so I didn't have to worry so much about how thinly I could pound them. Each roulade makes a very generous main dish per person; with lots of sides, you could do one roulade per two people if you want.