Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Medeira Sauce
Submitted by bettyboop4401
Spinach-stuffed chicken breasts with Madeira sauce: skin-on chicken breasts stuffed under the skin with a chicken-cream-spinach mousse, then pan-seared and oven-finished.
YIELD
3 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
1 hrsThis is restaurant-technique chicken at home. The tenderloins are pulled off, ground in the food processor with crushed ice and cream to build a silky mousse, then spinach, nutmeg, lemon zest, and fennel seed get folded in for a classic French forcemeat.
The crushed ice is the professional trick. It keeps the cream and ground chicken cold during the processing, which prevents the fat from breaking and keeps the mousse airy and smooth rather than dense and rubbery.
Slipping the mousse under the skin rather than cutting a pocket in the breast is what gives this dish its elegance. The skin crisps to a golden shell while sealing the mousse beneath, keeping everything tender and juicy.
Madeira, the fortified Portuguese wine, is what defines the sauce. Reduced hard in the hot skillet after the chicken comes out, it deglazes all the golden fond and becomes a nutty, slightly sweet pan sauce with real depth.
Chef Tips
- Work the mousse cold from start to finish. Warming the mixture breaks the emulsion and produces a grainy texture.
- Don’t overfill the skin. Three tablespoons per breast is ideal, any more and the skin splits during cooking.
- Pre-sear skin-side down until truly golden, 1 to 2 minutes, before moving to the oven. A pale sear gives soft, greasy skin rather than crackly.
- Rest the chicken 5 minutes under foil before slicing. The mousse needs time to set firmly or it falls out of the pinwheel.
Variations
- Swap spinach for cooked mushrooms, spinach-and-cheese, or finely chopped wilted chard.
- Replace Madeira with dry sherry or Marsala wine for a different but equally classic sauce.
- Finish the sauce with a tablespoon of cold butter swirled in off heat for extra richness and gloss.
Ingredients
Directions
Arrange the chicken breasts skin side down on a cutting board, making sure the skin is evenly stretched over the breasts.
Remove the fillet strip from each breast, discard the white tendon, and in a food processor grind the fillets.
Add the ice, blend the mixture until the piece is absorbed, and with the motor running add the cream.
Add the spinach, the salt, the fennel seeds, the rind, the nutmeg, and the pepper and blend the filling well, scraping down the sides.
Turn the breasts skin side up and beginning at the pointed end pull the skin back carefully, leaving the thin transparent membranes attached along at the opposite end.
Spread 3 tablespoons of the spinach filling evenly over each breast, smoothing it, and stretch the skin over the filling for another use such as miniature quenelles made by poaching small balls of it in clear soup.
Chill the chicken, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for one hour.
In a large ove n proof skillet heat the oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking, add the chicken, skin side down, and season it with salt and pepper.
Sauté the chicken for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the skin is golden brown, turn it skin side up, and bake it, covered, in a preheated 400℉ (200℃). oven for 10 minutes.
Transfer the chicke n to a cutting board and let it stand, covered loosely with foil, for 5 minutes.
Make the sauce while the chicken is standing: pour off the fat from the skillet, add the Madeira, and boil it, scraping up the brown bits, until it is reduced to about 2 tablespoons.
Add the broth an d boil the mixture, stirring for 1 minute.
Stir the arrowroot mixture, add it to the skillet, whisking, for 1 minute.
Holding a knife at a 45 degree angle slice the chicken crosswise and arrange the slices, overlapping them slightly, on 4 heated plates.
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