Stuffed Chicken Birds Food

STUFFED "CHICKEN BIRDS"

Steps:

• Flatten chicken breasts to a uniform thickness.
• Filling: Melt butter in skillet and add garlic and mushrooms; saute for 5 minutes.
• Add wine and cook over high heat until liquid is reduced by half.
• Stir in consomme and cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and add egg yolk and sherry; mix to bind.
• Divide filling into equal portions and place in centre of chicken breasts.
• Roll breasts up, folding in sides and secure with toothpicks.
• Tie carefully with string at each end.
• Sauce: Melt butter in a large skillet and brown chicken on all sides.
• Cover pan and let them cook at a low simmer for 1 1/4 hours.
• Remove chicken from skillet.
• Add wine to skillet, scraping up all the brown bits on the bottom of pan.
• Cook over high heat until liquid is reduced by half.
• Add chicken stock and cornstarch mixed to a paste with 3 tablespoons of wine.
• Add"birds" and simmer, covered for 20 minutes or until done.
• Remove toothpicks and string and transfer to a serving platter.
• Sieve sauce over them and garnish with chopped sauted mushrooms.

CHEESE, SPINACH & MUSHROOM STUFFED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Boil the kettle, tip the mushrooms into a small bowl, pour over boiling water to just cover, then leave to soak for 15 mins. Drain and squeeze out the mushrooms (save and freeze the liquid to make a base for a gravy) and roughly chop.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently cook the shallots and garlic for 3 mins. Turn up the heat, throw in the mushrooms and cook for a few mins more. Add the spinach, turn the heat up to high and cook until wilted and all the liquid has evaporated. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Beat in the cheeses and season with loads of pepper and a little salt. Set aside.
• Take the chicken breasts and remove the small fillet from the back. Cut a slit into the side of each chicken breast then stuff each one with a quarter of the spinach mixture, closing it with the cut-off fillet. Carefully wrap each stuffed chicken breast in a slice of prosciutto and chill until needed. Can be prepared up to a day ahead.
• To cook, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line up the chicken on a baking tray and roast for 20-25 mins until the prosciutto is frazzled at the edges, the cheese is oozing out and the chicken is cooked through.