Dublin City’s gourmet stuffed breast of chicken

I found this dish while visiting one of Dublin's many pubs.  It was so tasty, I thought I'd share with you.  

This recipe is a delicious way of serving boneless chicken breasts, using Ireland’s major and well loved products of whiskey. Serve this dish with fresh young vegetables from the garden or farmers market and a tomato concasse. A Concasse, is a French cooking term meaning "to crush or grind” or rough chop any ingredient, usually vegetables. The term is particularly applied to tomatoes, where tomato concasse is a tomato that has been peeled, seeded (seeds and skins removed), and chopped to the size of a small dice to medium dice.

Serving four, this recipe provides a great alternative for the Sunday dinner over the traditional roast chicken. It is also a great idea for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner with the family. The smoky and earthy flavor of the whiskey and mushrooms as the chicken is flamed provides and down to earth meal with a gourmet flair.

Ingredients:

·         4 (6oz) free range boneless chicken breast

·         8 strips of smoked bacon

·         2 tbsp. Jameson Irish whiskey

·         Tomato concasse

·         Mint leaves to garnish

·         Stuffing:

·         3 oz wild mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

·         1 oz Irish butter

·         8 oz cooked potato, mashed

·         1 egg free range yolk

·         1 tbsp. chopped fresh herbs

·         Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Slice each chicken breast into two fillets. Gently pound out the chicken breast fillets to thin pieces that are easily rolled.

3. Begin process for the stuffing. Sauté the mushrooms in the butter until soft. Mix with all the remaining ingredients.

4. Place stuffing in the center of each pounded chicken breast fillet and to with another fillet. Continue until all fillets are used. Reshape the breasts, and wrap each in two strips of bacon. Secure them with thread or toothpicks. The breasts should resemble a small oblong tube.

5. Place the wrapped breast on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes.

6. Flame the chicken with the Irish whiskey. Serve on warmed plates with a little tomato concesse and spring vegetables. Garnish with mint leaves.

Tomato cancesse sauce

·         1 garlic clove, crushed

·         1 small sprig of rosemary

·         ½ tomato, skinned, seeded and diced

·         3 oz Irish butter, divided in half

·         6 oz chicken broth

Sauté the garlic, rosemary and tomato in a small pan using half of the butter until tomatoes are very soft. Add broth and boil to reduce by half. Season and transfer to a food processor. Process with a food processor until sauce is a liquid with no lumps. Return liquid to the pan and add remain butter.