The Cottage Smallholder

“How would you cook a couple of fat, free range organic chicken breasts?”
Anna put down her brush and gazed into the middle distance.
“I always marinade chicken breasts in lemon, garlic and olive oil. Have they got skin?”
I didn’t know. I had just discovered them in the freezer this morning.

“If they have skin you can tuck something under the skin. Such as Brie or Pesto and grill them. Or why not sun dried tomatoes? Or just slice the breast and slip something succulent. . “.

Anna’s suggestions were perfect. I also had read a post yesterday that perked up my taste buds in an instant. Richard’s food blogging is good. Witty, down to earth and inspirational. I love salady food. Danny does not.

I have been flirting with the thought of cooking Bulghur Wheat and tossing fresh chopped tomatoes, herbs and spring onion into it just before serving so they are barely warm and retain their fresh clean taste. And with Richard’s and Anna’s inspiration, I made this dish.

I also remembered a trick that I used to do years ago. Slicing chicken breasts, spreading them with something delicious and rolling them up creates small medallions which are both pretty and also stretch a couple of chicken breasts into enough for three.

We ate this with sliced cold avocado sprinkled with a good balsamic vinegar. The combination of flavours was wonderful (even Danny enthused over the warm salad) but interestingly, not nearly as good cold.

Chunky chicken medallions filled with goats’ cheese, pesto and herbs on a warm Bulghur Wheat salad recipe

Ingredients:

For the marinade

• Juice of a lemon
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
  Marinade the chicken breasts for at least half an hour. Retain the marinade for cooking

For the Bulghur Wheat (for two)

• 200g of Bulghur Wheat
• 1 litre of water
• 2 teaspoons of Marigold stock powder
• 1 large spring onion (continental) sliced including the green
• 3 tomatoes chopped into chunks
• Couple of pinches of Italian dried herbs
• Seasoning to taste, when cooked. I added a large pinch of garlic granules at this stage (these are very useful. They can pull a flagging dish round in an instant)

For the Chicken Medallions

• 2 fat chicken breasts
• 3 slices of gooey goats cheese
• 3 teaspoons of pesto
• Couple of pinches of Italian dried herbs
• 3 cocktail sticks snapped in half

Method:

1. Slice each marinaded chicken breasts lengthwise into three (or 2 if they are small ones). Ideally they should be 1 cm thick.
2. Spread three with a teaspoon of pesto and the other three with the goats’ cheese.
3. Roll up each medallion lengthways and secure with a cocktail stick.
4. Pack these little sausage shapes into an ovenproof dish so that they are snug. Sprinkle with herbs, pour over the marinade and cook under a medium grill for 20 minutes turning frequently to keep the meat succulent.
5. When cooked, slice them into chunky medallions. Serve on the Bulghur Wheat nest. Pour over the juices from the dish.

Meanwhile:

1. Before grilling the medallions put the Bulghur Wheat and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the Marigold and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Strain, add the herbs and seasoning and reserve to a warm place.
2. Chop the tomatoes and spring onion and add a couple of minutes before serving.