Wedding Chicken

Russ is here tonight and therefore I made dinner.  Usually our visits are pretty short and I'm lucky enough to go out to dinner most times he's here, like we did last night when we went to Winslow's.  Russ was under the impression that I have President's Day off (I don't) but I am happy to have him here even though I'll be waving good-bye to him on my way to work.  Because he's always taking me to dinner and the only meal I get to make for him is breakfast, tonight I made dinner.  I had a few pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast thawed and ready to be transformed.  I was down to two choices, sweet-and-sour chicken (my personal favorite) or "Wedding Chicken" - my take on a Thanksgiving-style stuffed chicken breast, served with mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies and cranberry sauce.  It requires a few short-cuts (which I'm fine with) but the end result is a really delicious dinner. 

WEDDING CHICKEN

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded thin
Stuffing, made with enough for 4 half-cup servings (I used Stove Top), and cooled enough to form into 4 balls
1 jar homestyle chicken or turkey gravy

Coat baking dish with cooking spray.  Divide stuffing into four sections and form each into a ball.  Place balls of stuffing in baking dish.  For each ball, wrap one pounded chicken breast half around each, tucking ends under the bottom.  Brush tops of stuffed chicken portions with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 400 degrees farenheit for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees, cover with foil, and bake another 30 minutes.  Remove foil and broil for just a minute or two to gently brown the top.

Remove from heat and place chicken portions on warm platter.  Add the drippings to your ready made gravy and season/thicken as desired. 

Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetable (and cranberry sauce, of course)!