Lars’s Chicken CharLaMaine

Print PDF

A Little Personal History:

Here’s the dish I created for the women I’ve loved.

While deciding on dinner on night at the Country Club at Castle Pines, sitting at my favorite table, looking out over the Rockies and a spectacular sunset, I asked if “Chef Rob” might be able to recreate the dish for me.

Bottom line, he not only re-created the dish, he added it as an entrée to the Dinner Menu! It became one of the Club’s most popular dishes for years to come.

PostScript: Chicken CharLaMaine infuses the name of my love and soulmate for life

Description:

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless chicken breast halves (pounded flat)
• Lars’s Buttermilk Marinade
  

  ---

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs Lars’s Cajun Blast Seasoning
  

  ---

• 4 thin slices deli ham
• 8 thin slices mild cheese (i.e. Gruyere, Provolone, Swiss, etc.)
• 1 cup steamed spinach
  

  ---

• 4 Tbs olive oil
  

  ---

• Cooking spray or butter
  

  ---

• 1 cup Lars’s Lemon Parsley Sauce

Procedure:

1. Marinade chicken breast for 4 hours.
2. While chicken marinades, prepare lemon parsley sauce per instructions. Set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, blend flour and Cajun Blast together and set aside.
4. On cutting board, slice ham and cheese very thin. Set aside.
5. In vegetable steamer, steam spinach for 5 minutes. Set aside.
6. After chicken has marinated, on cutting board, use the flat side of a metal meat mallet and pound each breast till about ¼ inch thick. Repeat for remaining breasts. Set aside. .
   1. My preferred method is to lay out a strip of wax paper about a foot and a half long and then lay a strip of plastic wrap over that.
   2. Put one chicken breast on top but to one side and fold the wrap and paper over it.
   3. This method also allows you to use a rolling pin to flatten breasts, if a meat mallet isn’t available.
7. Add filling for each chicken breast: With breast skinless side down, layer spinach, ham, and cheese slice.
8. Roll each breast tightly together. Tuck in sides. Use toothpicks to keep stuffed breasts together.
9. Pat breasts dry with paper towels. Dredge each stuffed chicken breast in flour/seasoning mixture till all sides are covered. Shake off any excess mixture and set aside.
10. In skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high heat until hot but no smoking.
11. Grease baking dish with oil spray or butter.
12. Use tongs to place and saute stuffed chicken breast, moving so not to stick to skillet and turning on all sides till lightly browned, but not cooked through. Approximately 1 minute per side. The intent is to cook just long enough for the mixture to help “hold” breast together, while sealing in the juices and flavor during baking.
13. Place each sautéed breast in greased baking dish. Carefully remove toothpicks.
14. Pre-heat oven to bake at 350°F.
15. In pre-heated oven, place baking dish on middle rack, and bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through but not over cooked.
16. In small saucepan, re-heat lemon parsley sauce over medium-low heat. Stirring occasionally.
17. Remove baking dish from oven, and place a cheese slice on top of each breast. Return to oven for 3 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
18. Transfer each breast to serving plate and pour sauce over it. Serve immediately.

Advanced Preparation:

• Marinating chicken can be done in advance and refrigerated or frozen till needed. If frozen, return marinated breasts to room temperature before proceeding.
• Steps 2 – 5 can be done up to 4 hours in advance, covered and refrigerated till ready to use.
• Steps 6 – 13 can be done up to 4 hours in advance and refrigerated till ready to bake.
  • I haven’t tested what would happen if you freeze them, for use days or weeks later, and then bake when ready. If anyone wants to let me know the results, I’m all ears.

Tips, Notes, and Variations:

• For a Country Club party, “Chef Rob” came up with a great variation to easily serve this dish for about a hundred people.
  • Instead of making individual servings, he pounded out many breasts, layered them lengthwise, added filling and rolled them together as long rolls.
  • Then placed and baked them in chafing dishes, with sauce & garnish on top.
  • The stuffed chicken “rolls” were sliced into individual serving portions and served buffet style. It was a masterful presentation and much talked about. I guess that’s why he’s “Chef Rob” and I’m just Lars.

Tags: American Cuisine, chicken