In honor of the recent National Championship game between Alabama and Notre Dame I created a recipe called Crimson Tide Chicken, Red & White Delight! We ate this while we were watching the game and it was a definite SCORE! It sounds fattening but it’s actually quite light and sorta healthy!
I adapted this recipe from a recent post by Happier than a Pig in Mud for a jalapeno popper stuffed chicken breast. I substituted red pepper strips for the jalapeno to keep everything red & white, Alabama colors. The breast is stuffed with cheese and red pepper, wrapped in bacon, grilled and basted with BBQ sauce. It doesn’t get any more Southern than that! This would be a huge hit at any tail gate!
I used 2 large boneless chicken breasts, cut in half, 2 ounces of Fontina cheese, 4 oz. of cream cheese, 12 strips of red pepper and 6 strips of bacon
Pound Pound Pound the chicken until it is a large thin, even piece. Do not do this when anyone is napping! Mine really aren’t thin enough here, I got impatient. Do as I say, not as I do…your life will be so much easier if you follow directions { I wish I would learn this}
Put about 1 oz. of cream cheese on each breast half.
Try to spread it evenly, which is pretty impossible so just mush it around with your fingers and season with some seasoned salt
Lay out 4 squares of saran so they will be ready for your rolled chicken breasts because in a minute your hands are going to be all yucky with chicken and cheese and bacon.
Top cream cheese with pepper strips and a 1/2 oz. Fontina log. Now here’s the thing, keeping the Fontina in a large thick piece will prevent it from melting all away. Mine pretty much disappeared but I still think it added to the overall creaminess and taste of the finished chicken.
You are probably wondering now how you are going to roll this up…so was I! This is when I was wishing I had pounded the chicken thinner so I had more to work with!
Using the bacon to help secure the roll, tuck chicken sides and ends in over filling, using toothpicks if you have to, and roll and wrap as tightly as possible. I used about 1 1/2 pieces of bacon for each roll and it really held everything together. The fat will cook out on the grill making this much less sinful than you think!
Put chicken roll onto a saran square and tightly roll saran around breast. Refrigerate saran rolled chicken for several hours to help the chicken keep it’s shape. DO NOT SKIP THIS PART! Refrigerating the chicken rolls will keep them from coming apart during the cooking process!
Make sure you dress properly for the event! HH is donning his new Alabama pj pants and t shirt, and he is ready to dine and watch some football!
HHjr grilled the chicken perfectly, about 30 minutes on a medium hot grill, basting with BBQ sauce for the last few minutes. He wouldn’t let me take his picture but rest assured he had an Alabama t shirt on and an Alabama hat. Normally we would have a house full of people for such an IMPORTANT event, but being on a Monday night, with work tomorrow, we had to keep things pretty low key.
We had good ole Stouffer’s Spinach Souffle on the side, with some Hash Brown Muffins which I will be sharing with you soon.
When you cut into the chicken you can see the red peppers and the creamy cheese. The combination of the grilled chicken, bacon and bbq sauce with the creamy center was delicious! I am looking forward to trying this with jalapenos next time…spinach, broccoli…lots of room for experimenting with this recipe.
Here’s the recipe:
CRIMSON TIDE CHICKEN
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless chicken breasts cut in half
- 4 oz. low fat cream cheese
- 2 oz. Fontina White Cheddar, or Gruyere cheese, cut into 4 long, thick logs
- 1/2 red bell pepper cut into 12 strips
- 6 slices thick cut bacon
- BBQ sauce
- Seasoned salt or salt and pepper
Instructions
- Pound the chicken breasts as thinly and as evenly as possible.
- Spread the chicken with softened cream cheese and season.
- Top with 3 pepper strips and 1 cheese log.
- Using a strip of bacon at one end, tuck in the sides of the chicken and roll up lengthwise as tightly as possible, using the bacon to keep the roll together. Use toothpicks if necessary. Add another 1/2 piece of bacon to finish the length of the roll if necessary.
- Place chicken roll on a square of saran and roll it up in the saran as tightly as possible.
- Refrigerate rolls at least 2 hours to help them maintain their shape when cooking.
- Heat grill to medium, remove saran wrap and grill chicken rolls for about 30 minutes* basting with BBQ sauce during the last few minutes. Remove toothpicks before serving.
- Serves 2-4
Notes
ROLL TIDE!
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