Herb & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Thigh Rolls & Cucumber Salad Lemony Vinaigrette
As my wonderful friends know, I have sadly neglected my poor humble, little blog. Sometimes life takes you on strenuous and tenuous journeys. So many lessons to have been learned along the way, and this week, I was deeply reminded that, despite everything going on in the world today, there are genuinely lovely people who prove that love and kindness is the way, that, there are amazing people in the world who care and show it every day and every time they can. When I started my blog back in 2012, it was out of love and caring. I wanted to share recipes for people to enjoy looking at, to look at the "how-to" photos and realize that they, too, could easily do this. And even more so, I strove to convey that recipes are to be adapted and altered and changed to meet the needs of the home cook who had decided to cook one of my recipes. Knowing that, I had, in my bio, that my blog is about my cooking journey, noting the things that went well and the things that were "areas of opportunity" and what I learned along the way.
I lost track of that about five years in to erratically writing my precious little blog. It is, to me, because it was a fun labor of love. THAT, friends, is what I want it to become once again. I would LOVE for you to join me again. Thank you. ❤
*Note: not all of the recipes on my blog post are my own recipes, and I denote whose recipe it is, or, where I found it from, not claiming that it was my own.
Let's get to it, shall we?
One of the first things I noticed while editing the photos was that the chicken rolls looked spartan, shall we say? While I was rather aiming for simplicity, without piles of greens or something atop them, or drowned in cheese (oh yum!), I was hoping the mustard would ooze over the top, that the chicken would brown, but, none of that happened. Next time I make this, I will be sure to make the chicken look fantastically more enticing! Thank you for your understanding. 😌
Chicken Marinade Ingredients
2 lemons, zest and juice, separated
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 rounded teaspoon salt
1 rounded tablespoon of fresh rosemary leaves, thyme leaves (or young shoots), 4 fresh sage leaves, diced
1/4 red onion or whole shallot, diced, halved
3 cloves garlic, diced
three tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (or, your favorite)
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
3 hefty tablespoons red (or white) wine vinegar
1/2 cup sparkling wine
In a large bowl, add all of the wet ingredients, stir or whisk vigorously. Add the salt and pepper, shallot/onion and garlic. Stir to incorporate. Add the zest and half of the herbs and stir one final time.
*Reserve the rest of the zest and juice for cooking time.
Prepping the Chicken Thighs
You will need four to six chicken thighs.
Preheat the oven to 375-degrees.
Using a sharp paring knife, or another small but very sharp culinary blade, cut off the parts of the thighs that dangle. I cut off all of those parts and set them aside. Cut through the tissues and fats that keep the thigh from opening up like an oddly shaped book. You will be rolling the thighs up after being slightly stuffed with good things. After trimming all of the extras off the chicken thighs, you could, if the thighs are lumpy, as they tend to be, place saran wrap atop them and pound them out flatter. You get more coverage that way, and the cooking time is reduced.
Place the chicken into the marinade and make sure each piece is submerged, or, mostly submerged. Let the chicken marinate for a minimum of thirty minutes before processing. Two hours would be perfect!
*I sauteed up the pile of chicken "danglies" (I made up a word) and saved them as treats for the dogs. See my furmily at the end of this post. Thanks!
Stuffing the Chicken
On a cutting board or a baking sheet over foil or another culinary covering, lay out the chicken thighs. The ingredients for stuffing the chicken thighs are:
The remainder of the lemon zest and juice
The remainder of the fresh herbs
1 container of marinated mozzarella balls, or, cubed mozzarella sticks if you have those at home
Dijon mustard
Cooked, crumbled bacon
fresh garlic, diced
the other half of the onion/shallot
salt and pepper
Sprinkle each side of the chicken with salt and pepper. Add a small amount of onion, bacon and herbs, followed by two halves of a marinated mozzarella ball to the larger, wider end of the chicken, and finally, add a drizzle of the mustard. Using both hands, roll up the chicken up the narrow end. Place the chicken into a cooking sprayed baking pan, flap side down. Add a little more bacon and herbs atop each chicken roll and drizzle with a touch more mustard. Once all of the stuffed thighs have been placed in the baking pan, squeeze the rest of the lemon juice over the chicken rolls.
*Going back to my statement at the beginning of this post, I mentioned that I should have done something - either at this point, or, after cooking - to spruce up the currently spartan chicken. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thank you!
I had some extra vinaigrette leftover so I added it to the baking pan, as well.
Bake the chicken for 50 minutes at 375-degrees.
Now to the fun part! The Cucumber Salad!
You will need:
1 cucumber
1 pint of grape tomatoes
Marinated mozzarella balls, halved
Fresh thyme, leaves pulled
a sprinkle of red onion or shallot
and
Your favorite vinaigrette. I used a champagne vinaigrette.
Arrange the cucumber however you like, along with the other items. I thought I had marinated red peppers in the pantry but I didn't. That would have been a nice addition. Next time!
As an afterthought, I should have plated the salad and the chicken all on one plate. I did not because I was very busy with household issues. I could have plated the salad, then placed the dinner plates in the frig, but, that great idea escaped me until it was an afterthought. Lesson learned!
In final hindsight, I thought of placing a soft fried egg atop the chicken, or, top the rolls with broccoli greens dipped in the vinaigrette, or, topped with a slab of mozzarella to ooze down all over. I think any of those would be delicious. What do you think? What will you add if you decide to make this dish? And, I really hope you do, and show off your success! ]
As always, friends, I am totally grateful for your visit and your time! Please say hi here, on Insta, or Bluesky, Threads or FB. ❤
Now, Go Cook For Someone YOU Love!!!!
Martin
In-House Cook
Last weekend's visit and stay in Eden Lake Retreat, where we stayed in an historic cabin.
