Chicken with Apple Bacon Stuffing

This is a new idea for that chicken breast you don't know what to do with for supper or maybe you call it dinner.  Here in farm country many of us call the noon meal dinner.  That comes from a history of feeding a large meal at noon to hard working farmers, family and farm hands on the farm and our Sunday noon meal always being a large family sit down meal.  That leaves the evening meal to be called supper.  To this day, I can't call the noon meal lunch out of habit. What ever you call it or when you eat it, it is tasty.

2 large chicken breasts

1 cup chopped cooked bacon

1 large Granny Smith apple, remove core, chopped into small pieces

1 small white onion, chopped

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

Chicken

Using a clean work surface, butterfly both chicken breasts.  Slice along the length of the chicken at an angle that leaves about a 1/2 inch thick of flesh; continue slicing through, while pulling and unrolling the inside of the chicken until you get a flat rectangle that is about 1/2 inch thick.  Season both sides with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Stuffing

Cover the bottom of a large skillet with extra virgin olive oil.  When hot, add bacon, onion, apples, and rosemary. Season the mixture with  salt and pepper to taste. Sauté, stirring occasionally until soft. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Spread stuffing on chicken starting from the edge closest to you, covering the chicken entirely, leaving about 1" clear on the far edge. Roll tightly, starting from the closest edge, then secure with twine.

Arrange roll on a single layer on an oven dish. Bake the roll for 30 minutes, turning it over once at the halfway point of 15 minutes. Glaze with 2 tablespoons of Maple Syrup during cooking and brush pan drippings all over the roll for color and extra flavor.

Let the roll rest for 10 minutes before carving.  Cut off the string and slice about 1 inch thick.

Variation - The original recipe calls for chorizo sausage.  Add 1 cup of cooked chorizo in place of the bacon.  The dish will have a Mexican flare and be much spicier.  You can also use 1 cup of just good breakfast rope sausage in place of the bacon or chorizo.

We get to see the sun today and tomorrow so looking forward to the weekend.  Hope we can see the meteor shower tonight.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours.