Red Wine Poached Stuffed Figs

Red Wine Poached Stuffed Figs

I was shopping in Publix the other day, and saw my hairstylist, Ernie Heinrich, who had an armful of groceries (he is just like me in that we always go in thinking that we will just pick up a few things and who needs a cart for that?). Among his armload of goodies, he had two containers of fresh figs; he asked me if I liked figs.  I replied that I did, and told me that they were on sale--buy one get one free.
What I declined to tell him is that I have never cooked (with) fresh figs in my life, but the ones he had in his arms looked very good.  So I was seduced by the BOGO.

I didn't use them for a few days, because I truly didn't know what to do with them, but tonight, I got to thinking about the taste of figs, and wondering how I might incorporate them into dinner.
Sometimes my brain decides to be adventurous, so I as I looked at the figs in the package I let my mind remember the taste of figs, and mentally built a meal around some flavors that I thought might complement the figs.

The skin of the figs looks kind of like pears, and when I handled them, they seemed to have a similar texture and structure, so I thought they might do well in some kind of poaching liquid, and then my mind floated to red wine. Mmmmm......

I had the last 1/2 pound of bulk pork country sausage that I got from my farmer in north Georgia in the refrigerator, and then I looked in the pantry and saw some prepared artichoke bruschetta.  I thought it might need a bit more bite, and when I looked in the refrigerator again, the crumbled goat cheese spoke to me.  The last ingredient that I selected was some celery, which I minced to give it a bit of crunch.

I browned the sausage in a saute pan (I have a great anodized 12" saute pan with 3" rounded sides that are just right for doing that fancy flip to turn ingredients that the TV chefs do!--I use it for almost everything!).  As the sausage was browning, I scooped the insides of 8 golf ball sized figs out, and when the sausage was cooked, I poured off all but about 1 tbsp. of the sausage grease, and added the fig insides and about 3 tbsp. of the bruschetta, and about 2 oz. of the goat cheese.  I warmed this mixture in the saute pan, added the celery at the last minute so it wouldn't get soft, and then spooned the mixture into the scooped out figs.

Then I washed the pan out and sauteed the fresh asparagus tips in some olive oil, butter and garlic, and plated them over some saffroned rice.

Then, I placed the stuffed figs in the same sautee pan and poured about 1/4 bottle of Mad Housewife Cabernet Sauvignon in the pan, and let the figs poach, covered, on the stovetop for about 15 minutes (this doesn't have to be exact--the figs are actually forgiving of extra time on the heat).

I took the figs out of the pan with tongs, placed them on the plate, sprinkled with some more goat cheese, and spooned some of the wine over top of the figs.

I told my husband that we were either going to have a successful grand experiment, or scrambled eggs if it didn't taste good.

We will have scrambled eggs tomorrow night.  Tonight, the stuffed figs were a home run!  It is actually very easy to prep, and takes only a short time to pull together and cook. Oh, I also served some crusty sourdough french bread with it.

My "I Think Eddie Would Approve" Chicken Rollatini

We have a local Italian Restaurant that has been in the same location, and owned by the same Italian family for more than 20 years. Giusseppe's in Fellsmere, FL is my favorite Italian restaurant and I feel like I am being disloyal when I eat at another Italian restaurant, so I don't. Now, this is tradition at its best--the father, Giusseppe, opened this restaurant in the early 1980's, and when he retired, his son (who was a very good chef in his own right in the Washington DC area), moved to Indian River County with his entire family, and took over the business.  As much as I loved Giusseppe's cooking, Eddie's is even better!  One of my hubby's favorite dishes there is the Chicken Rollatini, and I got inspired the other day to try to replicate it myself.  I think it turned out rather well, and hubby gives it his stamp of approval.  There is only one drawback to this, and it is a big one...if I can make rollatini that Gary likes as well as Eddie's, what is the incentive to EVER go out to eat? (Did I goof up royally??)

Chicken Rollatini (or Roulade)

Special Materials:

Butcher string

Meat pounder

Large sauté pan w/min. 3” sides for pan frying

Oven dish

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken breast, butterflied

4-6 slices whole milk Mozzarella Cheese (slices are easiest, but of course, good quality fresh

               mozzarella is best)

4-6 slices of Prosciutto

Fresh Tarragon leaves, chopped to approximately 4 tablespoons (or a pinch of dried for each breast)

Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper

For the breading:

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder

All Purpose Flour

1-2 Eggs (I use duck eggs, because there is more yolk ratio for richness and you only need one, but

                      use 2 chicken eggs)

Panko Bread Crumbs

For the Gravy:

4 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour

Fresh Garlic (or powdered)

1 cup Chicken stock

1 cup White Wine

1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice

4 oz. Crimini Mushrooms, sliced

Preparation:  *note—The chicken breasts can be prepped ahead of time and refrigerated before breading because it is a bit labor-intensive to do all these steps at once.

Butterfly each half of the chicken breast, and then cut that in half, so that you have four pieces.

Pound out each piece of chicken until it is uniformly thin, but be careful that you don’t make holes.

Lay one layer of prosciutto and then one layer of mozzarella on each breast, and then roll up as tightly as possible.  Tie up with butcher string. (you may cover each piece in Saran wrap and put in the refrigerator at this point).

Preheat the cooking oil to about 280-300 degrees.  You don’t have to get the oil blazing hot, because we will be finishing off the chicken in the oven, and with chicken, the risk is burning the outside without cooking fully through.  Remember, the middle of the Rollatini should be 160-165F degrees when it comes out of the oven, but it can be around 150F coming out of the oil.

Make your breading station with three pans; one AP Flour pan, one egg wash pan, and one Panko breadcrumb pan.

Dip each breast in AP flour then egg wash, then press and roll in the Panko to get them to stick well.  Let them rest on a plate for a minute or two (this makes the Panko stick better while in the fry oil).

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.

Place them in the oil and cook until light golden brown on all sides.  Don’t let the Panko get dark, because it will brown further in the oven.  Take the rollatini out of the oil and blot them lightly on a paper towel, then transfer them to the oven dish.

For the gravy:

Pour off the oil out of the sauté pan, but reserve the golden bits in the bottom of the pan.  Let the pan cool to warm, then add 2 Tablespoons of butter, and the fresh garlic, and let the garlic cook on medium-low heat until almost translucent and very aromatic, then turn up the heat to medium high and immediately add the mushrooms in one layer so they sear well. 

When the mushrooms are seared, turn the heat back down to medium, add the rest of the butter, and 2 Tablespoons of all purpose flour and stir until bubbly and golden.  Add the white wine and chicken stock and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.   Cook down until it thickens to the right consistency.  If it gets too thick, add more white wine (or chicken stock, but my preference is the wine).

Sautee the spinach (if your timing is perfect, you can use the same pan as the gravy as soon as it is finished), and plate that first as a bed for the Rollatini.

When the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160-165F, remove from the oven, plate over the sautéed spinach, and spoon ¼ of the gravy and mushrooms over each plate. 

Sprinkle with some fresh basil or parsley and serve with Crusty Italian Bread.