Feta, Bacon and Garlic Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Gordon Hubbell
Concept:
This recipe could be done in a home oven, but was deliberately styled for the capabilities of a pellet smoker. It is scalable – meaning it can be easily adapted to cook as many or as few servings as desired and can be adapted to other types of smokers with a little ingenuity.
Ingredients:
Bone-in skin-on chicken breasts (preferably large)
Bacon – one thick slice per breast
Feta Cheese – approximately 1.5 oz. per breast
Minced Garlic – about ½ Tablespoon per breast
Rub – your own or your favorite commercial rub for chicken
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Margarine Spray (e.g. “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”)
Preparation:
Trim excess fat from chicken, wash, and set aside to dry. Slice raw bacon into approx. ¼ inch cubes and fry in saucepan, reserving drippings.
In a small mixing bowl combine Feta, bacon pieces and garlic with bacon drippings and enough EVOO to make a very thick paste. Cheese should still be chunky – do not over-stir.
Cut a slit through the thickest part of each breast, making a “pocket” in the center. Stuff with mixture above until full but not overflowing. Carefully slide the skin from the top of each breast and rub a thin layer of the mixture between the skin and the breast meat. Replace skin over breast.
Lightly brush each breast with olive oil then apply light sprinkling of rub.
Here they are all stuffed up and ready to go into the cooker . . .
(http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff365/ghubbell/Stuffedchix8JPG.jpg)
Cooking:
Place breasts bone side down on grates (Frogmats™ recommended) and smoke slowly (e.g. 200 degrees) for one hour. At end of hour spray tops of breasts with margarine spray and increase temperature to 425, cooking until internal temperature in the thickest part of the meat is 165 degrees.
(http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff365/ghubbell/PB050008.jpg)
Meat is juicy and tangy with the salty cheese and garlic/bacon mixture. Skin turns out nice and tender. These are one of my favorite cooks when bone-in, skin-on breasts go on sale at the supermarket.
Hub