Chicken Bacon Roulades

1. Stage

Cook the bacon: Working in batches, cook the bacon over medium heat in an ovenproof thick-bottomed skillet, until lightly browned but not crisp (still flexible). Remove cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.

2. Stage

Cook the shallots: Lower the heat to low and add the shallots to the pan with the rendered bacon fat. Cook over low heat until softened. Use a slotted spoon to remove cooked shallots to a bowl, leaving remaining fat in the pan.

3. Stage

Pound the chicken breasts thin: Place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and use a mallet or meat pounder (or rolling pin) to pound the chicken breasts thin, to an even thickness of about 1/8-inch.

4. Stage

Top chicken breasts with bacon, lemon pepper, shallots, Parm: Sprinkle the chicken breasts with lemon pepper (or regular ground black pepper with a little lemon zest) and salt. Place 2 to 3 bacon slices in the middle of each chicken breast, lengthwise. Sprinkle with shallots and grated Parmesan.

5. Stage

Roll up each chicken breast like a cigar: using the plastic wrap to help you tighten the roll, and tuck in the ends to hold in the filling. Remove the plastic wrap. Use toothpicks to hold the edges of the chicken roulade together.

6. Stage

Brown the roulades on all sides, then cook in oven: Preheat oven to 300°F. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the fat in the skillet and heat on medium high. When the pan is hot, add the chicken roulades to the pan and brown on all sides. Move the skillet to the 300°F oven and cook until the roulades are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

7. Stage

Tent with foil to keep warm: When the chicken roulades are cooked through, remove them from the oven to a plate, tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. Note that the skillet is very hot! Keep a pot holder draped over the handle once it's back on the stove. (At this point, whenever I take a handled pot out of a hot oven, I cool down the handles with ice cubes so that someone doesn't inadvertently try to pick up the pan with their unprotected hands.)

8. Stage

Make the sauce: Pour off any excess fat from the pan (not down the drain, or you'll clog your drain). Pour wine into the hot skillet to deglaze the pan. Heat on medium high heat and use a metal spatula to scrape up any browned bits. Boil the wine down until it has reduced to just a tablespoon. Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the minced garlic to the pan and swirl in the butter. Cook for a minute, then add the flour and cook, stirring, for a minute more. Add the broth and the cream to the roux and whisk. Simmer, whisking, for two minutes. Pour the sauce through a sieve into a saucepan and keep warm on the stove.

9. Stage

Slice the roulades and serve with sauce: Remove the toothpicks that have been holding the roulades together. Cut the roulades into 1/2-inch thick slices. To serve, place some sauce on each plate and top with roulade slices. From a recipe in Gourmet Magazine, July 1998.