STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST

Steps:

• 1. Bring to room temperature both the butter and the cream cheese. Blend all ingredients with the butter with a mixer or by hand. Place in molds or leave in a butter dish. Chill to firm up before cutting into pieces to place on top of chicken during and after cooking. The longer it sits, the better the flavor. Butter can be seasoned with anything you want. I happen to like dill and tarragon.
• 2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook chicken for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 175 degrees F. (It will finish cooking while it rests.)
• 3. Mix the cream cheese with the seasonings and set aside. I find it very easy to fill the chicken using a piping bag, though I have done it the hard way before. If you are only using two chicken breasts, one package of cream cheese is plenty. If you prefer, you may try using a pre-packaged seasoning mix, but be careful, they can over-power the cream cheese.
• 4. In a large bowl, mix together the panko bread crumb, flour, and seasonings together. Add whatever seasonings you like here. Set aside.
• 5. After rinsing and drying your chicken, take a long thin knife (I usually use a boning knife here) and cut into the fat end of the breast. Gently push the knife in as far as you can without puncturing any other part of the breast. If your chicken breasts are thin, then you can use your fingers to widen the interior of the hole you have cut.
• 6. Stuff the filling into the chicken breasts and use a toothpick to close the hole. I usually over-stuff the chicken, that way when some leaks out during cooking, there is still plenty left inside the breasts.
• 7. I do not bother dipping the chicken into a wet wash prior to dipping into the panko, it just makes the panko gooey. Place the chicken breast into the dish with the panko bread crumb and pull the bread crumb over the chicken breast then gently move it to a baking dish. I use aluminum foil and spray it with a non-stick cooking spray for easy clean-up. If the chicken is not fully coated, sprinkle some bread crumbs on top. Repeat with other chicken breasts. Place in oven.
• 8. You will notice that the panko bread crumb does not take on a lot of color so at about 10 minutes before the chicken is done, open the oven and place pieces of butter on top of chicken breasts. This will help brown the panko and enhance the flavors.
• 9. Remove the chicken and let rest. Sprinkle with parsley and dill then put a tab of butter on top just before serving.