As you may have noticed I am an event participating fiend this month!!! There are just so many fantastic events out there that I would like to support. I would love to attend them all, as I know we all would... but sometimes life gets in the way of blogging!!My blog sister Ivy of Kopiaste brought this particular event to my attention... LiveStrong with a Taste of Yellow, 2008 . This years event is hosted byBarbara of Winos & Foodies . It is an event about the support of our friends and family members who have been touched by cancer. This year a photo competition has been added as a second element. Many of us have suffered the loss of a relative or someone close to you who have been hit by this illness, or, are battling and winning over the disease ourselves. Working for a respirologist I see friends and patients every day struggling with the disease.
Many in the food and wine blogging community will be supporting LiveSTRONG Day with the A Taste of Yellow event. Last year 149 bloggers made yellow food to show their support for LiveSTRONG Day 2007 . Some chose to share their own cancer experiences and some told stories of their support for their friends or family experiencing cancer.
LiveSTRONG with A Taste Of Yellow has been accepted by the Lance Armstrong Foundation as an official LiveSTRONG Day event on Tuesday May 13.
In honour of this event and to show my support I chose to embrace Spring with a boneless chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese, lemon and mint topped with a lemony goat cheese sauce. It has a hint of Greek flavours, so , being an honorary Greek I fell in love with this dish I created especially for this event. In keeping with the yellow theme I served it with a simple jasmine rice with a touch of lemon pepper and chicken stock. When preparing the rolls instead of toothpicks I used a trick I read about somewhere where you use uncooked spaghetti to hold the rolls together. This works very, very well!!!!!
**Lemony Goat Cheese & Asparagus Stuffed Rouladen**
4 medium skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves
1 lemon
3 ounces goat cheese, softened
1/2 cup (looosely packed) fresh mint leaves, chopped
3/4 lb thin asparagus spears, trimmed
1/4 tsp ground black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tolive oil
Lemon wedges (optional)
Lemon Goat Cheese Sauce (recipe to follow)
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Holding knife parallel to work surface and against a long side of chicken-breast half, cut chicken almost in half, making sure not to cut all the way through. Open breast half and spread flat like a book. Repeat with remaining chicken.
From lemon, grate 1/2 teaspoon peel and squeeze 1 tablespoon juice. In small bowl, stir goat cheese, mint, and lemon peel until mixed. Spread goat-cheese mixture evenly on cut sides of breast halves. Place one-fourth of uncooked asparagus on a long side of each breast half. Roll up each breast half to enclose asparagus, allowing ends of stalks to stick out if necessary; secure with toothpicks. I read about using uncooked spaghetti instead of toothpicks; this works very, very well). Sprinkle chicken roulades with pepper and salt.
In nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add roulades and cook, covered, 9 to 11 minutes or until chicken loses its pink color throughout, turning roulades to brown all sides. Cover with lid and cook longer in pan if necessary.
Transfer roulades to cutting board; keep warm.
To serve, discard toothpicks, if using, from roulades. Cut roulades crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Place each sliced roulade on a dinner plate; drizzle with pan sauce. Serve with rice and lemon wedges if you like.
Lemon Goat Cheese Sauce
2 oz. goat cheese
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp lemon zest
1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T chopped fresh chives
1 T flour for thickening
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To prepare sauce: Mash cheese in medium nonstick skillet; stir in broth, lemon juice, lemon rind and garlic. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. In small bowl mix 1 Tablesoon (T) flour with some of the hot lemon liquid. Stir to dissolve flour. Add mixture to remaining lemon sauce in skillet. Fold in chives; serve immediately. This is also delicious served over asparagus as a side dish!!
