Chicken and Stuffing

Juicy and tender skin on chicken breasts are baked on a bed of herby buttery stuffing to create loads of flavor. The stuffing becomes a delicious sponge of flavor as it bakes and soaks up all the gorgeous chicken juices and fat. This dish comes together quickly using simple real ingredients. It works great for a weeknight dinner or if you're feeding a holiday crowd. Serve it up with creamy mashed potatoes and cranberry relish, and you have a dinner reminiscent of Thanksgiving but prepared in a quarter of the time.

Let's talk stuffing. Growing up I could not wait for Thanksgiving. Yeah yeah, it was a time to spend with family and friends, and the turkey is nice and all, but truth be told, I couldn't wait for my Dad to make stuffing! The ingredients were not anything fancy. It had the usual stuffing suspects, bread, carrots, onion, celery, sometimes mushrooms, sometimes sausage, some herbs, and a TON of butter. It was so good that my siblings and I would fight over it and lay claim to who was getting the leftovers all before we even sat down for the feast. We would eat so much of it that by the time dinner was on the table we were too full from picking on it most of the day to eat the full on spread my parents spent hours preparing.

Time to talk poultry. Let's be honest, who cares about the turkey (half kidding!). Let's jump to the good stuff. That brings us back to the stuffing. Stuffing does not discriminate over what poultry fat is oozing into it. So for this dish I love to use skin-on boneless chicken breasts. Why? Well, if you want to spend less time waiting for the bird to cook and more time eating the delicious stuffing then chicken works perfectly, it doesn't dry out, and it tastes amazing.

There you have it.

Time to put it together!

Ingredients:

The Stuffing:

• 3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

• 3 Tbsp Olive Oil

• 8 to 10 Cups Favorite Bread, I love sourdough or crusty Italian, cut into 1in. cubes

• 1 Onion, chopped

• 4 Stalks Celery, chopped

• 3 Carrots, peeled and chopped

• 5oz Mushrooms, finely chopped (optional)

• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt

• 1/4 tsp Pepper

• A few springs Thyme (just the leaves) or 1/4 tsp dried thyme

• 4 to 6 Sage leaves, finely chopped or 1/2 tsp dried sage. Plus more for garnish.

• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 Cups Water (broth works too)

The Chicken:

6 Bone Out/Skin On Chicken Breasts

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Smoked Paprika to taste.

The Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. In a large pan over medium heat, add the butter and oil. Once the butter melts, add in the onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms. Saute until all the veggies are soft and the onion is translucent. Stir in salt, pepper, thyme, and sage. Saute for 1 minute. Add in the bread cubes and toss with the veggies until well combined. Turn the heat to low and add in 1 cup of water or broth. Stir until the bread is soft adding more water as needed.

3. Add the stuffing to the bottom of a large oven safe pan or dish (12"x 15" works great).

4. Arrange the chicken breasts over the stuffing. Do not over lap.

5. Brush the skin of each breast with the melted butter.

6. Season each chicken breast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika.

7. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through.

8. Remove from oven and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! xx

Serves 6