I came up with this dish on the last night of a very long charter (2 weeks) in the Virgin Islands. Most of the crew’s brains had already sailed home, so we were running on fumes. We were running low on supplies and all I had left were a few chicken breasts, some canned crab and jumbo prawns. It felt as though my creativity was already at the dock. I was stumped and exhausted. However, like all great charter boat chefs, I pulled it out of my ass (after smoking a big……Marlboro), dug through the reefer (frig), and found two containers of boursin. I managed to score some fresh spinach from a neighboring boat, concocted a groovy garlic cream sauce and proceeded to cook an incredible meal. My guests adored it! They named this beauty “Chicken Rhapsody” in honor of our beloved yacht.

 

Chicken Rhapsody

Serves 4

  • Preheat Oven to 425 degrees

Ingredients:

  • 4 Boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
  • 1 Lb. Fresh Spinach – Cleaned
  • 8 oz. Boursin – softened
  • 8 oz. Lump Crab Meat
  • 2 t. Lemon Juice
  • 2 T. Flour
  • 2 T. Olive Oil, 1 T. Butter
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Remove skin from the breasts and set aside. Pound out breasts to ¼ inch in thickness and pat dry with a paper towel. Sauté the spinach with a bit of olive oil and salt. Squeeze excess moisture through cheese cloth and roughly chop.

Mix the cheese, crab, lemon juice and spinach in a bowl and spread a layer of this mixture on one side of each breast. Roll each breast up securely, wrap with reserved skin (optional), and secure with a metal skewer or butcher twine.

Season with salt and pepper and dredge the chicken rolls in flour. Sear on high heat in a large skillet with the olive oil and butter. Put pan in oven for approximately 8 minutes or until breasts no longer have any give when you poke them with your finger (you can always cut into one if you‘re uncertain – that can be yours). Remove the pan from the oven and flag it with a hot pad for good measure. Put the chicken on a plate, cover and set aside.

For the Sauce:

  • 2 T. Flour
  • 2 T. Butter
  • 2 T. Shallots
  • 1 T. Minced Garlic
  • ½ C. White Wine
  • 2 C. Heavy Cream
  • 2 T. Fresh Tarrogan, minced (or Dill)
  • 1 T. Fresh Thyme, minced
  • 4 Butter pats, cold
  • 12 Jumbo Shrimp – Deveined, Tail on
  • Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Using the pan you cooked the chicken in, pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. If you don‘t have that much, add enough butter to bring it to 2. Heat the pan over medium high heat and add the shallots and garlic.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add the flour and stir until it smells like nuts. Cook for a few more minutes and deglaze with the wine. Stir constantly to loosen up the fond (brown crusty bits forming on the bottom of the pan).

Increase the heat to high and add the heavy cream, tarragon and thyme and shrimp. Watch carefully and let it reduce by half or until it coats the back of a spoon. Season to taste and finish with butter.

Slice the chicken on the diagonal and serve over a fresh bed of spinach or some nice pasta with the shrimp and sauce. There isn’t a whole lot of color on this old girl, so give her some fresh thyme and tarragon for garnish. 

Enjoy this dish with good friends, and a cold, crisp bottle of white wine:-)