Cyprus - fried chicken breast stuffed with feta, basil, olives & sundried tomatoes; Potato Mash with Mozzarella & Cypriot Salad

Our menu  include  

Pan Fried Chicken Breast stuffed with feta, basil, olives & sundried tomatoes 

Garlic Potato Mash baked with Mozzarella Cheese,

&
Cypriot Salad
which we served with
Oven Baked Rice Pilaf

I used herbs out of my own garden for this dish and had great pleasure picking the fresh herbs as I needed them. It really made all the difference I think. As far as the side dishes go, It’s worth noting that there is not a lot of difference between Greek Salad & Cypriot salad – the biggest difference is in the use of spring onions instead of salad/red onions, haloumi cheese instead of fetta & the addition of cabbage & celery.

I found the recipe for the chicken at http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1154653/ then made a few changes to the stuffing as it was originally over heavy with sundried tomato & I wanted to have an anti-pasto taste to suit my dinner guests who aren’t overly fans of tomato. The original recipe also called for chicken breasts with the skin on, which I could not buy at my local supermarket –  the new  health consciousness is obviously  impacting on the food we can buy which is a good thing for people who cant think for themselves but the lack of skin did make some parts of the chicken a bit dry. Personally I would rather have the skin on for the cooking process & allow my guests to choose not to eat it! If I was to cook it again I would go to my local butcher!

There were a lot of recipes for Cypriot salad on the internet but the one that caught my eye was at http://www.cyprus.com/food---dining.html. I then made the appropriate additions & changes with haloumi & spring onions as found on other web-sites. The recipe for the potato mash was a find after a lot of searching the net as mashed potato  is not a significant feature of Cypriot cuisine; the recipe was finally found  at http://www.howaboutsomegreektonight.com/patatespoure.php

CYPRIOT STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

·      small bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley

·      small bunch fresh basil

·      80 gm antipasto of  sun-dried tomatoes, olives & artichoke in oil

·      2 cloves garlic, crushed

·      100 gm fetta cheese

·      zest of 1 lemon

·      4 x 200g chicken breasts, skin on

·      4  long sprigs fresh rosemary

·      olive oil for frying

·      grease proof paper

METHOD:

1.     Put the parsley, basil, antipasto, with a drizzle of their oil, crushed garlic &  a pinch of pepper into a food processor & blend.

2.     Crumble over the feta and the lemon zest and mix again.

3.     Line up the chicken breasts, skin side down.

4.     Use a small knife to carefully slice open the fillets until you can open each breast out like a book.

5.     Divide the filling into the middle of each chicken breast, pat it down, and then fold the chicken back over to cover.

6.     Use the rosemary sprigs to thread through the chicken to close the sides. This will prevent the filling from spilling out during cooking. I found it easiest to use a bamboo skewer to make the holes for the rosemary to be threaded through

7.     Prepare frying pan with olive oil & some salt & heat.

8.     lay the chicken, skin side down, in the hot pan. Scrunch up a sheet of greaseproof paper under the tap. Flatten it out and tuck over the chicken. Leave to cook, shaking the pan every now and then.

9.     When the first side of the chicken is browned up nicely, take off the greaseproof paper and turn the chicken breasts over carefully.

10.  Replace the greaseproof paper before putting a heavy pan on top of the chicken to push it down and help it crisp up.

11.  When cook transfer the golden chicken to a serving dish

CYPRIOT SALAD:

INGREDIENTS

cabbage, lettuce, celery, cucumber, tomato, pepper, kalamata olives, toasted haloumi cheese  & Spring onions

BAKED GARLIC MASH:

·      Brush the bottom of an ovenproof pan with crushed garlic

·      spread Mash Potatoes over the pan to about 3 cm

·      Sprinkle top with some Mozzarella Cheese

·      Place pan in medium oven & bake until cheese  melts & get golden brown about 25 mins.

·      Serve hot.