Honey Habanero Teriyaki Glazed Chicken Wings [Zack]

I love making chicken wings.  They're great for any occasion that doesn't involve white clothing (sorry P Diddy).  The most popular recipe on this website is Honey Garlic Sriracha Glazed Wings, so I figured I'd post another favorite wing recipe of mine.  

You start by making a thick, spicy, and salty-sweet teriyaki sauce, and then pour it over roasted chicken wings.  Reduce the sauce to a glaze glaze under the broiler or in a pan, and they're ready to be consumed!

Process:

Lightly salt and pepper chicken wings.  Rub them with a small amount of canola oil and place in an oven at 375F / 180 C.  Cook until almost finished (about 25 minutes based on how close the wings are together), then turn on the broiler to crisp the skin.  Turn the wings over to get both sides golden brown.

While the wings are roasting, de-seed the habanero, and dice it.  Mince garlic and ginger as well.  Saute them all in a sauce pot over medium heat in 1T of sesame oil until fragrant.  Make sure to turn on your fan or the habanero will pepper-spray your house.

Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and honey and reduce.  This should take about 10 minutes.  The sauce should be the consistency of warm honey when it's finished.  Take off the stove and let it rest.

Toss the roasted wings in the teriyaki sauce and throw them back under the broiler.  You want the glaze to caramelize but not burn!  If you have not reduced your teriyaki sauce and it's too watery, you can transfer the wings to a pan and the sauce will thicken up more quickly.  This happened to me.

Serve with lots of napkins and enjoy!

Ingredients:
20 chicken wings 1T sesame oil
2 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger, diced
1 habanero, de-seeded (to taste)
1 cup soy sauce
1T rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup honey (to taste)

Song:  Erykah Badu - Hotline Bling

Coconut Curry Chicken (Tom)

What you will need for dinner for 4 peeps:

- 1 Chicken breast, boneless and skinned cut into 1" x 1/2" cubes
- 1 Red bell pepper, 1" pieces
- 1 Onion, small, diced
- 2 Carrots, 1" pieces
- 1 Tomato, small, diced
- 2 Celery stalks, 1/4" pieces
- 1 Garlic clove, large, chopped in small pieces
- 1 tablespoon of curry powder
- 8 oz. can of Cream of Coconut
- 1 cup of cooked rice, we like Jasmine Rice
- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Time to cook.

The flavors of the curry and the sweetness from the coconut cream really make your taste buds jump up and down.
We like to cut our veggies and chicken and set them on the side or put back in refrigerator until we're ready to go.

Have an additional clean plate on the side for the chicken.

Start your rice if you have not.
Rice is great because it will stay warm for 20 minutes.

Have your wok or large pan ready.
Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil to your pan. Heat medium to high depending how fast you work.
Stir in the chicken cubes and cook for about 3 minutes until all sides are no longer pink. Take out put in a clean plate. Add the remaining vegetable oil to the wok or pan, heat for one minute.
Add the peppers, onions, celery and carrots. Stir fry for 5 minutes. add the garlic and diced tomatoes.

Add the chicken.

Stir in the curry powder followed by the cream of coconut. Cook for one to minutes, stirring the mixture to create a sauce. 

CHICKEN SPINACH PIE - Tom & June

INGREDIENTS FOR DINNER FOR 2

~ 1 Bag of Spinach Large leaf or Baby
~ 1 Clove of Minced Garlic
~ 4 Tablespoons of Minced Onion
~ 3 Eggs
    (2 for filling and 1 for egg wash)
~ 2 Tablespoons of Water
~ 1/4 Teaspoon of Dried or Fresh Thyme
    (We used fresh lemon thyme from our garden) 
~ 2 Pinches of Salt
~ 1/4 Teaspoon of Black Pepper
~ 1 Sheet of Pastry from 1 package of Puff Pastry
    (Found in frozen food section - defrost 1 sheet of pastry 2 hours before starting)
~ 1/2 of a Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
~ 1 Tablespoon of Flour



TO START

Sprinkle 1 pinch of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper on both sides of chicken and either saute, grill or bake, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl while chicken is cooking beat 2 eggs add garlic, onion, thyme, salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl place spinach and microwave until wilted. May need to stir in between. Drain spinach and mix in our filling bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat 1 egg and water in a separate small bowl for wash.

Spread flour over cutting board and place pastry on it.
Spread 1/2 of spinach filling on 1/2 of pastry leaving 1 to 2 inches of pastry uncovered with filling. (Use slotted spoon if filling is wet) Place cooked chicken breast over filling. Place remainder of filling on top of chicken.
Fold pastry to meet edges evenly. Use a fork to seal all open edges.

Place pastry on cookie sheet or shallow baking dish. Coat with egg wash and place in hot oven for 35 minutes.

Let pastry set for 5 to 7 minutes before slicing. We served our entree' with carrots.

                                                                           




    

Sriracha Honey Garlic Glazed Chicken Wings [Zack]

Wings and sriracha.  Two of my favorite things to eat, combined into one dish?  Yessur.  This is what I'm bringing to the super bowl party tomorrow (the Europeans are watching it a day late).  Since these wings are done in the oven, you can make them if you don't want to grill outside and brave the polar vortex.  And I promise, you won't miss out on any flavor.

These wings are hot.  Not blow-your-face-off hot.  Just hot - the honey and butter take the edge off of the sriracha so you can enjoy the flavor of the sauce.

You can make these the day before the big game (or dinner) and then just pop them under the broiler to heat up the wings and caramelize the sugars in the glaze.

Process:

Pre-heat your oven to 350F / 175C.  Toss your chicken wings in the dry rub ingredients.

Put some canola oil on a baking sheet and mix the dry-rubbed chicken wings around in it.  Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

In a small sauce pot over medium-low heat, combine the 3T garlic butter and 2.5T honey until they both become liquid.

Add the 5T sriracha and 1tsp soy sauce and cook for about 10 minutes.  The sauce should thicken up a bit.

Take the wings out of the oven.  They should have developed some color, but not be browned.

Coat them in the sauce.  You can call it a day and put them in the fridge for another time.  Then, all you'll need to do is broil these badboys before serving.

Or, if you can't wait, crank your oven up to maximum broil and place the wings back in the oven.  Put them on the middle-high rack below the broiler.  Leave them under the heat until the sugar caramelizes (about 5 minutes).  Make sure to keep an eye on the wings and turn them over in the sauce to ensure even browning.

Serve hot!

Ingredients:
30 wings
dry rub:
1T harissa powder (or hot paprika if you can't find it)
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp cracked black pepper
1tsp salt

Sriracha Honey Garlic Glaze:
3 heaping T of garlic butter (or 3T of butter, 3 cloves garlic chopped.  mash to combine)
2.5T honey
5T sriracha (to taste)
1tsp soy sauce

Song:  Storm Queen - Look Right Through

Chicken Enchiladas [Tom & June]

You will need:

Shredded cooked Chicken (we use 4 half breasts – grilled)                                                        

Ingredients:
2 cans Enchilada Sauce

1/8 cup finely Chopped Onion

3 tablespoons finely Chopped Cilantro

8 Corn Tortillas

Shredded Cheese (we buy a 4-cheese Mexican mix cheese – might not be available everywhere)

Pour ½ can of the enchilada sauce in a 8 x 8 (or approximate) pan.  Mix remaining ½ can enchilada sauce, onion, chicken, cilantro and ½ of cheese.  You can make individual enchiladas or make a layered casserole.

1. Take a tortilla and fill with filling, roll up and place in dish.  

     2. Or, place a layer of tortillas over sauce, spread a layer of filling on top and repeat until all is used up.

Top with enchilada sauce, spread cheese on top and bake approximately 30 minutes or until heated.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Rigatoni [Zack]

America has fallen in love with the chicken breast.  This is a strange phenomenon because most other cultures value the dark meat more, as it has more flavor.  It’s most likely because Americans have been conditioned to be afraid of having any fat in their diets, and the thighs have more fat than the breasts.  (Paradoxically, they drink a coca cola with their processed grilled chicken breast sandwich, but that’s another story).  It seems like a bad trade-off because the breasts are much more difficult to cook than the thighs, they are less flavorful, and almost always come out more dry.  

Admittedly, I had been conditioned by America to love chicken breasts. In college, my roommate Anchi (who grew up with Taiwanese cooking) and I would always argue about which part of the chicken is best. I was stubborn and never brought home chicken thighs to cook.  One day, we ended up grilling the thighs and I was amazed at how much easier they were to cook.  As an older and wiser man, I have humbly changed sides and rarely buy the breasts. 

So after all of that ranting about buying chicken thighs, why am I providing a recipe for breasts?  Well, occasionally when we do see organic chicken breasts in the supermarket, they end up making it in the shopping bag.  If cooked correctly, they make a great meal.  You can amp up the flavor by using spices, herbs, or sauces.  Or in this case, you can stuff the chicken breasts with a few vibrant ingredients.

I added a nice mushroom cream sauce rigatoni recipe on the side for the meal.  The Italian flavors of the pasta go well with the prosciutto and ricotta in the chicken breast.

Process:

Start your sliced pancetta in a cold pan with ½ tsp of olive oil.  Turn the pan on medium-low heat and cook the pancetta until it’s crispy. 

While your pancetta is cooking, get a big pot of water boiling for your pasta.  Prepare the rest of your mise en place by grating the cheese for the pasta, washing and slicing the mushrooms, dicing onions, chopping rosemary, and washing the spinach.

For your pasta sauce, soften your onions in a large pan over medium heat, with 1T of olive oil.  This should take about 6 minutes.  Add the rosemary and mushrooms next.

Cook for another 3 or 4 minutes and take off the heat until you are ready to finish your sauce.  

Chop your shallot and dice your garlic.  Combine the ricotta, chopped shallot, and diced garlic into in a bowl.  Crack some black pepper into there and stir.

Next, slice chicken so it opens like a book (leaving one side in-tact).  Add a dollop of the ricotta mixture, the pancetta, basil, and then close it up with tooth pics.  I used 2 tooth pics per breast.  Salt and pepper the outside of the breast.  Make sure to warn your guest about the tooth pics before serving.  Or else you will have a sticky situation (get it?!?!)

Pre-heat your oven to 350F / 175C.  Get a pan going on medium heat and add 1T of olive oil.  Add the 2 breasts to the pan and cook slowly for about 3 minutes per side.  You want to brown both sides. Pop that sucker into the oven for about 8 minutes until it's finished.

Put your pasta sauce pan back on the medium heat.  Get your rigatoni into your boiling water and cook according to the package directions (mine took 8 minutes).

Add the chicken stock cubes (thanks Sven) or un-reduced stock to your pasta sauce pan.  Add in your 1T of truffle oil as well.  Your house should smell great at this point.  

The heavy cream is next, and then give it a good stir.

Let the sauce thicken for a few minutes before adding your spinach leaves.  The spinach goes in last for about 3 minutes so it doesn't overcook.  

Strain your pasta and pull the chicken out of the oven.  Add the noodles to the sauce and top with the grated cheese.  Serve with one or two of the extra slices of the pancetta if you didn't use it all :)

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (organic if you can)
8 slices panchetta, browned
1/2 cup ricotta
1 minced shallot
cracked black pepper
1 small garlic clove
handful of basil leaves

1 tsp truffle oil
12 shitake mushrooms
6 brown button mushrooms
1 medium onion, diced
1 T chopped fresh rosemary
2 cups of fresh spinach
5 cubes reduced chicken stock or 1/3 cup un-reduced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese (or parm reggiano)

3/4 lb large rigatoni noodles

keepin it funky with:  Jazzanova - Believer (Funkhaus Sessions)

Quick Rosemary Garlic Chicken Marinade [Zack]

Matt serves as the inspiration to this marinade.  He's done variations of this multiple times for our grilling sessions.  He had lived in Italy for a short time and described walking out of the front door of a farmhouse and grabbing handfuls of rosemary to cook with.  With such an abundant supply of fresh herbs, Italians have a great source of inspiration for simple and flavorful cooking.

When I don't know what I want to do with a cut of meat, this my default recipe.  This marinade works best on the grill, but I had great results right out of the frying pan.

You can use this marinade on almost anything:  a rib-eye steak, pork tenderloin, lamb chops, turkey breast, chicken breast, shrimp, lobster tails, etc......

Process:

Strip the leaves off of the rosemary stems and chop.  Slice the garlic cloves and the shallot and add them to a zip-lock bag or a tupperware container.  Pour in the olive oil, and add the pepper flakes and cracked black pepper.  Mix.

Remove any undesirable or fatty parts by trimming the chicken thighs.  Add the thighs to the the bag, add the salt, and toss everything together to ensure even coating.

Let this marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, or up to one day.

Fire up your grill to medium heat or heat up your pan to medium heat.  Cook for about 10 minutes, 5 on each side (depending on thickness).

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
1/8 cup olive oil
2 rosemary sprigs, chopped
2 cloves sliced garlic
1/2 shallot sliced
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes (to taste)
cracked black pepper
1tsp sea salt

Creativity options:
Add 1T dijon mustard
Substitute any hearty herbs for the rosemary (thyme, tarragon, cilantro, etc)
Makes a great sandwich
Put over a nice creamy pasta dish

Song:  Robin Thicke - Love after war

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Apricot Jam Marinade [Rhonda]

Degree of difficulty: easy Time: 10 minutes to make the marinade, 20 minutes to heat grill and cook Serves: 2 to 4 Fire up your grill for a super-easy chicken breast with an apricot jam marinade(nice for a pork tenderloin or pork chop). Make a huge batch and freeze the leftovers in small containers for another night. Great in salads or creative paninis.

Apricot Jammin’ on the Grill Ingredients:

½ cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dry white wine

2 tablespoons minced scallions

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Boneless chicken breasts (3 or so, sliced in half to be thinner cutlets)

Combine all ingredients except chicken breasts in bowl. Mix well. Rinse the chicken breasts, pat dry, slice in half longways to make a thinner cutlet. Put chicken breasts in marinade, refrigerate, and marinate for at least 4 hours. 

 Grill over hot coals. The chicken is thin, so it won’t take long.

Serve and enjoy!

Limited Kitchen – BBQ Chicken Sandwich [Matt]

My office is great. Nice people, free beverages, located right near the beach – all round pretty awesome… well minus the kitchen.

We have a microwave and a toaster. This poses a problem. What can you do for lunch with such limited resources? Answer: Hack together a bomb BBQ Chicken Sandwich.

On your next weekly trip to the grocery, pick up 1lb of low sodium sliced chicken, favorite BBQ sauce, sliced mozzarella, dill pickles, and whole wheat buns.

Packing the sandwich is essential.

Use three sandwich baggies or a large-divided tupperware container. Place 1/3lb of sliced chicken, 1 slice of mozzarella, and a large squirt of bbq sauce into one baggie. Place a whole wheat bun into another baggie. Place 3 – 6 dill pickle slices into the final baggie.These ingredients MUST remain separate for anti-soggy sandwich success. Place the three baggies into your favorite lunch pale and shove it in the fridge when you arrive to work.

Oh hey, now it's lunch. You hungry? Me too. I really hope this sandwich doesn't take more than 5 minutes to make, otherwise I'll eat my hand (don't worry it only takes 2.345 minutes to make).

1. Put the whole wheat bun in the toaster - set to your darkening preference.

2. Place the chicken/ cheese/ sauce pile onto a plate. Put that into the microwave for 1 minute.

3. Open pickle bag.

4. Now that the bun is toasted, take your warm pile of awesome out of the microwave. Plop it onto the bottom half of the bun.

5. Place your pickles in some geometric pattern on top of the deliciousness.

6. Drop the top bun on. Compress slightly to convince co-workers that you have a panini press hidden somewhere in the office.

7. Enjoy.

Chicken with Artichokes, Cream and Tomatoes [Rhonda]

Degree of difficulty: easy
Time: 35 minutes (includes prep and cooking and is worth it)
Serves: 6

Is there nothing left to do with boneless breast of chicken? Well, as long as Mark Bittman keeps writing columns for the Times Sunday Magazine (see Feb 5, 2012) about it and getting paid for it, there must be a market.

Actually, this recipe is not from Bittman. It's from Rafferty. Peggy Rafferty. She's on par with Bittman, no kidding. She was one of the best contributors to the cookbook, "A Taste of New Albany." That cookbook may not've been on a NYTimes bestseller list, but it did raise quite a bit of money for New Albany's middle school back in the day.

It's a solid way to play with artichokes and makes for a nice meal.

Chicken Breasts with Artichokes, Cream and Tomatoes
Ingredients:
6 chicken breasts, split
14 ounce can peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Dash of cayenne pepper
10 ounce can artichoke hearts (in water, not marinade)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup chicken broth (use those frozen chick stock cubes if you have them!)
1/4 cup white wine

Rinse chicken and pat dry.




In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until lightly browned. Drain excess oil from skillet.

Add onion, garlic, wine and broth to pan. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until chicken is fork-tender. Remove chicken from pan. Reduce juices until reduced to 1/2 cup, three to five minutes. Add tomatoes and artichokes to pan.




Cook one minute. Add cream, parmesan cheese and basil, simmer until liquid is reduced to 2 cups, six minutes.




Season with salt and pepper, a dash of cayenne pepper if you like. Return chicken to pan, heat briefly and serve.

Suggested soundtrack: Maurice Ravel's "Pavanne pour une infante defunte"

Fall Fresh-Market Mushroom Salad [Zack]

Antwerp has an open air market every Saturday in the center of the city.  It’s immensely popular with the locals - they do some food shopping and have fresh oysters with champagne before noon :).  Can’t hate on that.  I love wandering around, looking at each of the food booths and imagining fun things to cook/eat.  In the late fall, mushroom purveyors are prevalent and I decided to make a chicken and mushroom salad as a fresh lunch.

I always like asking opinions of experts – and in this case the woman in the booth was extremely helpful.  I explained that I wanted to make a fast and fresh salad, and she let me sample a bunch of different types of mushrooms and made great suggestions.  I ended up using chanterelles, pink oyster mushrooms, and some unknown mushroom that she brought from below the table.  Feel free to use any combination of mushrooms that you have available to you, just make sure they are fresh and delicious!

Process:

Start by making your mise en place.  

Grab a cup and put some very hot water into it.  Submerge your sun-dried tomatoes and let them stand for about 20 minutes to re-hydrate.

Wash the mushrooms to clear off the dirt.  Some people suggest using a mushroom brush, but if you are sautéing them in a frying pan, I don’t see the need to take the extra time.  Slice them until they are nicely-sized bites.  Mince the shallots and slice the sun-dried tomatoes (when they have hydrated enough).  Start 2 pans on your stove on medium heat.

You will use the first pan for sautéing the mushrooms.  Put 1 T olive oil and 1 T butter into the pan and let it melt.  Add your shallots and sliced sun-dried tomatoes into the pan and cook for about 4 minutes.  

Once that is cooked, add in your chanterelle and pink oyster mushrooms and let them cook down and eventually get some color.

While your mushrooms are going, sprinkle your chicken breast with salt and pepper and put in the pan with a small bit of olive oil.  Feel free to pound out the chicken breast so it isn’t tough.  Cook, turning once until it is cooked through.  

Let rest for 5-10 minutes while you finish the rest of your salad.

Knock out a quick salad dressing – my favorite method is to make it in a glass jar with a nice snug lid.  Add all of the ingredients at once and shake until emulsified.

Dice your fresh mushroom that you are going to add to the top.  This is optional.  Slice your rested chicken breast diagonally.  

Dress your salad and then add the chicken, cooked mushrooms, and the fresh mushroom on top.  Garnish with some fresh parsley on top if you'd like.  Enjoy eating healthfully!

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast (preferably organic and free range - it tastes better I swear!)

1 cup sliced pink oyster mushrooms

1 cup sliced chanterelles

1/3 cup fresh white mushrooms, sliced

6 sun-dried tomatoes

1 small onion or 2 shallots

1 head of lettuce

optional 1 T of minced parsley for garnish

Salad Dressing:½ c. apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1-2 cloves finely minced garlic
2-3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 ¼ c. olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons heavy cream, optional

Chicken Pot Pie and a Bonus Recipe! [Rhonda]

Degree of difficulty: medium (I'm not gonna lie. Time-consuming prep and sauce. But I'm also gonna tell you this will kick the crap out of any--any!!!--frozen pot pie you will ever buy.)
Time: 1 hour prep and cook
Serves: 3 to 4

Snow has blanketed (OK, spritzed) our backyard and it's time for a blazing fire and something warm and cozy to eat. Mike suggested homemade chicken pot pie. Right. Like that's easy.

To make it worth your while, make a big batch of the filling and freeze some for another night. And use purchased puff pastry for the crust.

The sauce is divine. It belongs to a chicken-stuffed-with-morels recipe my beautiful girlfriend Rosemary Schulz made BC (before children), again on a snowy night in their charming South Salem colonial, and I've never, ever forgotten it. (I'll include it in this post...) As I study the recipe, now browned at the edges and snaggle-toothed on three sides, I notice it's written carefully, in neatly formed script, with a proper slant, my handwriting from a very distant past. Life just speeds up.

Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
1 to 2 cups cooked chicken (I use the leftovers from my roasted chicken)
1 stalk celery, diced
2 carrots, diced and briefly steamed
1 cup frozen peas, briefly steamed

Optional additions: 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped and sauteed briefly, 1/2 to
1 cup diced cooked potatoes (I've used leftover roasted potatoes to good effect),
1/2 cup sauteed onions (can make it a touch sweet though)

Puff pastry--defrost according to package directions. I've used Pepperidge Farm brand on this, but recently discovered Dufour Puff Pastry (at Whole Foods) which is in a class by itself, really amazing. I cook the puff pastry separately so it doesn't get soggy on top of the steamy veggies and chicken.

Ramekins (mine are 4 1/2 inches in diameter) OR one baking dish for the whole shebang

Place diced and cooked veggies and chopped cooked chicken in mixing bowl.


Preheat oven to 375 F for the puff pastry (or whatever temp your package calls for). Roll out puff pastry on floured board or countertop.


Cut pieces slightly larger than the ramekin or baking dish you're using. Drape puff pastry over an upside-down empty ramekin (to hold the shape) and bake in oven according to package directions (I baked the Dufour about 20 minutes).

Make the sauce.




The Cream of Chicken Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups chicken broth (canned is fine here)
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
(I make 1 1/2 times the recipe for 3 pies...)

Combine broth and wine in saucepan. Reduce to 1 cup. Melt butter in another saucepan and add flour, whisk. Add broth/wine, whisk, cook til thickened and smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cream. Simmer about five minutes, stirring.

When pastry is done, pour the hot sauce over the veggies and chicken in mixing bowl. If not hot enough, transfer to saucepan and heat on the stove for a moment. Pour into ramekins or baking dish, top with baked crust and serve.

Bonus Recipe:
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Morels and Wild Rice
Ingredients:
10 dried morels
1/2 cup cooked wild rice
1 1/2 lbs whole boneless chicken breasts (can leave skin intact for extra juiciness)
1 tablespoon butter (plus butter for greasing the baking dish)
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons cognac
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 1/2 cups cream of chicken sauce

Preheat over to 425 F.
Put morels in mixing bowl and add warm water to cover. Let stand 30 minutes until softened. Cook rice, set aside.

Split each breast lengthwise down the center to make two halves. Place breasts skin side down on flat surface and pound to thin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Drain the morels and squeeze. Cut mushrooms into quarters. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in saucepan and add the onions. Cook until wilted. Add mushrooms and cook briefly. Add the wild rice, salt and pepper, and stir. Add cognac and chives. Remove from heat and cool.

Spoon some mixture into the center of each breast, fold over the sides, top and bottom of each fillet envelope-fashion, enclose completely. (Can hold together with a toothpick)

Arrange close together but not touching in baking dish (lightly buttered). Brush each breast with melted butter, place in oven and bake 20 minutes.

Liquid will accumulate around the breasts as they cook. Transfer breasts to warm serving dish. Reduce cooking liquid by half. Add to cream of chicken sauce. Spoon sauce over breasts and serve.

Suggested soundtrack: Jay Sean's "2012" has been running through my head for days...a happy little ditty for kitchen dancin' as you cook