Chicken and Asparagus Roulades

PUBLISHED ON: 06.17.2010

This recipe is from my friend Joel. We were friends in junior high, high school and are both part of the Gator Nation (Alumni of the University of Florida). We have reconnected through facebook and he is still exactly how I remember him. The only difference is that he is older, which he emphatically denies but, I know it for a fact.

Joel is a picky eater, at least that is what he tells me.  He shared with me a really good chicken roulade recipe that his family has been recently enjoying.

For you to get a sense of who Joel is I have only slightly revised his written directions to me on preparing his new favorite dish.  I think his directions will put a smile on your face, and his face too, if you leave a comment for him.

Note: We served up his chicken and asparagus roulades with a side dish of wild rice.

Chicken Roulades
Serves 8
Recipe compliments of Joel Greene


Ingredients:
8-thin chicken breast cutlets or pounded thin
12 thin sandwich sized slices swiss cheese (8-ounce package)
1 pound asparagus, woody ends snapped off spears simmered in salted water until tender, then cooled.
Directions:
His note to me: Velveeta, the instructions were rather confusing, so here is what I actually did.


Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.


Fill a big pan with water and turn on the heat to bring to a slight boiling point.  Add some salt, maybe a tablespoon or so, and then simmer the asparagus in it 4-5 minutes.  Taste one after 4 minutes to see if it’s done.  if not, just give a little extra time.  Then put the asparagus aside and let it cool off.

I said the hell with overlapping, pounding and fusing as stated in the original recipe (Told you, I ain’t no gourmet chef).  I simply laid out the 8 thin-sliced chicken breasts on plastic wrap, added salt and pepper to taste, and threw in some Italian seasonings (which was not part of the recipe, but which I like and which added flavor.)

I used provolone instead of Swiss because the wife does not care for Swiss.

Place one breast down, salt/pepper/Italian season it.

Add cheese slice (broken up if necessary, to fit the size of the chicken breast, but not too close to the edges).

Stick in about 4 asparagus pieces, roll it up tightly (as tightly as possible, as this is not easy).  Dip in flour that I dumped out on a plate, added toothpicks to hold together.

Then pan fry on medium heat to brown on all sides, which is not easy because of the toothpicks, but it is still manageable. (It has been suggested to me that I use twine instead of toothpicks, which I may try next time).

Then put in the oven 15 minutes.  No need to begin preheating the oven until you start the pan frying.

By the way, when I was done cooking it, I said “never again!”, because it was too much hassle, but after tasting it, and seeing the wife go back for seconds, I might have to reconsider.

In actuality, the only real hassle was figuring out the #!!##% directions that I had.  Use my directions, and it will go pretty easy. It was worth it.

Joel Greene

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