“Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’

Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’

Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’

Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’

Rawhide

Keep rollin’, rollin’, rollin’

Though the streams are swollen

Keep them doggies rollin’, rawhide

Through rain and wind and weather

Hell bent for leather

Wishin’ my gal was by my side

All the things I’m missin’

Good vittles, love and kissin’

Are waiting at the end of my ride

Move ’em on, head ’em up

Head ’em up, move ’em on

Move ’em on, head ’em up, rawhide

Cut ’em out, ride ’em in

Ride ’em in, cut ’em out

Cut ’em out, ride ’em in, rawhide”

Don’t you hate when you get a song in your head?  (Did you now the “technical” term for that is earworm?  Fun fact to get you started this week.)  The part that drives me batty is that I sit and wonder WHY that song is in my head.

For me, the earworm pops up as I shower, vacuum or clean toilets.  I’ll find myself humming it nonstop all day.  (I probably sing part of it too but I know I never have all the lyrics correct.)

I was cooking the other night and started singing the theme to Rawhide. Now why would a cowboy song from the early 1960’s pop in my head while I’m cooking? Was I making a stew?  Nope.  Was I making some jerky?  Nope.  Was I cooking with Whiskey?  (Did cowboys cook with whisky or did they just drink it?)  Either way…nope.  I was making roulades.

Do you know what a roulade is?  It is a piece of meat (or in some case pastry) that is filled with some yummy goodness and then rolled up.  Usually the protein is pounded thin for the ease of rolling and ability to cook evenly.  I like to secure my rolls with cooking twine.  (I prefer the twine to toothpicks because sometimes toothpicks break and end up in someone’s mouth….and even a cowboy would agree that isn’t pleasant.)

I wanted to prepare my chicken in this manner for a couple of reasons.  First, I hadn’t done made in a while so I wanted to keep my skill set up to par.  (Because if you don’t use it you lose it….or is that only sage advice you receive from senior citizens.)

The other reason was that I saw a chef make it on TV.  Television is kind of my peer pressure when it comes to cooking.  (Is it egotistic of me to consider television chefs my peers?)  My thought if it is on TV it must be good.  (Unfortunately, this probably goes for everything I see on TV so maybe that isn’t a good thing.)

Finally, I wanted to make a roulade to see if it makes the chicken any tenderer than what I seem to be finding in the market these days.  Have you noticed all the white stripes on chicken breasts these days?  I feel they cook up tough.  I keep looking for stripe less chicken but am having no luck.  I’m not sure if it is a small-town thing but I have been on a quest to find a good old fashioned smooth piece of chicken.

I tried to google to see why there were so many lines in my chicken and do not feel I could find a reliable source.  I found answers but I’m not sure they were correct or even worse…..FAKE NEWS!!!  (I’m trying to sound current by mentioning fake news to show I’m in touch with the journalist community.)  I read in one place that they were fattier and then in another that they were leaner.  I read one it was because there are more free range chickens and then another that said it was not allowing the chickens to roam.  I even read one article that claimed that these chickens were part of some sinister genetically modified program.  None if it matters, I’m just not a fan.

So, I decided to make the roulade to see if I have a thinner chicken breast that is rolled and pounded would taste more tender and less like rawhide.  After pounding each piece so they were ½-1 inch thin, stuffing them with sundried tomatoes, spinach and goat cheese and then rolling the whole thing in good prosciutto, I was a happy camper.  (I’m not sure how they’d do over an open campfire but that might be an experiment for another day.)

The conclusion was I was happy….the chicken was fork tender, juicy and there were no “chewy” parts.  To sum it up, until I find a chicken breast with no stripes this might be my go-to method….or it might be time for chicken to move ‘em out!

This is how it looks before you slice it up. I think the sliced up version is prettier….
Chicken Roulades
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 3 Chicken Breasts (You make 2 for dinner and 1 for tomorrow’s lunch)
  • 4 ounce thinly sliced prosciutto
  • 3 ounces of spinach
  • 3.5 ounces sun-dried tomatoes
  • 4 ounces goat cheese
  • 12 ounce good quality tomato sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Parsley
Instructions
  1. Pound each chicken breast until they are about 1/2-1 inch thin. (You don’t want to bust a hole in them)
  2. In a food processor, mix spinach, cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.
  3. Spread each breast generously with he mixture.
  4. Lay out two pieces of prosciutto side by side with no gaps.
  5. Place the chicken breast on top of it and then roll it up tightly.
  6. The prosciutto will be covering the outmost parts of the chicken.
  7. Tie in two spots with cooking twine.
  8. Start heating your oven to 400 degrees.
  9. While oven is heating, heat a medium fry pan over medium high heat.
  10. Swirl with olive oil.
  11. Brown each side of the rolled up chicken breast.
  12. Don’t worry about it being completely cooked because you will be finishing it in the oven.
  13. Place browned roulade in a oven safe pan and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
  14. While you chicken is cooking, sauce the garlic in the fry pan on the stove until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and let simmer on low.
  15. Ding.
  16. Use your thermometer to make sure your chicken is 160 degrees. I actually pulled mine at 153 and let it sit for 10 minutes and checked again….it was at 160 after resting.
  17. Spread some tomato sauce on the plate and either put the sliced roulade or a whole roulade on each plate.
  18. Sprinkle generously with chopped parsley like it is 1975 and enjoy!