Chicken Relleno Rolls

I’m late, late..late!   The November theme for Kulinarya Cooking Club is Relleno. Relleno means stuffed; I’ve made rellenong bangus ( milkfish), rellenong talong (eggplant) before but I’ve never tried chicken relleno. I’ve been meaning to try this but deboning a whole chicken is very intimidating for me. With relleno being this month’s KCC theme would have been the perfect time to make it but I just couldn’t find the time (and energy) for it now,  but I was planning on making it for Christmas dinner hopefully I can pull it off. *fingers crossed*

My chicken relleno is inspired by recipe that I clipped from the newspaper years ago, it’s from Chef Reggie Aspiras but I couldn’t  find it so I just used the filling recipe from Kulinarya Cookbook as a guide, with substitutions using  the ingredients that I have on hand.

You can prepare this ahead and just put in the freezer for later use.  I baked these chicken rolls, because I didn’t want to wash extra pots and dishes, but I was really planning on steaming it first then pan-fry it in the pan to brown, I’ll do it next time with the others that I  kept  in the freezer.

combine filling ingredients in a bowl

pound chicken breast fillet;  I pre-formed the filling into a log for easier rolling

Brush with melted butter and bake at 350 F

it doesn’t look much now, but..

..wait until you slice it..mmm!  I made red wine gravy using the drippings to go with this chicken relleno rolls, and as Rachel Ray would say it… Yum-O!  😉

CHICKEN RELLENO ROLLS

Ingredients
5-6 pieces chicken breast fillet, if you have turkey breast, the better because it’s bigger and easier to roll
salt and ground pepper

Filling
250 g ground pork
50 g chorizo ( Spanish sausage), minced
3-4 pieces vienna sausage, sliced into small pieces or minced
1/4 cup raisins
3 tablespoons pitted green olives, minced
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
30 g grated cheese
1 small carrot, peeled and grated
2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 boiled eggs, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons melted butter

Gravy/Sauce
drippings
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup red wine chicken
1/4 cup broth/water
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Put all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well; cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer while you pound the chicken.

Put each chicken breast in between two plastic wrap sheets, season with a little salt and black ground pepper and gently pound the chicken until it’s about 1/8- 1/4cm thick. Cut boiled egg into wedges.

Form some filling into a small patty; put a wedge or two of boiled eggs in the center. Roll the chicken; secure with a tooth pick and place on a baking pan; brush with melted butter and bake for about 30 minutes or until browned on top. Take out of the oven, let cool for about 10-15 minutes before slicing. Serve with red wine gravy.

Make the red wine gravy by collecting the drippings of the chicken rolls ( pour the excess oil first); add a tablespoon of flour, cook while stirring for about two minutes then gradually pour in red wine; keep stirring to prevent lumps; add water to dilute, season with salt and grond black pepper. Let it simmer until reduced in half; taste it and adjust seasoning if needed then turn off heat; add a pat of butter to round up the flavor ( I got that from watching Wolfgang Puck 😉 ) and stir. Pour over chicken or serve on the side.

note: the gravy recipe is just a guide, I don’t always follow that recipe; I sometimes put more or less of water and wine then reduce it down to the consitency that I like. It should not be too thick or too thin and don’t forget that pat of butter, it makes a big difference if you don’t add it, but that’s just my personal taste.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking! 🙂

Other KCC members have made different kinds of delicious relleno..please check them out if you have time. Thank you! Have a nice day! 🙂