Chicken Julia

This recipe goes back many years with us. In 1974 when we first moved to the California Central Coast, Julia Child had a T.V. show called "Julia Child's Kitchen." Larry and I started watching it and feel she was the first person to really get us started on the road to Mediterranean-style cooking.

One day Julia Child gave a quick demonstration of something that she liked but it had never made it to any of her cookbooks. It was something like this recipe. We didn't get all the directions but more or less got the main idea. It sounded so good!

That weekend, when Larry wasn't in grad school we tried making it. We did like it, though we weren't all that sure if it was like her version.

Over the many years since then, we've made it many times, and as we were more influenced by the Italian cooking- style, the recipe evolved with us.

This recipe is also a "safe bet" when you're unsure of your guests' personal taste preferences.

Now we'd like to share our recipe with you. Out of gratitude and respect we named our version, 'Chicken Julia."

Chicken "Julia" for Two

Ingredients.

2 Half Chicken Breasts
2 slices Low moisture Mozzarella Cheese
Dijon Style Mustard
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour in a bowl
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pound Fresh Tomatoes , peeled, de-seeded and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup Dry White Wine , a Sauvignon or Fume Blanc
2 Tablespoons Green Onions , chopped both green and white parts
2 Tablespoons Green Onions , green part thinly sliced for garnish
8 ounces Fresh Wild Mushrooms , Shitake, Oyster, sliced

Preparation

Place a chicken breast between to sheet of plastic wrap, or in a plastic bag, and with a mallet pound into a thin fillet about 1/4 inch thick. Pound the breast so that it will be roughly rectangular in shape when you are done.
You are going to roll up the breast, so look at the breast, and decide which end of the rectangle is the most narrow.
Place the 'rough side" of the chicken breast face up. Lightly salt and pepper the breast, then spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on top. Next, place a slice of mozzarella cheese on top, toward the narrow end.
Starting at the narrow end, roll the chicken breast up into a log shape.
Salt and pepper the rolled breast, then gently roll the breast in the flour to lightly flour the breast. You can hold the roll closed with a toothpick if you like, but it usually isn't necessary.
Place the Olive oil in a frying pan and bring up to medium heat. When the oil is hot, place the chicken rolls into the pan and saute until golden. The rolls WILL leak - that's OK, the drippings will be part of the sauce. Remove the chicken rolls from the pan, and cover to keep warm.
If you have a lot of oil in the pan remove a little bit now, then place the chopped green onions and mushrooms into the pan. Saute until the mushrooms have lost all their liquid, and are slightly browned.
Over high heat add the white wine and de-glaze the pan. Reduce the wine while gently rocking the pan back and forth, until just a thick syrup remains.
Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan, and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes are broken down and reduced to a nice thick sauce.
To serve, place a good spoonful of sauce on a warm plate. Place a chicken roll on top of the sauce, then spoon a bit of the tomato sauce over the roll. Garnish with a bit of the reserved green onion and serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions
We like to serve this meal with brown rice on the side.

This dish pairs very well with a robust white Rhone-style wine such as a Roussanne or a Viognier. It also goes equally well with a robust Chardonnay

Susan McGourty is a resident and vineyard owner on the California Central Coast. A former restaurant owner and professional cook, she writes about food and cooking techniques and is the food and recipe editor for TheRomanticTable.Com. Her cooking and recipe blog is at http://theromantictable.com/cooking-with-sue.php

For more recipes, food and wine news and ideas, visit the TheRomanticTable.Com http://theromantictable.com - an online magazine about the wine and food of California's Central Coast, featuring wine reviews, California Central Coast recipes, food and wine news and culinary events from the California Central Coast.

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