ham I am

What was I thinking, buying a ham that weighed in at nearly ten pounds, for just three people??  Well, I guess I was thinking that it was South Carolina ham, so locally sourced, and only $3.99 a pound.  But now I am buried in ham.  We can eat only so many ham sandwiches, so, enter the chicken roulade.  ("roulade" is just a fancy French word for "rolled".)

I got a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced them nearly in half, so I could open them like a book, and pounded the bejeezus out of them, until they were about 1/4 inch thick.

I made a filling of sauteed mushrooms, onions, fresh thyme, and ham, bound together with some fresh bread crumbs, and flavored with a few tablespoons of minced parsley, salt, and pepper.

fresh breadcrumbs can be made easily by grinding up the heels

of a loaf of sandwich bread

the filling, sauteing away in my beloved new pan

I laid out the pounded breasts and put a little stuffing on top of each one.

From there, it is just a matter of rolling, and breading.  Easy enough by dipping each roll in a bit of egg thinned with milk, and then some panko breadcrumbs.  One breast was considerably larger than the other, so I started the larger one cooking first.

just 1/4 inch of oil in my new pan 

and crispy roulades were ready for dinner

The roulades took about 16 minutes to be thoroughly cooked through to a temp of 160, with a nice, crisp exterior all the way around.  I took them out and rested them on a little baking rack, and prepared my side dishes.

In this case, little potato pancakes fried in the same oil as the chicken, made from leftover potato au gratin.  They were delicious, and even though very cheesy, didn't stick a bit.  My old pans are abandoned for good, I think.  I also made a puree of peas, steamed just until tender, with a bit of fresh thyme from the garden.  Once they were barely cooked, I added a little lemon zest and juice, a bit of salt and pepper, and pureed them into a mash.  I just love this way of preparing peas.

sliced roulades, piled on potato pancake, with a side of pea puree