Red Pine Chicken

With ground pork and chicken breasts sitting in the freezer and some chard in the CSA box, this recipe jumped out as an obvious choice. This dish was a little bit salty to me, but rich in flavour and surprisingly different. I kept mentally expecting it to be a rolled dish and when it finally clicked that it wasn't, I expected a major headache with pork filling going everywhere. Somehow, though, the filling stayed in place easily and everything came together.

One year ago: Double-Shot Mocha Cupcakes
Two years ago: Chocolate Souffle

Red Pine Chicken (from All About Braising)

Ingredients
Filling
170g ground pork
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp coarse salt
3/4 tsp sugar
Braise
4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 680g total)
cornstarch
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark mushroom soy sauce
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp sugar
4 whole star anise
1 tbsp peanut oil
Spinach
1 tbsp peanut oil
680g spinach (I used swiss chard)
salt and pepper

1. In medium bowl, combine filling ingredients. Set aside.
2. Pound out chicken breasts to 1/2" thick (or if you have giant breasts, slice in half). Dust top of breasts with cornstarch.
3. Scoop one quarter of pork filling onto rough side of each breast, spreading to edge. Sprinkle with cornstarch and pat down filling lightly.
4. In small bowl, combine soy sauces, ginger, stock, wine, sugar, and star anise.
5. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Lower chicken breasts chicken side down into pan. Sear until lightly golden on bottom, about 4 - 5 minutes. Turn breasts filling side down and cook for 1 - 2 minutes to set pork filling.
6. Reduce heat to very low and pour in braising sauce. Baste every few minutes by splashing sauce on top of each breast until chicken and pork are cooked trhough, about 35 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach a handful at a time and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper, set aside, and keep warm.
8. Serve chicken on bed of spinach with braising liquid on top.