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Apple-walnut stuffed chicken breast

Apple-walnut stuffed chicken breast

Apple-walnut stuffing:

1 whole Granny Smith apple, 1/4-inch diced

1/2 small red onion, diced into 1/4-inch pieces

1 cup crushed walnuts

2 ounces brandy

1/2 cup Penko breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1 tablespoon butter, for sautéing

Sauté apples and onion with butter over a medium heat, until soft. Add brown sugar; stir to dissolve and then deglaze with brandy. Remove from heat. Stir in raisins and walnuts; then allow to cool. Make stuffed Chicken breast.

Stuffed chicken breast:

6 (6-ounce) double-lobed skinless chicken breasts

5 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups Penko bread crumbs

Trim chicken of excess fat; then pound flat, keeping lobes connected. Place 1/6 of the stuffing in the middle of each chicken breast; then roll the sides around the stuffing. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk together 4 whole eggs and 1 egg white.

Double bread breasts by rolling first in flour, then egg mixture, then bread crumbs; repeat. (Note: Chef Mendoza said when you bread it twice, the chicken steams inside, nicely cooking it.) Refrigerate covered for at least 1 hour. Sauté breasts in olive oil until golden brown. Transfer to a lipped sheet pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings.

— Luis Mendoza, chef at Di Paolo's in Oxford