Chicken Roulade Philadelphia

While this is a bit of work, it's a fabulous dish worthy of your most honored guests.  After reading about roulades in a favorite cookbook I developed this as an elegant alternative to more routine chicken dishes.  Usually roulades are prepared with beef or pork, but the idea is the same:  pound the meat flat and roll it up with a stuffing, which can be whatever your imagination conjures.  The quantities of cheese and Prosciutto should be enough for about six servings

Combine the flour, basil, salt and pepper and place in a baking pan suitable for coating the chicken.  Mix the softened cream cheese with the tarragon.

Working one at a time trim the chicken breasts of excess fat (see notes).  While pressing on the chicken breast to hold it in place, and with the knife blade parallel to the work surface slice the breast in half lengthwise.  Repeat this with the other breast halves to produce 6 chicken fillets.

Place one piece of chicken between layers of plastic wrap and pound out until they approximately ¼" thick; they should be somewhat rectangular in shape, but with one end a little narrower.  Remove from the plastic wrap and lay the pounded breast with the outside (skin side) down.

Starting from the widest end of the piece spoon a couple of tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture (a little experimentation will let you know how much stuffing will fit into each roulade) onto one end of the chicken.  Top with a couple of thin slices of Prosciutto and roll the chicken up, lengthwise, so that the roll is fairly tight, without squeezing out the stuffing.

Roll the stuffed chicken pieces in the flour until completely coated, shaking off the excess, and place seam side down on a platter large enough to hold all of the roulades.  Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces and place the platter into the 'fridge for about a half hour to allow the flour coating to adhere to the meat.

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium-high heat until the foaming subsides. The oil should sizzle when a bit of flour is dropped in.  Starting with the seam side down brown the roulades for about 1-2 minutes on each side until golden.

Add the wine, cover and reduce to a simmer.  Allow the roulades to cook for 10 minutes.  While the roulades are simmering make a Beurre Manié use the reserved flour and butter.

When the roulades are ready remove to a platter and add the Beurre Manié to skillet.  Whisk to thicken the sauce scraping up any bits that have browned onto the bottom of the skillet.

Spoon the sauce onto the roulades and serve.

Notes:

Trim away the "tenderloin" from the underside of each breast half and save for another time.  This will give the breast halves a more uniform thickness.