I love to use produce that’s in season whenever possible, and this is a great time of year for that! I have to restrain myself at the Farmer’s Market so I don’t spend the entire week’s food budget in one fell swoop. Right now, the peaches are sinfully sweet and impossibly juicy. I had some sitting around the other day, and in a stroke of genius, I decided to mix them with some fresh sage from my garden and stuff them inside some chicken breasts. Then, I thought, you know what this needs? Something salty to go with the sweetness of the peaches. Bacon! So I wrapped bacon around the chicken. But it doesn’t end there. Because then I thought we needed some kind of sauce, so I mixed some Dijon and brown sugar and slathered it on the chicken/bacon/peach concoction!
The result was a mouth watering, insanely (I mean INSANELY) delicious creation. The brown sugar and Dijon got all gooey and glazy. The sweet and tanginess from the glaze, along with the sweet from the peaches, played off the saltiness from the bacon. The chicken was so juicy and just inherited all of the flavors in and around it. So good! I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
Ingredients:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
- 2 large or 3 small peaches, peeled and cut into small pieces (1/2 inch or smaller)
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage (or ½ teaspoon dried)
- 4 slices of bacon
- 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Soak 12-16 toothpicks in a small bowl of water. (This keeps them from burning in the oven.)
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and then top it with a wire rack.
Mix Dijon and brown sugar in a shallow bowl until well combined.
Lay the chicken breasts flat on a cutting board and lay one hand on top of the chicken. With a sharp knife, butterfly the chicken open like a book, starting at the fattest part and cutting inward. Open up the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. With a heavy bottomed pot or meat mallet, pound the meat so it is about ¼ inch even thickness. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.
Place cut peaches on each piece of chicken, leaving a little space around the edge. Sprinkle with sage. Roll up chicken breasts as tight as possible. Wrap one piece of bacon around each piece of chicken and secure with toothpicks that have been soaked. Coat each piece of chicken thoroughly in the Dijon and brown sugar mixture.
Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Place chicken in skillet, seam side down, until lightly browned on each side (about 3 minutes or so each side). Place browned chicken onto the wire rack you previously put in a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until center of chicken is no longer pink.
Enjoy!
I’m trying this tonight, with a few modifications due to what I have on hand. Using maple bacon, maple syrup instead of brown sugar, stone ground mustard instead of dijon and adding Sriracha. If it is anywhere near as good as it smelled during the sautéing phase, it is going to be insanely delicious.
How was it?
I made this a couple weeks ago with some alterations and it was amazing!!! I’m making it again tonight and I’m so excited! Thank you for posting this recipe, it really helped me step up my cooking game!!
I am so glad you liked it! I just made this again last week too and shared with some friends who just had a baby. So yummy! 🙂