chicken with goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes

So, to continue our camera saga, it decided to stop working on Saturday.  It had worked for a whole week after the fall, perfectly fine except for the lens being a bit messed up, and then, this past Saturday, it decided to stop taking pictures.  Except, when you flip it on it snaps a picture, and then it refuses to do so anymore.  And sometimes when you change the mode it takes a picture.  As the customer service person said on the phone, “Uhm…yeah…it’s not supposed to be doing that.”  No, we didn’t think so.

Currently our camera, still supposedly under warranty, is on its way to get repaired, and hopefully it will come back to us fixed and like new and maybe with a little get-well soon balloon tied to it.  Poor little camera.

So in the meantime this blog might get a little weird, because 1) I am not a fan of our point and shoot camera for situations like this.  I love it for certain things, like capturing family moments and carrying it around easily to snap a shot for the memory rather than the art.  But it is not the most cooperative piece of technology.  Also, 2) even after the camera stopped taking pictures normally, I continued to take these pictures by turning it on and off, since, as I said it randomly took a picture when you flipped it on.  But there was no way for me to really change the settings or see if the pictures were actually turning out, so pictures like this are what you get.

So on to the chicken, which, by the way, was delicious.  I’ve never really considered myself a fan of either goat cheese or sun dried tomatoes.  Goat cheese always had a bit too stark of a flavor for me, and tomatoes, well, I just plain don’t like them in any form or fashion (at least usually).  But goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes stuffed inside the skin of a chicken breast?  For some reason I can’t explain I kept thinking about this recipe and how much I wanted to make it.  And I’m so glad I did because it was wonderful.

The slightly tangy flavor of the goat cheese balances with the sweet soft flavor of the sun dried tomatoes.  And together they take what would be an otherwise fairly bland chicken breast to an impressive level of fanciness.  And for me, the simple flavor of the chicken breast balanced out what would otherwise be flavors that are too strong and powerful.  But all together they worked wonders: the tender chicken breast, the melted cheese, and the sweet tomato flavor.  And the dish is easy to make, too, the most time consuming part being the time it spends in the oven.

Also-two tips on finding boneless skin-on chicken breasts, which are not generally sold in stores.  Usually you can take bone-in skin-on chicken breasts to the meat counter and ask them to take the bones out for you.  Or you can buy a whole chicken and cut it apart, ending up with two perfectly boneless breasts as well as some thighs and some legs and some wings.

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomatoes
from Ina Garten

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 40 minutes

Serves 4-6

4 boneless, skin-on chicken breasts
4-5 oz. goat cheese, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces*
4-5 sun dried tomatoes, julienned
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Rub the bottom (the non-skin side) of each chicken breast with a bit of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Turn the chicken breasts back over.  Run your fingers under the skin of each chicken breast, separating it from the meat, but still leaving one side attached.  Into this pocket, stuff a slice of goat cheese and several pieces of sun dried tomatoes.  Then pull the skin tightly over the cheese and tomatoes, closing the pocket up as much as you can.
3. Rub the top of the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake the chicken for 35-40 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crispy and the chicken is cooked through.  Serve warm.

*I could only find crumbled goat cheese at my store, and it worked perfectly fine.