Food & Drink by Shari McIntyre (formerly Darling) For more information on wine and food, go to www.sharidarling.com Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Chicken is a staple in our household. I often make chicken dishes featuring dark cuts like quarters, legs, and thighs. At my supermarket, I spotted a package of breasts on sale and decided to create a dish featuring this part of the bird for a change. Shawn and I prefer dark meat because it’s moist. The breast tends to be drier than the other parts of the bird because it is less fatty. Fat provides lots of flavour and moisture! When cooking chicken breasts, it is a good idea to include other ingredients. The other ingredients such as sauce, for example, help to counterbalance the natural dryness of the breasts, bringing more texture harmony to your dish. Bacon is a great ingredient to add to your chicken breast dish. Bacon adds fattiness (moisture), saltiness, and umami. As I’ve mentioned before, umami is the fifth taste sensation that adds depth and roundness of flavour to a dish. Bacon sings with umami. Cheese has a natural affinity with both chicken and bacon. Umami is a primary taste sensation in cheese, as well. I wanted to include a vegetable in this recipe. With this particular dish, you can add any vegetable you prefer. You can lay your breasts on a bed of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, to name a few. I chose asparagus. Asparagus works well with chicken, cheese and bacon. So here we have it – Bacon-wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Cheddar and Parsley on a Bed of Asparagus. 48 | www.snowbirds.org
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