Warning! Thunder-Thigh Recipe Ahead!!

[Jewel]

Help!! I just found a recipe that I would love to try, but in its current form it would clog my arteries within 15 minutes of the first bite, and I would watch my thighs enlarge at least 2" by the third bite. Help me lighten this please?

Bacon-Stuffed Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 4oz pk cream cheese sliced in 4 1 oz slices
4 slices bacon, crumbled
4 tsp chopped fresh chives
1 10.75oz can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Pound chicken until flat. Place a 1 oz. slice of the cream cheese in the middle of each breast, top with one quarter of the crumbled bacon, and one tsp of the chives. Wrap each breast jelly-roll style and secure with toothpicks.
3. In medium bowl combine condensed soup, mayonnaise, milk, lemon juice, pepper and salt. Mix until smooth, then pour over chicken.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until no longer pink and juices run clear.

****************

So how would you do this? The obvious ones are Turkey Bacon, nonfat or lowfat cream cheese, mayonnaise, milk and soup. Would another reduced-fat cream soup work better? Mushroom? Celery? This just sounds so good! Any ideas? Thanks! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[SueK]

Well, my thoughts on lightening the recipe were the same ones you had. Try it, and see how it tastes. If nothing else, you should submit it to the "Lighten Up" feature of CL!

[mandarin2j]

Jewel-

I just wanted to point out that one slice of bacon is only one WW Point, so you might not have to dump it to adequately lighten the recipe. Of course, this is coming from someone who could easily become a vegetarian if it wasn't for bacon & beef tenderloin. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

-Amanda

[browneye]

Jewel-
My thoughts are the same, as far as the light cheese, etc. I would go ahead and use the real bacon for 1 WW point per serving and if it has been drained well, not that much fat. OR if you like Prosciutto, it is very flavorful and you needn't use much to get lots of flavor. You could use some sliced strips of that instead of the bacon.
I would enhance the sauce by adding some fresh chopped herbs, such as Tarragon, or a combo of fresh Thyme and even chopped fresh Rosemary. (I'm the herb and spice Queen)I might also add some sauteed Shi*ake mushrooms to the sauce, along with a splash of dry shery! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif
Sounds fun, I might have to try it myself!

[jazzcat]

You all are making me so very hungry looking at this. I think I will have to experiment with something like this myself. Jewel, I just loved your description of this recipe.
Cracked me up!!!!!!!!!

[hka]

Jewel, that recipe sounds WONDERFUL!!! I think you're ideas for lightening are right on. I also agree with SueK about maybe submitting it to CL for the lighten up section. They might even have some other ideas to make it even more flavorful than it already sounds! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Jewel]

Thanks for the tips everyone! So what do you think, would another cream soup work better in this? For some reason it always seems that Cream of Chicken Soup overpowers the dish. I wanted a more subtle sauce.

Also, a can of condensed soup AND a cup of mayo is very, very thick...with only a half cup of milk added? Doesn't that sound like it would be very gloppy? Just wondering if I could maybe cut the mayo a bit and then thin it even more with a bit of white wine? I love white wine in a Cordon Bleu type of sauce, so I thought it might complement this dish also.

I have a tough time finding fresh herbs in my area grocery stores, but I know I can get chives, thyme and rosemary! Don't know about Tarragon.

So what's the opinion on Gloppy Sauce? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[JJeannette]

Jewel---looking at the recipe, it dawned on me that the juices from the chicken will dilute the sauce somewhat. And doesn't heating thin down mayonnaise?

[Jewel]

Well, I made the Bacon-Stuffed Chicken last night! The sauce was the best part of it. DH didn't really care for the 'tang' of the cream cheese center, but he ate it and kept saying 'It's good!' when I asked, but he didn't inhale it like he does most of my food.

I mixed the cream cheese (fatfree) the chives and the bacon all together like a paste and put that in the middle of the breast and rolled it up. I stuff chicken breasts all the time, but this was actually the first time that I was able to bring in the sides when I rolled it, and it looked like an egg roll! Didn't even need toothpicks! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/eek.gif I seared the breasts in a bit of Garlic cooking spray on the stove first, didn't like the idea of putting the raw chicken in the oven only covered in sauce. Made them look better, in my opinion, and also shortened cooking time to about 30 minutes. I also sprinkled the breasts withe garlic powder before adding the cream cheese mixture and rolling.

For the sauce I used reduced fat Cream of Chicken soup, nonfat Mayo, and I used 1/4 cup of skim milk and 1/4 cup white wine. I added salt-free garlic and herb seasoning and a bit of tarragon to the sauce also. I wasn't too sure how that mayo was going to go over, but it really gave the sauce a nice texture and 'bite'. DH suggested next time instead of cream cheese I use shredded swiss or guyere cheese. Said it really would have complimented the bacon and chive.

All in all the dish was good, but not great. I actually think DH has a good idea with the replacement cheese! I used thick sliced bacon and cheated and used almost two slices per breast, and it had a wonderful flavor. I will repeat it, but I will make the cheese substitution. Go for it folks! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[greysangel]

Actually looking at the recipe, I'm not sure why you would need mayo at all!

The cream soups I actually use all the time for quick dinners/casseroles. For this one I would actually go with Cream of Mushroom...it's a little more subtle than the chicken one. The healthy request low fat low salt cream of mushroom is pretty low in calories and fat. I usually dilute the soup in the juices from the chicken, dry white wine, water or milk...usually 1/2 cup of any of those will dilute it enough to be creamy without gloppy http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Also if you want a richer flavor, how about adding a bit of sour cream? Sour Cream is better calorie and fat wise to mayo.

Just my .02

JeAnne

oops ...looks like I'm a bit late http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by greysangel (edited 06-07-2001).]