Bacon Wapped Chicken stuffed with Blue Cheese & Pecans

The hubby and I just came back from a week long cruise and it was wonderful having your every whim catered to. I miss our dining room servers and room steward already. Oh well...vacation is over and it's back to the routine. Which means back to cooking our own meals. Trying a new recipe tonight....which I saw Rachael Ray make just before we left and made sure I book marked it. As usual, I tweaked it a bit. I removed scallions and added a tiny bit of brown sugar as it brought out the sweetness in the toasted pecans.

I think I'm on a Blue Cheese kick this week as almost everything I have made has had something with blue cheese in it. hmmm....

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Blue Cheese & Pecans

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1-2 tbsp of brown sugar
4 slices good-quality center cut bacon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup half-and-half or cream
2 tablespoons grainy mustard

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butterfly the chicken breast pieces by cutting across the breast but not all the way through. Open the breasts up and pound lightly between parchment paper. Peel paper away and season the meat with salt and pepper.

Mix the blue cheese crumbles with the pecans and brown sugar. Cover the seasoned chicken cutlets with blue cheese mix in equal amounts. Roll the chicken, wrap each roll with bacon and secure with toothpicks. Season the outside of the rolls with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken evenly all over, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a small baking sheet, place in the oven and cook 10 minutes more.

Melt the butter in the same skillet pan the chicken was seared in over medium heat. Whisk in flour, cook 1 minute then whisk in stock. Let thicken a minute then whisk in the half-and-half and grain mustard, season with salt and pepper, reduce heat to warm.

Halve the chicken and stack to show off the center. Set chicken in gravy or pour over top. Serve with rice and greens, if desired.