I love the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. I own them all and have never been disappointed with a recipe. Ina Garten delivers straight forward, flavorful food that doesn’t take hours in the kitchen to make. I enjoy watching her on the telly now and again, but usually the “Jeffrey This” and “Jeffrey That” gets to be too much for me.

Let’s kick off our shoes and get cooking.

Chicken With Goat Cheese And Basil

Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (I used bone-in because that is what I had)
10 oz garlic and herb goat cheese, such as Montrachet
6 large basil leaves
Olive oil
Sea salt and ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375℉.

2. Place chicken breasts on a sheet pan. Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers leaving one side attached. (I didn’t have the patience for that and, besides, I am not crazy about touching uncooked chicken any more than I have to. I just made a pocket by slicing into the breast and filled it with the basil and cheese. Worked perfectly.)

3. Cut the goat cheese into 1/2 inch thick slices and place 1 or 2 slices plus a large basil leaf under the skin of each chicken breast.

4. Rub olive oil over the breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until the skin is lightly browned and the chicken is cooked through.

Serves 4 to 6

I served the chicken with buttered new potatoes tossed with parsley.

I think we should all give it up for Jeffrey. WOO HOO!! Jeffrey songs all around.

Jeffrey Lewis-Octopus’s Garden

Jeffrey Luck Lucas-The Lion’s Jaw

Cheers!