Baked stuffed chicken breast with cottage cheese and bacon

I rarely stuff chicken breast, because of the unfamiliarity with the technique to flatten the chicken. But then, how else can one learn apart from practicing?

Recipe: Baked stuffed chicken breast with cottage cheese and bacon (make 5 servings)


Ingredients:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 5-6 slices of precooked bacon (drained of fat)
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup fat-free cottage cheese
- 2-3 TB low-fat mayonnaise
- 2 TB bread crumbs
- 2 TB dried okara
- 1 TB parsley flakes


Procedure:
1. For thick chicken breast, slice into two thin pieces. Dry each piece of meat with paper towel.
2. Place each chicken breast between two layers of plastic. Hammer until thin, about 3/8" thick.
3. Place 2 slices of precooked bacon on the bottom of a plate. Place a slice of pounded chicken breast on top of the bacon. Spread about 1 heaping TB of cottage cheese on top of the chicken.
4. Roll up the chicken breast and place the open side down on a tray lined with foil.
5. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the top of the chicken roll.
6. Mix bread crumbs, okara, and parsley flake. Spread on top of the mayonnaise. Press to firm.
7. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes. Once the bread crumbs on top turn golden, cover top with foil and continue baking at 350 to 375F.
8. Juice from the chicken should start coming out in small quantity after 20-30 minutes.
9. Slice and serve.


Results:
5:51pm, a chicken breast being pounded on:

5:56pm, three pieces of pounded chicken breast:

6:05pm, chicken rolled up in cottage cheese and wrapped by bacon:

6:12pm, chicken roll covered with mixture of bread crumbs, okara and parsley:

6:14pm, to bake in toaster oven at 350F, at first uncovered, then when bread crumbs turn golden, cover with foil:

6:53pm, baked 40 minutes, with a little liquid from the chicken:

6:54pm, cut to see doneness:

6:56pm, to serve:

7:04pm, a juicy bite:

Observations:
1. The cooked bacon has a small amount of grease that helps provide some fat to the chicken. The bacon, cottage cheese, and mayonnaise all are richly flavorful. Therefore, the dish does not need extra seasoning.
2. The chicken breast is surprisingly tender, to an unbelievable extent.