White Wine and Butter Poached Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese

Serves 4 

This is another recipe where the "Test Kitchen" part of this blog should be remembered. The dish was fantastic, I just haven't gotten the exact cooking temperature/time down yet. As a result, our chicken was a tad touch--but with the wine sauce and the goat cheese, it was still fantastic. I would eat my shoes with this preparation, so I will just work to refine the recipe so that the chicken is really tender, as it should be. 

• 4 large breasts of chicken. We used boneless, skinless, but it would actually be best if it were bone-in, with skin. It would keep more moisture in. 
• 4 T butter
• 6 ounces good white wine. Use something you'll drink, and then drink the remainder with your dinner. 
• 2 ounces dry, chalky goat cheese (the logs are what you're looking for here)
• 1 to 1.5 T. minced tarragon
• Kosher salt 
• White pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350. I did 425, but I think a lower temperature would be better. Maybe even something in the 200s. Pat chicken breasts dry, then salt and pepper them. Place them in the smallest oven-safe dish that will accommodate them. You want to not have to use too much wine and butter, but you need them to be submerged, so a larger dish will mean you need to increase the amount of wine and butter. Add wine and butter in slices to the dish. The wine should cover or nearly cover the dish. I cooked mine for 20 minutes to 425, then let it sit for at least 10 minutes. It was over-cooked at that point. It may be that it was fine right when I took it out, but my inclination would be to cook it for around 10 to 15 minutes at that temp, or 20 at a lower temp. Just take it out and either use a thermometer, or a knife to visually inspect the inside of the meat. Once meat is done, still pink, but not translucent, remove from oven. Cut  a slide along the horizontal mid-line and stuff in as much goat cheese as you possibly can. Place chicken breasts in shallow, soup-type bowls. whisk tarragon into the butter wine sauce, and add salt and white pepper to taste. Evenly distribute poaching liquid amongst bowls. 

I served this with poached artichokes and lemon-mayonnaise, and an arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette, goat cheese and sliced sweet red pepper.