Chicken Paulius

In a post from last week, Sunny made a post about her hubby's out-of-this-world chicken. After a couple of requests, Paulius posted the recipe later the same day.

Being the primary cook in the house, I'm always on the look-out for new recipes. And since my children are really picky, there are very few that they like. Paulius' recipe sounded like something that would fit the bill perfectly. A new twist on an old favorite, with ingredients that the kids like.

Almost anyone who cooks -- especially home cooks like me, who don't use exact recipes -- will tell you that few food dishes turn out precisely the same way each time. This is no exception. What you see in the picture is more like Chicken Paulius, a la Evan.

For example, Paulius recommended flattening the chicken with a rolling pin. I don't own a rolling pin, so I hand flattened it. I suspect that my result was chicken that was a little less flat, and a little less consistent in its flatness. I didn't have any mozarella cheese, so I used what I had... a pre-shredded blend of mozarella, cheddar and provalone, and I neglected to put the spice mix in the center. I used thick-cut bacon, resulting in the bacon being undercooked, especially on the bottom. I probably could have flipped the chicken, but then some of the cheese would have leaked from the top. I used more spice than Paulius recommended in the butter baste, which probably compensated for the fact that I didn't put any spices in the middle with the cheese, and I used provalone to top the chicken instead of mozarella.

Aside from the bacon being under-done, this was a good recipe (although my famously picky children weren't wild about it, mainly because the bacon was undercooked). Not only was it good the first night, it made teriffic leftovers when reheated in the oven. In fact, the leftovers were better than the first night's dish, similar to spaghetti. The spices soaked in to the meat, the bacon cooked up well the second time around, and the chicken didn't dry out. If you like cooking, or are just getting into it, I'd recommend this dish. It's also one that would likely impress the ladies (that's my tip of the day for Chief Slacker and Captain Bee).

Now about that chicken-mushroom casserole recipe, Paulius... I understand this is your super-secret recipe that you'll take to the grave with you, but that's precisely what's piqued my curiosity. I will respect your secrecy and not ask for the precise recipe, but maybe you could toss a curious fellow cook a bone, and let me know what most of the ingredients are. You could leave out a few of the key spices, cooking times, and the precise mixture. Hopefully you'll agree that there's a difference between coughing up the recipe and telling a fellow culinary artist the basic ingredients.