Hot pocket.

In college there was a Sunday brunch special the dining hall chefs nicknamed "hangover chicken." It was a breaded chicken breast stuffed with broccoli and cheese. Admittedly fairly uniform in size and shape (not much resembling chicken) and probably devoid of any nutritional value, no matter how you were feeling Sunday morning, these melty golden pockets of joy were devoured by all.

Which is why I didn't hesitate to try my own when I saw Anne Burrell prepare a stuffed, breaded chicken breast on TV. I modified her recipe slightly (adding some lemon zest for freshness, cutting the chicken livers because I didn't have any on hand), and though I had some technical difficulties with squeezing the filling into the pocket, these golden beauties turned out to be delicious as well. I had planned on trying to do these not breaded to be more healthful, but when I stepped out of the elevator at home someone in my hallway was clearly deep-frying shrimp or something, and I lost all my willpower. The lemon zest in the filling and the tangy white wine and lemon sauce cuts some of the fat and balances the flavors nicely.

Tips for Success:

1. BE CAREFUL - as you're cutting the pocket with a pointy, sharp knife, make sure not to slice your hand off.
2. Take extra care not to cut through the side of the chicken; without a nice, closed-up pocket, the filling will, um, leak.
3. If you cut through the chicken and your filling leaks, don't worry, because you're going to dredge the thing in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and it'll all stay inside anyway.
4. Don't skip refrigerating the chicken before you cook it - the cheese filling needs time to solidify and set up so it won't ooze everywhere as soon as it hits the pan. (Finishing in a relatively low-temperature oven also helps with this.)

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Mushroom and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken

(Adapted from Anne Burrell)

Serves 2

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 oz goat cheese

8 oz cremini mushrooms, large-diced

1 shallot, minced

1 scallion, chopped

olive oil

salt

zest from one lemon

1/2 c breadcrumbs

1 egg

1/4 c flour

1 c chicken stock

1 c white wine

1 T butter

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and saute shallots for two minutes, until translucent. Raise heat to medium-high and add mushrooms, browning for about three more minutes. Add 1/2 c white wine and let it burn off for a few minutes (when the mushrooms are almost dry again, they're done). Season with salt. Remove from heat and mix with goat cheese, scallion, and lemon zest. Take a Ziploc bag and spoon the mixture in, cutting off a corner to make a piping bag.

Take a boning or paring knife and cut into one end of each chicken breast, creating a narrow, blade-sized incision. Wiggle to create a pocket, taking care not to cut yourself or open up any other parts of the chicken breast "pocket." Pipe cheese, mushroom, shallot, wine, scallion, and lemon filling into the chicken pocket. Sprinkle chicken breast with salt.

Set up three shallow bowls with flour, beaten egg (and a dash of water), and breadcrumbs. Dredge pockets in flour (shaking off excess), then egg, then breadcrumbs and refrigerate for 45 min.

Preheat oven to 300ºF, and line a baking pan with foil. Place an oven-safe cooling rack on the baking sheet. After the pocket has time to set up in the fridge, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Brown breaded pockets on each side for 3-5 minutes, then place on the cooling rack/baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Meanwhile, when the chicken goes in the oven, remove excess oil from the skillet and then reduce the remaining 1/2 c of white wine over high heat. When the wine is down to 1/4 c, add 1/2 c chicken stock. Reduce again to half, then add the rest of the chicken stock. If you have a pinch of lemon zest, you can also add it for extra lemony zing.

When the chicken is cooked, sprinkle with salt, then spoon sauce over crispy pockets and serve immediately.