Zenster, am planning on cooking some chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and provolone cheese. What would be some good herbs/spices to add to the stuffing? I don’t want to spicy, but still something that will help with the fact it is a way to use up the frozen spinach that the roommate brought with them when they moved in. Sides will be cornbread and steamed carrots. Am also using up leftovers there.
I’ve said it afore and I’ll say it ag’in: I’m not Zenster, and I don’t play him on TV. 
However in my self-appointed role as junior assistant Zenster (unless he objects.) let me make a suggestion or two: From what you’ve described, Italian spices would be wonderful with this, as would Mexican.
My recommendation: Get fresh oregano and basil and chop 'em up with some dried rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix these with the spinach. A small sprinkling of red pepper flakes would be really good in this too.
Fenris
I’m partial to tarragon with chicken, tho I don’t know how it would go with spinach…
so I’d second the Italian seasonings. pardon the drool, please…
Allow me to assume that you are roasting/broiling chicken breasts with the skin on.
I would recommend a dry rub of powdered spices to coat the chicken while it cooks. In order of quantity;
[li]Onion Powder[/li][li]Salt[/li][li]Garlic Powder[/li][li]Flour[/li][li]Sugar[/li][li]Corriander[/li][li]Ground Celery Seed[/li][li]Ground Black or White Pepper[/li][li]Paprika (for color)[/li][li]Cumin (just a skosh)[/li]
Getting a few fresh herbs in the spinach a’la Fenris won’t hurt either, but I’m unfamiliar with your larder.
Feel free to post some clarifications and I will drop by between visits to the Iron Chef Stadium kitchen.
JavaMaven, Chef_Troy, Scylla? Do give our friend the benefit of your experience as well.
I’m not to sure as to the contents of my larder. I just moved in a little over a week ago, and am still unpacking and trying to figure out what comes out of my boxes to join the kitchen and what goes into storage.
I’m a bit disappointed in the local grocery, need to check out the one farther down the road, to see if they have fresh herbs. Most of our spices are probably indian ones, since one of my roommates father is visiting from India and he cooks himself a lot of indian food.
I think the chicken breasts were unskinned, I was planning on using a skillet to sear them and before putting them under the broiler, or does that not work for chicken like it does for lamb/beef?
Maybe breadcoat them on the outside and do something along the lines of a chicken kiev?
Unless calories are of particular importance be sure to use some sort of oil or butter when searing the chicken. The lack of skin will reduce the amount of fat (and flavor) available to the dish.
After searing you may wish to broil them with a bit of liquid in the pan to keep them moist. If you roast them, I would keep them covered with foil for most of the cooking cycle. Reduce the liquid with some herbs later for a quick and easy sauce.
If you do want to do a Kiev style, I strongly advise using fresh bread crumbs for the breading. You will get a fluffier and light crust. Their use is detailed in the following recipe.
[li]Wiener Schnitzel[/li]*Breaded Cutlets *
Hope this helps.
[sup]Submitted by Zenster[/sup]
Thanks, will try one of the suggestions, will decide when I get home, and actually learn the contents of the pantry.
Well, I never got a chance to make the stuffed breasts. Kept getting home feeling to tired and zapped to actually do anything complex, so I ended up just coating the chicken in dijon mustard, broiling them a bit, then covering each piece with provolone cheese and cooking it longer. The corn and carrots took about ten minutes, and that was that. I think I’ll save the spinach for manacotti or cannolli later, or perhaps as part of a tomato based sauce for Gnocchi.