Rolled Chicken with Potato Gratin

Chicken doesn't have to taste simple! This is a very unique way of making chicken taste quite gorgeous. The horseraddish with the prosciutto merged with the sherry/cream sauce gives this dish a very intriguing fragrance. As a sidedish, I prepared a potato gratin, a favorite side in my home country.






for 2 people:

the chicken rolls:
1 big, thick chicken breast (or 2 thinner ones)
4 big teaspoons horseraddish cream
4 very thin slices prosciutto (ask for the least salty one)
4 sage leaves
freshly ground salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 woodsticks (toothpicks) to attach sage to chicken

the potato gratin:
300 g (0.7 lb) potatoes (1 week old are perfect!)
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
freshly ground salt, pepper and nutmeg
butter to rub ovenproof dish
1-2 tablespoons prosciutto or speck, cut into small cubes (optional)
50 g (0.1 lb) gruyère cheese, roughly ground


Instructions:

Let's start by doing some preparation for both dishes. Wash the potatoes or peel the skin, cut into thin slices.

Cut the chicken breast lengthwise in half (use a very sharp knife to make this an easy task). Cut both halves one more time lengthwise in half, resulting in 4 thin chicken steaks. If you're breast is not thick enough to cut into 4 slices, you could use 2 breasts and cut them only once each.

Spoon 1 big teaspoon of the horseraddish onto each of the 4 chicken slices and spread evenly. Lay a slice of prosciutto on top. Tightly roll the chicken, put a sage leave on top and attach it to the chicken rolls and simultaneously close the rolls so they won't roll open.

Depending on how salty your prosciutto is, season your chicken only very lightly with salt or skip the salt completely. Sprinkle the chicken with freshly ground pepper.

Now that the chicken is ready to be cooked, start working on the potato gratin. Heat the milk and the cream in a saucepan. Season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the thinly sliced potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are softened but don't fall apart. Also preheat the oven to 450 F (220 C).

Rub some butter in an ovenproof dish to lightly cover the whole dish. Once the potatoes are softened, pour them together with the milk/cream into the ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the prosciutto cubes (optional) and the gruyère cheese.

Put the gratin into the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes until it got a nice, lightly brown color.

As soon as your gratin is in the oven, heat butter in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Grill your chicken rolls on all sides for about 4 minutes total. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the dry sherry and cook until half of it is absorbed. If the heat is too high, it will absorb too quickly and you'll have to add more sherry. Add the cream as well and mix with the sherry. Cover the chicken rolls and let them simmer for about 15 minutes until done. The chicken and the potato gratin should be ready at about the same time. Taste the sherry/cream sauce and season with more pepper if desired.