Holiday Chicken and Cheese Roulade

One of my favorite home made meat creations! I like how it’s soft and moist . When we are going to Slavic weddings, there are few specific dishes I’m looking forward to get: yummy sweets , Oliv’e ( potato salad) , and delicious homemade meat platter ( домашня нарізка ). Usually, most meat platters have this chicken roulade and I get super excited each time I see it on the plate . I was always wondering how to make it, and even tried few times and it turned out too dry. Luckily, one of my husbands aunts shared few tips on how to make it moist and soft. When I tried making it once again, I followed her tips, and my roulade turned out amazing, tasted exactly the same as the one on the wedding platters.

Why Holiday??? Because usually, WE, slavic people, cook many delicious dishes for holidays, and homemade meats are always on the list.

This is a sample of how my homemade meat platter looked at the Christmas Dinner 2018, when I was hosting.

I like this roulade, because you can make few ahead of time, and all you need to do before your gathering is to cut and serve cold. Best part is that this recipe is super easy to make, not time consuming and looks and tastes amazing. The way I enjoy this Holiday Chicken Roulade is simply with bread and some veggies:)

Ingredients:

10 eggs

5 tbsp mayonnaise

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 cups Mexican style blend cheese, shredded

1 tbsp chopped baby dill (fresh or dry), I use fresh

1 lb ground chicken

1/4 cup lukewarm water

salt and pepper (to season the meat)

parchment paper

13х17 baking pan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

With an electric mixer mix eggs, mayonnaise, garlic, seasoning salt, salt and pepper.

Line up baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the cheese evenly on the baking pan.

Pour the egg mixture over the cheese and try to cover all cheese with egg mixture evenly (helping with a spoon or hands). Sprinkle chopped baby dill over the top.

Bake for 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, season ground chicken with some salt and pepper (to taste), add 1/4 cup water into the meat and mix well with your hands. Water should be incorporated and meat will get more moist.

After you take the baked egg & cheese mixture out of the oven, and while it’s still hot, turn it upside down on another sheet of parchment paper, that way when you roll it, the dill would be on the top of the roulade.

Spread the ground meat in a thin, even layer on top of egg and chicken layer, and make sure to use all of the meat mixture.

Gently but TIGHTLY (you don’t want to get holes in your Roulade after all) roll it, by helping with parchment paper.

Roll the ends of the parchment paper tightly as well,

Bake on the lower rack for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

When it’s completely cold, peel off the parchment paper. Cool and store in the refrigerator.

!!! Just make sure its wrapped well with food wrapping paper or store it in a ziplock bag, so it’s stays as fresh, as possible, and not getting dry. If you store it well it will last for good week or so.

Happy Easter friends!!