Chicken Boursin

An item on the Columns Hotel dinner specials menu insert, this boneless breast of chicken broiled and topped with the garlic herb cheese served on a bed of steamed spinach and sold for $10.95 a plate back in the mid 1980?s. Still a wonderful dish today and easy to prepare in various options and the chicken breast can be sautéed, grilled, or broiled. We recreated this dish again for our Sunday dinner meal, and is still a classic today. If you cannot find or do not want to pay for the pricey Boursin Cheese, you can make a great substitute version of your own with simply combining cream cheese with minced garlic, chopped chives and fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme and basil, and a little garlic salt and pepper.

Boursin cheese considered a Gournay Cheese because it is named after the small town in France where Francois Boursin grew up. Boursin created the original cheese in 1957 as ?Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs? inspired by a long-standing traditional dish? fromage frais (fresh cheese) served in a bowl with fine herbs, allowing each person to create their own personally seasoned cheese.

A quick recipe for making your own Boursin style cheese is included along with a simple steamed spinach recipe too. In this preparation, the chicken breast is coated with a touch of olive oil and seasoned on both sides with some Finger Lickin Rub spice mix, a little celery salt, and oregano.

Then we sautéed the chicken breasts in a hot pan on both sides until just about done, still another and more traditional sauté version is provided in more detail with the link to Chicken Breast Sauté. Then the chicken breasts are topped with a spread of the Boursin cheese.

The sautéed chicken topped with the Boursin Cheese is then set under the broiler to brown and melt the cheese nicely.

The steamed spinach is drained and plated then a chicken breast placed on top, and Monique made a batch of her Baked Tomatoes for another side, which we enjoyed as shown in the image at the top of this post.

Note: Click on images for a larger view.

Boursin Cheese

Ingredients


8
Oz
Cream cheese, softened


1
Tbsp
Garlic, finely minced or mashed


1
Tbsp
Chives, fresh chopped


1
Tsp
Thyme or basil, fresh chopped


1
Tsp
Parsley, fresh chopped


¼
Tsp
Garlic salt


¼
Tsp
White pepper, ground






Procedure Steps


1.
Soften the cream cheese and add the remaining ingredients, mixing until well incorporated.

Steamed Spinach

Ingredients


8
Oz
Fresh spinach leaves, washed and cleaned


¼
Cup
Filtered water


¼
Cup
Dry white wine


¼
Tsp
Garlic salt


¼
Tsp
White pepper, ground






Procedure Steps


1.
Add water and wine to large sauté pan then add the spinach and season with the garlic salt and white pepper. Cover and steam over high heat until spinach becomes slightly wilted. Using a spoon toss the spinach periodically during the steaming to coat the spinach with the liquid and seasonings.