Bacon and Basil-Wrapped Chicken Breasts

From the July 1996 Gourmet magazine, these chicken breasts are really wonderful. This recipe calls for chicken breasts with the 'tenders', but I can rarely find them this way. I just stuff the chicken breasts with basil and wrap with bacon as described below. I have also tried these by stuffing them with some goat cheese too, that we liked a lot.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 21  large basil leaves, washed well and spun dry
• 3  boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds total)
• 15  slices bacon (about 3/4 pound)
• 1  teaspoon black peppercorns, coarsely crushed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a small saucepan of boiling water blanch basil 2 seconds and drain in a sieve.
3. Rinse basil under cold water to stop cooking and pat dry on paper towels.
4. Put 1 whole chicken breast, skinned side down, on a work surface and remove "tender" (fillet strip located on either side of where breast bone was) from each breast half, keeping rest of chicken breast intact.
5. (There should be 2 tenders from each whole breast.).
6. Put 2 tenders side by side and wrap 7 basil leaves around them to enclose them.
7. Season remainder of whole breast with salt and pepper and put basil-wrapped tenders lengthwise down middle of 1 breast half.
8. Fold other breast half over to enclose tenders.
9. Beginning on underside at 1 end of breast, wrap bacon slices snugly but without stretching, 1 at a time, around breast in a continuous overlapping spiral from 1 end to the other. (You will need about 4 to 5 bacon slices for each breast.).
10. Remove tenders from remaining 2 chicken breasts and stuff and wrap breasts in same manner.
11. Sprinkle crushed peppercorns evenly over bacon wrappings.
12. Heat a 9- to 10-inch cast-iron skillet over moderately high heat until hot.
13. Sliding a metal spatula under wrapped chicken breasts to keep bacon intact, transfer 2 breasts, undersides down, to skillet.
14. Cook chicken, turning it only after bacon on underside is golden, until bacon is golden and crisp on all sides, about 4 minutes total.
15. Transfer chicken as browned to a plate and cook remaining breasts in same manner.
16. Pour off fat from skillet and return all 3 chicken breasts to skillet.
17. Roast chicken in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until firm to the touch and just cooked through.
18. Transfer chicken with tongs to a cutting board and let stand 10 minutes before slicing.