Deglazing a pan with beer turned out, to my surprise, to be the best idea EVER. Last night I arrived home at 9pm, ridiculously heavy grocery bags in hand. I was so hungry and tired that I was tempted to pull out a Trader Joe’s frozen meal, pop it in the oven, and put my feet up. Somehow I held out and got to cooking. A little over 30 minutes later I had sautéed kale and chicken stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto on my plate with more in the fridge for future lunches. The best part? Halfway through cooking I decided to pop open a Brooklyn Brewery Lager. After cooking the chicken I realized that it would be smart to deglaze the pan before adding the kale so that the kale would be flavorful with minimal work. Without a red wine open I turned to the next best option, my recently opened lager. It did the trick!

Mozzarella & Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken with a Side of Kale (Serves 2) 

• 4 thin (<1/4″) slices of low moisture mozzarella
• 2 slices of Prosciutto
• 2 Chicken breasts, butterflied
• 4-5 cups uncooked kale, chopped
• 1 Brooklyn Brewery Lager

1. Place 2 slices of mozzarella and 1 slice of prosciutto on each chicken breast. Roll up (similar to a jelly roll) and fasten with toothpicks if necessary.
2. Heat a pan over medium heat, drizzle with olive oil, and place chicken in. Brown on all sides before covering. After ~10 minutes remove lid and continue to cook until all liquid has evaporated from the pan. Test chicken for doneness. When cooked through, remove from pan and let rest.
3. Keeping pan over the heat, add kale and then pour in 3-4 tbsp of beer. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pan, until all of the yummy goodness is mixed in. Continue to cook kale, stirring occassionally, for about 5 minutes.
4. Spoon kale onto plate, top with 1/2″ thick slices of chicken breast.
5. Eat up alongside the rest of your beer!