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. |
20 responses so far ↓
1 The Foodie Forkful // Nov 23, 2009 at 1:39 pm
I never thought about trying to make my own Boursin-esque cheese before, that’s a good idea. Sounds like a simple way to make your average chicken breast much more exciting.
2 Jessie // Nov 23, 2009 at 1:55 pm
wow that looks good! I’ve been seeing boursin cheese pop up a lot lately
3 ninni // Nov 23, 2009 at 2:04 pm
wowwwwwww big wow from me..and i was thinking that i know about food and cooking!!!
4 Lori (A Cowboy's Wife) // Nov 23, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I’ve been noticing the boursin trend too. I myself have never tried it but seeing this makes me drool! Love the idea of making the cheese as opposed to buying it!
5 Banu B Bingor // Nov 23, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Ohhhh it drives me crazy to clean n wash spinach! I’d no idea that it was such a tough vegetable before I got married :))) and worse than it Feridun LOVES spinach!
But I like the idea about chicken with cheese…
Worths trying…
I’ll try this (with a different cheese) when we’re back from Cappadocia.
Thx for sharing! :p~
6 janis // Nov 23, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I think I am going to try this with Chevre instead of cream cheese. It looks great and made me drool.
7 Vegetable Matter // Nov 23, 2009 at 3:04 pm
It looks so good, I want to try your boursin sauce on top of eggplant. What do you think?
8 Ryan Boudreaux // Nov 23, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Banu, Fresh spinach can be quite gritty, but here in the states you can buy pre-washed spinach. Maybe there is a place to by there too.
Janis, Chevre or even goat cheese would make a great substitution in place of the cream cheese for making your own Boursin style cheese.
9 eSusan // Nov 23, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Looks great, I’ll have to try this!
10 Ryan Boudreaux // Nov 23, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Vegetable Matter, Sounds like a great idea for cooked or baked eggplant to service with Boursin cheese.
11 KrisKishere // Nov 23, 2009 at 4:06 pm
That looks delicious! I’m a HUGE fan of Boursin cheese – or any cheese for that matter. I can picture the Boursin and sauteed spinach being rolled up in a chicken cutlet as well. Saving this one 🙂 Thank you!
12 tina marie // Nov 23, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I do love Boursin cheese and never thought about what a wonderful topping it would be on chicken. This is brilliant!
13 Savory Tv // Nov 23, 2009 at 11:49 pm
This looks great chef, as do the tomatoes, thank you!
14 foodlovee // Nov 24, 2009 at 7:59 am
Boursin cheese looks great.
15 penny aka jeroxie // Nov 24, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Lovely simple dish! Cheese on top. A winner for me.
16 Cheah // Nov 24, 2009 at 7:44 pm
This chicken dish must be really delicious
17 averagebetty // Nov 25, 2009 at 2:01 pm
This is my kinda meal! I wouldn’t even need to steam the spinach! Healthy and simple… will be much needed after the Tgiving holiday!
18 krissy @ the food addicts // Nov 30, 2009 at 1:54 am
mmmm the cheese looks so great melted on top of that chicken.
19 Danielle // Dec 1, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I don’t know what it is about Boursin but it can do wonders for so many things! Nice way to use it here.
20 Mike Wazowski // Feb 25, 2011 at 5:47 am
This chicken is so delicious, thanks a lot for posting this recipe, also steamed spinach is delicious i didn’t know that it can be so good.