FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER -- chicken spedini

   Our French boy has left.  He's gone back to Marseille.  The last several posts were all foods we ate while he was visiting.  He loves "meat".  I was usually baking a dessert each day (French, of course.  So much for an American dining experience) and I incorporated much more "meat" into our diets than we normally eat.  I have been making this skewered chicken frequently over the summer.  I discovered it in the meat case at our local Whole Foods store and decided to create my own.  I saw it as another way to use my bounty of fresh basil.  The name it goes by at Whole Foods is Chicken Spedini.  I made searches on the web for this and the recipes varied greatly.  My version is similar to what Whole Foods is selling.
   The first thing you will need to do is make Basil Oil.  Combine 1/3 cup fresh basil, 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 1 to 2 cloves of minced garlic (it all depends on how much you love garlic) in the bowl of a food processor; purée until smooth and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Using one large, boneless, skinless chicken breast halve per person, cut each breast into large cubes.  Drop these into a bowl or zip-lock bag and drizzle enough of the basil oil over the chicken to coat.  I have used the chicken immediately at this point, but if you can marinate it, refrigerated, for several hours, so much the better.  Soak 10-inch wooden skewers in a pan of water before threading the chicken onto the skewer (this step prevents the wood skewer from catching on fire).  Wrap each chicken cube in a piece of pancetta (Italian bacon) and tuck a small basil leaf inbetween the two before sliding onto the skewer.  I use 5 pieces of chicken per skewer.  Grill over a low flame. 
   And I forgot to mention... everyone who has eaten this, loves it!