Rosemary Chicken in a Puff Pastry

Ended my weekend on a great note with this scrumptious dinner. I made this recipe once before, for a Christmas party and on a much grander scale. I don't recommend that! Waaaay too hard! However, it was a hit! But to make just 4 of them, dinner sized portions, not too bad.

Rosemary Chicken in a Puff Pastry

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 sprigs freshly chopped rosemary

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 sheets puff pastry

4 pieces Italian fontina cheese (2 in square and 1/2 inch thick)

6 Tbsp fig preserves

1 egg mixed with 1 Tbsp water, for egg wash

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Open puff pastry and leave out to thaw

Cut both chicken breasts in half in order to have 4 equal sized square portions

Season both sides of chicken with salt, pepper and fresh rosemary

Heat oil in nonstick pan over medium-high heat

Lightly brown the chicken on both sides, about 5 minutes total

Remove chicken from heat

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Cut each puff pastry sheet into quarters (totaling 8 squares)

Lay 4 puff pastry pieces on parchment paper, not touching one another

Put one cube of cheese on each square

Cover cheese with 1 1/2 Tbsp of fig preserves

Top each with 1 piece of chicken

Cover with another puff pastry square

**This is where it gets a tad tricky**

If you haven't worked with puff pastry before, it's not easy. It easily tears, which you want to avoid.

Pull each corner of the bottom puff pastry square up and over the top pastry square

Pinch the pastry together to form a completely sealed pocket

- any open areas will leak cheese and fig preserves during the cooking process -

Once sealed, brush with egg wash

Flip the pastry over and brush the tops with egg wash

After all 4 pastries are sealed and brushed with egg wash, put in oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden

I served mine with Italian bread slices brushed with extra virgin olive oil, fresh ground black pepper and chopped rosemary and toasted until crisp with a fresh dinner salad.

**The basis of this recipe came from Rachel Ray on the Food Network.

The mild creaminess of the fontina, freshness of the rosemary, sweetness of the figs and warm flakiness of the crust - what a combination of delicious flavors!

Fresh Summer Pasta

A patient that comes into my office had this great cooking magazine a few months back and showed me a recipe that she was going to make, because she knows how much I love to cook. She raved about this magazine and so I immediately ordered my own subscription because it looked so great! It has pictures for every recipe, step-by-step directions and the recipes look so good! It is called Cuisine at Home. I highly recommend it! In the most recent issue, there is a recipe for Margherita Pasta with Grilled Chicken. I made it for the family this week and it turned out phenomenal!

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 8 oz dry spaghetti
• 12 oz halved grape tomatoes
• 8 oz (2 cups) diced fresh buffalo mozzarella
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for chicken
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
• salt, pepper, dried oregano and red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the spaghetti.
3. Cook spaghetti according to package, drain and set aside.
4. Half the grape tomatoes and dice mozzarella into cubes - combine and set aside in bowl.
5. Coat chicken with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes on both sides.
6. Grill chicken, covered, until cooked through (about 4 minutes per side).
7. Remove chicken from grill and tent with foil, resting 3-4 minutes. Slice chicken into strips.
8. Heat 1/4 cup oil in skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic until fragrant (about 1 minute). DO NOT overcook garlic as it will become bitter.
9. Toss tomato and cheese mixture with garlic-infused oil into pot with pasta. Stir in basil. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
10. To serve, spoon pasta on each of 4 plates and cover with sliced chicken and toasted pine nuts.

**to toast pine nuts, heat dry pan on stove to medium-high heat. Add nuts, stirring constantly until toasted.

Serve over pasta or Serve along side pasta

Heading South from my last recipes origin for a Taste of Thailand

Went to an AMAZING Thai food restaurant a couple of weeks ago with my husband and ordered their Panang Curry with chicken. It was rediculously delicious! Ever since, I have been craving those flavors. I decided to take a chance and try to make it myself last night. With the help of the internet and other home cooks suggestions, I came up with a concoction of ingredients to make this wonderful dish for my family. I'm calling it:

Coconut Chicken Curry with Toasted Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp canola oil
  
• 1 3/4 lb of boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces


• Salt and pepper


• 3/4 red and 3/4 orange bell pepper, cut into strips
  

For Sauce:

• 2 cups coconut milk


• 3/4 cup chicken broth


• 2+ Tbsp red curry paste


• 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter


• 2 Tbsp brown sugar


• 1 lime, juiced


• Cilantro sprigs, for garnishing


• 2-3 green onions, white and green parts, for garnishing


• 1 tsp sesame oil (I actually forgot to put this in mine)


• Coconut Rice, recipe follows

Coconut Rice:

• 1 cup light coconut milk (recommended: A Taste of Thai)


• 1 1/3 cup chicken broth


• 1/2 lime, juiced


• 2 cups white rice (not minute rice!)


• 1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted

Directions:

Start by making the rice because this will take some time to cook. Add coconut milk, chicken broth and lime juice to pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add rice and stir. Turn heat to low and simmer covered 20-25 minutes (until rice is cooked). Fluff rice with fork and stir in toasted coconut (immediately before serving).

*Note: To toast coconut, place in dry flying pan over medium-low heat stirring occassionally until golden brown (couple minutes).

Meanwhile, cut up chicken breasts into pieces. Season with salt and pepper.

In a large pot, start the sauce. Whisk together all ingredients adding curry paste 1 Tbsp at a time and tasting inbetween til desired spicyness (I even added some red pepper flakes as the curry paste I bought didn't have a lot of spice). Bring sauce to a boil then turn heat to medium and simmer to let sauce thicken.

Cook chicken in frying pan with oil. Dont worry about cooking it all the way through because it will cook more in the sauce and you dont want it to end up overcooked and dry.

Cut red and orange bell peppers into strips and add to sauce, cooking about 3 minutes.

Add chicken to sauce and finish cooking through while sauce thickens.

Check your rice to make sure it is cooked. When cooked, fluff and mix in toasted coconut.

Scoop rice onto plate, add chicken and cover with cilantro and green onion. Serve.

Keep in mind, this is a SAUCEY dish! :) ENJOY!

*Picture taken prior to being served over coconut rice

Noodles....Asian Style!

So as I look back at the recipes I have published for my blog, I noticed that they all have been pasta dishes, so far. Can you tell what my favorite food is to cook? Well, you now probably think that I am going to share something different with you, buuuuut....I'm not. I have yet another one for you. Although, I am taking it in a different direction....with an asian flare instead of itialian to mix it up a bit.

I welcome you to my version of Sesame Noodles with Chicken.

There are a few ingredients to make this dish but the combination of flavors is delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16oz) pkg linguine pasta

6 cloves fresh garlic (or 3 Tblp minced)

3 Tbl sugar

4 Tbl peanut oil

6 Tbl rice vinegar

5 Tbs soy sauce

2 Tbs sesame oil

3-4 Tbs chili garlic sauce

6 green onion sliced (white and green parts)

3 large chicken breasts

1 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted

2 Tbs butter

DIRECTIONS:

Cut chicken breasts into pieces and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook chicken in a couple pats of butter on stovetop in a large pot (do not overcook - you will be cooking chicken more).

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to boil.

Add pasta, cook until al dente according to cooking directions on box.

Once chicken is almost cooked through, remove pieces from pot and set aside.

In the pot that the chicken was cooking in, add sugar, peanut oil, white vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce and garlic.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.

Add chicken into sauce and cook through.

Pour linginue into pot and toss to coat.

Stir in green onions and toasted sesame seeds and serve.

ENJOY!

Kids say the funniest things...

So, I was at Kohl's yesterday with Andrew getting him some new pants for school. As we were walking out, I remembered, "Oh, I need to pick up some new underwear while I am here." They were having a sale, of course, and I had my extra 15% off coupon, so I walked over and started sorting through the underwear.

Andrew was hanging his head low, pouting, "Ahhhh, mom, do you HAVE to do this now??? Really???" I assumed it was because he was DONE with shopping for the day and wanted to leave. So I said, "Yes, we are here and I have a coupon, it'll be really fast, ok?"

He again, muttered under his breath, "Awww....man..." So I asked him, what is the big deal? I wont take long." He looked at me and said, "I really dont want to know what kind of underwear you wear!"

Gotta love those boys!

A long week comes to a close

I have to say that this has been one long week! However, the weekend did not follow suite, unfortunately. The weekend always manages to fly by in the blink of an eye, it seems. But after a wonderful weekend full of good times and great friends, I finished it off with another family approved fantastic meal!

We will call this one, Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta with Spinach and Red Bell Peppers

Of course I will share the recipe, as I hope you make it to share and enjoy with your own family as I did with mine.

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (pounded even)

1 1/2 cups flour (plus 1 tablespoon)

2 Tbsp salt

3 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 tsp italian seasoning

1lb fettuccine pasta, cooked al dente

5 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

2 heads garlic

1 red bell pepper, julienned

1/2 cup white wine

1/2lb whole leaf fresh spinach, stemmed

2 cups heavy cream

red pepper flakes

1 cup shredded parmesean cheese

Directions:

Place heads of garlic on 2 pieces of foil. Cut tops of garlic cloves off and drizzle with olive oil. Close up each clove of garlic in tinfoil, tight, and place in 350 degree oven to roast the garlic.

While garlic is roasting, pound chicken breasts so entire breast is even thickness.

In a shallow dish, put flour, salt, pepper and italian seasoning and mix well. Dredge chicken in the mixture, shaking off any excess.

Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken breasts, 2 at a time over medium-high heat, until golden brown and crisp. Add more oil for each batch, as necessary.

Place cooked chicken breasts on a baking sheet and transfer to preheated 350 degree oven. Cook for 5-10 minutes (max) or until internal temperature reaches 165 degree F.

In the meantime, prepare your pasta as directed on the box.

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a saucepan. Add minced garlic and red pepper and cook for approximately 1 minute. Stir in 1 Tbsp flour, white wine, spinach and cream and bring to a boil. Sauce is done when the spinach becomes wilted. Season with red pepper flakes for a little bite.

Remove your roasted garlic from the oven and spoon out the individual cloves and add to sauce.

Complete the sauce by stirring in the parmesean cheese and adding freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Drain pasta from pasta water and add to sauce. Combine pasta with sauce.

When chicken is done, cut each breast into slices. Place a scoop of pasta on each plate and cover with sliced chicken.

Top with freshly shaved parmesean cheese.

ENJOY!! :)

Best Dinner - and I made it!

So I have to share with you the MOST AMAZING dinner I made last night for my family! I feel a little like Julie (from Julie & Julia) right now, blogging my cooking experience, but I just cant help it, it was so delicious!

I got the main idea for the recipe online on FoodNetwork.com. It was compliments of Giada DeLaurentiis. Of course, as with all of my cooking, I NEVER follow the recipe to a T. My dad always taught me to add ingredients, delete ingredients, change quantities, whatever, to make a recipe my own. Well, with the gift of creativity (and my dads simple suggestions), this one was a winner! I would love for anyone to try it themselves and let me know what they think! :)

Lasagna Rolls:

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 4 T unsalted Butter
• 5 T all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups 1% milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• pinch of ground nutmeg

Lasagna:

• 1 (15oz) container part-skim ricotta cheese


• 1 (10oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
• 1 cup (+ 4 T) grated Parmesan
• 1 lb hot Italian sausage
• 1 lg egg, beaten to blend
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for salting cooking water
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1-2 T olive oil
• 14 uncooked lasagna noodles
• 1 jar of your favorite roasted garlic spaghetti sauce
• 8oz shredded mozzarella

Directions:

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for approx 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce. Set aside (off of heat).
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Cook the sausage in a pan on the stove.
Add a Tablespoon or 2 of oil to a pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain, but do not rinse. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.
In a separate medium bowl, mix the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, sausage, egg, salt, and pepper to blend.
Butter a 13X9X2 inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface. Spread about 3 T of ricotta mixture on one end of each noodle. Roll the noodle tightly and place 4 rolls, seam side down (without touching) atop the bechamel sauce in the dish. Repeat until all noodles and filling is gone.

Cover the rolls with spaghetti sauce.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and 4 T Parmesan over the top of the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer.

Let stand 10 minutes. Serve....and ENJOY!