Monday Munchies: Chicken Corden Bleu

I love food.

Correction: I love GOOD food.

Clarification: I especially love good food that can be made quickly. I will spend hours and hours in the kitchen baking/decorating, but as far as dinners go, I love good food, homemade food, made from scratch food that does not take a long time to prepare.

Kenna's favorite dish ever is chicken cordon bleu. I refuse to buy the prepackaged/frozen version, so this is my quick, easy and delicious take on it. She ges very happy whenever I make this :) And it makes me happy too because it takes about 5 minutes.


Chicken Cordon Bleu




Place chicken breast on plate. Place slice of ham on top, hanging over the side of the chicken. Add cheese (I used mozzarella for Kenna, provolone for me) on top of ham, then fold the other half of the slice of ham over. Fold/roll up the chicken breast. Secure with toothpick. Dip in egg wash then in seasoned bread crumbs. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, til chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbly.

This is also especially good with spinach in place of the ham and feta in place of the mozzarella.

Monday Munchies: Greek Yogurt

This is so easy - you have to try it!

Greek Yogurt with Pineapple (recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

Heat 2 quarts (8 cups) milk to 180 degrees (I guessed - I don't have a candy thermometer) stirring frequently. It took about 15 minutes. Cover and cool to about 116 degrees (I cooled it til I could stick my finger in it and not scream, lol).

Remove 2 cups of milk to a bowl and whisk in 4T plain yogurt. Whisk that back into the rest of the milk. Put in container and cover tightly; let sit in a warm place for 6-8 hours (I sit mine out overnight) to thicken. Once thickened, place in refrigerator for 4 hours. Remove and strain - mine sat in the fridge straining, fine cloth over a colander sitting over a large bowl - 5 hours to overnight, until desired consistency.

Add desired fruit/whatever to it - I used a few tablespoons of crushed pineapple in juice (not syrup - I have a massive sweet tooth but I don't like sugary things). The only thing I will do differently next time is to drain the pineapple a bit first, it thinned out the yogurt a bit because I didn't. It is also delicious with cut up, slightly overripe peaches, or blueberries ... or just about any other fruit. Try granola on top too!

Monday Munchies: Strawberry Lime Sorbet

No ice cream maker needed!

Strawberry Lime Sorbet in Dark Chocolate Bowls (recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen)



In a food processor, puree one 16 ounce bag of frozen strawberries (partially thawed) and 4T limeade concentrate. (Adjust the limeade to your taste - ours was TART!). Put in a container with lid and freeze for a few hours.

To make chocolate bowls, melt chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet - I would usually use dark, but because I used no sugar in the sorbet, I used semi-sweet to offset the tartness). Coat the bottom and sides of either a chocolate bowl mold or a paper cupcake liner (sprayed with cooking spray). Quick and easy way to do this is to pour melted chocolate in the molds/liners, let set for a couple of minutes on the counter, then pour out excess chocolate. Refrigerate to set.

To serve, unmold or remove paper from chocolate bowl and scoop in two scoops of sorbet.

Once the chocolate bowls were gone, I semi-defrosted the sorbet, added some semi-sweet chocolate chips, mixed and refroze.

Monday Munchies: Fluer de Sel Cupcakes

If you like dark chocolate ... caramel ... or sweet and salty combinations, make these today. Right now. Go on ... I mean it!



Chocolate cupcake recipe (cupcake and chocolate frosting recipes are from Tasty Kitchen)
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cream 2 sticks butter and 1 1/4 c sugar. Add 2 eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Dissolve 2t baking soda in 1 cup buttermilk. Alternate additions of flour (2 1/ cups) and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour.

Add 2t vanilla. Melt the 2 ounces dark chocolate, cool and stir into the batter. Before you add the chocolate, eat some of the batter - it is the best batter I have ever had. I am a huge chocoholic, but I considered stopping before adding the chocolate and just making them this way. I have made then without the chocolate several times now as well, and they are to die for!

Pour into cupcake wrappers and bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

Chocolate buttercream frosting:
Cream 1 stick butter. Add 4 cups powdered sugar, 1/4t salt, 1t vanilla, 1 cup cocoa and about 1/2 cup milk. put in pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

Caramel filling:
The original recipe I used called for a caramel sauce recipe which I made and hated and promptly threw away and made my own, lol. This is my favorite caramel recipe:

In a heavy saucepan, melt 2 sticks butter. Add 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup corn syrup, 4c + 4T dark brown sugar and mix thoroughly. Heat to boiling, then stir constantly, heating to soft ball stage. I heated this to just under so that it would not harden as much in the cupcakes.

Remove from heat and add 1T vanilla. Cool til you can handle it without getting burned, then fill a pastry bag with large tip with it.

Fill each cupcake with caramel by inserting the tip into the top of the cupcake and giving a generous squeeze. Frost cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. Garnish with a small sprinkle of sea salt on top.

Monday Munchies: Paella

Super quick paella (it took me 40 minutes from start to finish!)



Cook 2 cups of your favorite rice according to directions. I used jasmine rice. Under cook it slightly and remove from heat when done.

Heat 1/2c olive oil in large pan (I used my wok). Add two chicken breasts and sear over medium-high heat. After browned, add 1T paprika, 2t oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and continue to cook on medium heat.

In a small frying pan, cook one onion, diced, and 4-5 cloves garlic, crushed, in 2T olive oil. Remove and add to chicken. use the same pan to cook 2 thickly sliced sausages (I used chicken sausage, sun dried tomato and garlic, because it is the kids' favorite, but chorizo is good). Remove and add to chicken. In same small frying pan, cook 1/2 pound shrimp and set aside.

To chicken mixture, add 1 can whole tomatoes, a bunch of parsley (chopped) and the rice. Add shrimp. Simmer for a few minutes to let everything mix together.

You can add clams as well, which I will do next time. The kids love them - I just didn't have any on hand!

Monday Munchies: Sopapillas

I have vivid memories of long family drives on Sunday afternoons when I was a kid. At some point we would stop for sopapillas because my mom loved them. They are really easy to make at home, and are definitely better than I remember them!



Sopapillas
1 3/4 c flour
1T sugar
1t baking soda
1t salt
2t baking powder
2/3 cup milk
Cinnamon and sugar for rolling
Oil for frying


Mix all but last two ingredients and knead to form ball. Let rest 1 hour.

Roll dough and cut into strips. Cut strips into squares, cut squares into triangles. Fry in oil about 1 minute on each side; remove to paper towel covered plate. While still warm, place in a bowl of cinnamon-sugar and coat.

Monday Munchies: Strawberry Shortcake Belgian Waffles

Strawberry Shortcake on Homemade Belgian Waffles - one of the best things about summer. And the very best part? You already have tomorrow's breakfast made!



For the strawberries and cream:
Cut up quart of strawberries and put in fridge. we used freshly picked strawberries, but any will do!

Whip whipping or heavy cream in stand mixer with 1/2t vanilla.



Belgian waffles (adapted from an Emeril recipe)

Preheat waffle iron
Separate 4 eggs - whip whites to soft peaks
Mix yolks in separate bowl with 2T sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add 1/2t vanilla, 2cupca milk, 4T melted and cooled butter and mix. Add 2 cups flour and 2t baking powder, stirring til just combined. Fold into egg whites. Pour in waffle iron and cook.


Add a generous helping or strawberries and a dollop of cream right before serving.

For breakfast the next day, serve Belgian waffles with butter and syrup, or with fresh fruit. These freeze very well - we just reheat in the oven for a quick breakfast!

Monday Munchies: The Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese

It is a well known fact that I love to cook, and that everything has to be from scratch. I get teased in my family because "Bonnie churns her own butter" (it's easy! And way better than store bought butter!). But a good macaroni and cheese from scratch has eluded me for years. I have tried recipe after recipe and nothing has ever turned out the way I wanted. Last night, we had made a lasagna and I had a ton of cooked lasagna noodles left over that I had to do something with ... so I decided to just wing a broken macaroni and cheese recipe. It came out better than anything I could have imagined! This is by no means low fat - but it is GOOD!!

Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese

Heat a skillet on a medium burner. Toss in the following:
* half a stick of butter (4T)
* half block of cream cheese (4 ounces)
* 10 - 12 ounces cheese, cubed - I just used what I had in the fridge - approximately 3 ounces sheep's milk cheese, 4 ounces sharp provolone, 4 ounces sharp cheddar
* about 3/4 cup of milk (I don't measure, which makes writing out recipes a tad difficult!)
Cook until almost melted, stirring frequently. Add pepper to taste, and 1T ground mustard; mix thoroughly. Stir in your favorite cooked pasta (I broke up the lasagna noodles) and simmer, stirring frequently, until warm.

Serve with a really good loaf of bread. Next week, I will post my new favorite - tweaked - deli rye bread recipe!



Look at all that cheese!