Bacon Wapped Chicken stuffed with Blue Cheese & Pecans

The hubby and I just came back from a week long cruise and it was wonderful having your every whim catered to. I miss our dining room servers and room steward already. Oh well...vacation is over and it's back to the routine. Which means back to cooking our own meals. Trying a new recipe tonight....which I saw Rachael Ray make just before we left and made sure I book marked it. As usual, I tweaked it a bit. I removed scallions and added a tiny bit of brown sugar as it brought out the sweetness in the toasted pecans.

I think I'm on a Blue Cheese kick this week as almost everything I have made has had something with blue cheese in it. hmmm....

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Blue Cheese & Pecans

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1-2 tbsp of brown sugar
4 slices good-quality center cut bacon
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup half-and-half or cream
2 tablespoons grainy mustard

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butterfly the chicken breast pieces by cutting across the breast but not all the way through. Open the breasts up and pound lightly between parchment paper. Peel paper away and season the meat with salt and pepper.

Mix the blue cheese crumbles with the pecans and brown sugar. Cover the seasoned chicken cutlets with blue cheese mix in equal amounts. Roll the chicken, wrap each roll with bacon and secure with toothpicks. Season the outside of the rolls with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken evenly all over, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a small baking sheet, place in the oven and cook 10 minutes more.

Melt the butter in the same skillet pan the chicken was seared in over medium heat. Whisk in flour, cook 1 minute then whisk in stock. Let thicken a minute then whisk in the half-and-half and grain mustard, season with salt and pepper, reduce heat to warm.

Halve the chicken and stack to show off the center. Set chicken in gravy or pour over top. Serve with rice and greens, if desired.

Beurre Blanc Success!

This past Sunday afternoon was spent, with a good friend, enjoying a chick-flick double feature at the movies. It promised to be a fun afternoon filled with laughter and tears and oh boy, did it deliver.

The first movie on the agenda was Julie & Julia. There was no doubt that I would love this movie, being the foodie that I am. But I had no idea how much this movie would draw me in, make me laugh and inspire me. I have never heard of the Julie & Julia project, nor do I have a copy of the book or the cookbook Mastering The Art of French Cooking.

For those of you who have not seen it, the movie focuses around a young NYC woman who is a struggling writer in a dead end job. She seems to enjoy, and know, her way around the kitchen and decides to cook every recipe in the above mentioned, Julia Childs' cookbook and started a blog about it. Meanwhile, the movie flashes back to the life of Julia Childs and how she came put herself through a predominantly male cooking school, teach and then write the book. Both woman lead a very parallel life, nearly 50 years apart....and both succeeded at their dream, through food.

Well....I came home from the movies and spent the next few hours looking up Julie's blog (both her current one and the one that inspired her book turn movie. I have added Mastering The Art of French Cooking to my "must have" list of cookbooks. And, just today, the same friend who shared this experience with me gave me the book that launched the movie. I cannot wait to read it!

In the meantime, I was inspired to try to make a Beurre Blanc Sauce, which is a french sauce made with mostly butter and is excellent over seafood and vegetables. I have never done a Beurre Blanc sauce before and understood it to be quite tricky. Too much heat....or not enough stiring...and the sauce can break in an instant and leave you with a buttery mess. Some recipes call for adding cream right before the butter to help the butter "blend" better. I think that's cheating. So I searched for Julia Childs' recipe and was pretty sure I found it.

So tonight's dinner was.....Lemon Pepper Fluke with Beurre Blanc and Roasted Broccoli. The sauce was nothing short of amazing. Rich...creamy....tangy....lick-the-sauce-pan goodness!

Beurre Blanc

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp finely minced shallots
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 lb chilled butter (2 sticks) cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Put the wine, shallots and vinegar in a small heavy saucepan. Boil over high heat until reduced to nearly 3 tbsp. Reduce the heat to medium-low (I actually took it off the heat for a few minutes and let it cool a bit). Add the butter, one piece at a time, whisking constantly until it melts before adding the next. Be patient - it is worth it! Season with salt & pepper. Strain (optional....I did not) and serve immediately.

The Lemon Pepper Fluke was easy and you can use any white fish. Pat fillets dry and season with a lemon-pepper seasoning. Saute in a little butter or olive oil and drizzle sauce over the fish to serve.

I have to say - I even amazed myself with this one!! Enjoy!

White Chocolate Coconut Brownies

I was in a baking mood last night. Found this recipe online and it originally called for pecans, I used coconut instead. I think next time instead of vanilla extract....I would use coconut to enhance the coconut flavor. I think an almond extract would work well too.

The texture of these are much lighter than a traditional brownie...a little buttery and almost cake like. Very good!

White Chocolate Coconut Brownies

Ingredients
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
8 ounces white chocolate pieces
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using 2 tablespoons of the butter, grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water (double boiler), melt the remaining stick of butter with the white chocolate. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add the flour, vanilla, and salt and mix well. Fold in the pecans and the melted white chocolate.

Spread the brownie mixture in the buttered pan and sprinkle the chopped semisweet chocolate over the top. Bake until firm, for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack before cutting into squares.

Parmesan Crusted Pork

WOW.....is all I can say for this one!

Atleast, once a week I like to try brand new recipes. I picked up some pork loin cutlets that were on sale last week and I was looking for something to do with them. I stumbled upon this recipe and I can't wait to make it again. Next time, I think I would try it with tenderloin medallions, but really you can use anything from pork chops to pork loin chops to tenderloin.

This has great flavor and the lemon gives it an added zing and makes it refreshing! Oh...and did I mention it was quick? This only took me 20 mins to throw together and with a bag of steam fresh green beans (which I also like with a little lemon)....dinner was ready in no time!

Parmesan Crusted Pork

2 large eggs
1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs (I actually used Panko breadcrumbs which I seasoned myself with dried parsley, garlic powder, salt & pepper)
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
4 boneless center-cut pork loin chops, pound to about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick (As mentioned, I used pork loin cutlets)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions
Whisk the eggs in shallow dish and place the bread crumbs in another shallow dish. Place the cheese in a third. Sprinkle the pork generously with salt and pepper. Coat the pork completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the pork into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork , in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to plates, sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese and serve with lemon wedges so each person can squeeze onto pork as served.

Mom's Fish Cakes

My parents have had a boat since I was a small child and I practically grew up with a fishing pole in my hand. Unfortunately, there are some fish that we love to catch, but hate to eat. Bluefish, Striped Bass & Mackerel come to mind.

A few summers ago, my mother played around with a recipe for fish cakes as a way to use these "fishy" fishes in a way that makes them edible. She tweaked it here and there and this is the final result.....and they are YUM-O There are really no measurements, so use your best guesstimate (I'll put in parenthesis what I used). And you really can use any kind of white fish.

Mom’s Fish Cakes

1 medium onion, diced (1/2 large onion)
1 red pepper, diced (1/2 pepper)
1 or 2 stalks celery, diced (2 small stalks)
1 to 2 eggs (2 eggs)
bread crumbs (approx 1 cup)
mayonnaise (approx 3 tbsp)
dijon mustard (2 tbsp)
red hot sauce or old bay seasoning (large pinch of old bay)
fresh parsley, chopped (tbsp dried)
fresh, uncooked fish filets ( have used striped bass, fluke and tilapia), diced

Saute the onion, red pepper & celery in a little olive oil until tender. In the meantime, in a large bowl whisk the egg(s) and add the bread crumbs, mayo, mustard, red hot sauce and parsley. Add the vegetables and fish. Shape into cakes. It is best to make these either the day before or first thing in the morning that you plan to cook them. The longer they set the better they will hold together when you cook them

Brown them in a saute pan with some olive oil and then place them in a 350 oven for about 10 to 15 minutes to finish them. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

Zucchini Bread

*sigh* The smell of fresh baked zucchini bread is floating through my house and with it brings back memories from my childhood. Zucchini bread was a summer staple in my our house growing up. Dad always planted zucchini in the garden so we had more than we knew what to do with. Mom would make zucchini bread for everyone we knewa nd there was atleast a loaf or two in the house for us.

My recipe for zucchini bread is atleast 3 generations old....and probably even older....handed down from my Dad's side of the family. And although I don't grow my own zucchini, the bread tastes just as good (and is a tad nostalgic).

Zucchini Bread:

3 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
2 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Beat 3 eggs until thick and frothy, gradually add 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil & vanilla and beat well. Stir in 2 cups of zucchini, loosely packed. Add 2 cups of flour, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 2 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of baking powder. Stir until well combined. Add 1 cup of nuts (if using).

Divide batter evenly into two loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

For Christmas, one of my friends gave me a cast iron dutch oven (Thanks, Cammy!). I had never had one and wanted one for a while. I cannot say enough how much I love it and love cooking with it. I've done everything from fried chicken to an amazing apple crisp to soups and stews, etc. I've always wanted to do braised short ribs and with the weather being kinda rainy here today...it seemed like a good idea.

I used my favorite red wine: San Sebastian Vintner's Red. It is a local FL wine made from Muscadine Grapes (the only grapes native to FL). We mulled this wine around the holidays and served it warm and it is fantastic. Their Vintner's White is just as good! If you ever get to St. Augustine, I recommend a stop at their winery. You can also check out their sister winery Lakeridge Winery , which is located in Clermont, FL.

So this was my first try at making short ribs. We both really liked this recipe (and my hubby is PICKY)! I'll definitely make it again (probably once in the fall as it felt more like a cool weather dish). The sauce is a little greasy, so if you want to serve it on the table use a gravy separator to remove the grease.


Braised Beef Short Ribs

A few tablespoons of olive oil
4 pounds beef short ribs (approx 6 ribs to serve 2-4 people)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 & 1/2 cups dry red wine
2 - 2 & 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Zest of 1 orange
Salt & Pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat about 2-tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Season the short ribs well with salt and pepper. Over medium heat, brown ribs for 5-6 minutes on each side. You will need to do this in batches. Remove the browned short ribs to a plate and repeat with remaining ribs. I was able to do 2 per batch.

Once ribs are done, add onion, carrots, garlic, celery, and salt and pepper to the Dutch oven and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. (As a side note...I removed a little of the oil/fat in the pan and let it cool slightly as to not burn the veggies...the oil was really hot). Add the tomato paste and wine to the vegetables and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Return the browned short ribs and any juices that have accumulated back into the Dutch oven. Add orange zest. Cover with a heavy lid and place in the oven and braise for 3 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Once the ribs are tender, remove the ribs to a platter. Taste for seasoning. Remove bay leaf & thyme. Add salt and pepper, to taste. I made a cheesy garlic polenta and served the ribs over the polenta, garnishing with the parsley.

My dutch oven is 5qts and although it's large enough to make meals for the two of us, if you wanted to make a larger version of this you could easily do in a larger pot.

Also - I wanted to thicken the sauce a bit, so I made a slurry with corn starch and water and added it to the sauce before serving. Just put it on a warm burner and let it thicken a bit while you make your sides.