Chicken Breasts with Fontina and prosciutto

A favorite BA recipe from March, 2011.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup coarsely grated Fontina cheese
• 1/3 cup (packed) soft garlic-herb cheese (such as Boursin)
• 1/3 cup (packed) chopped prosciutto
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 4 large boneless chicken breast halves with skin
• 2 tablespoon chilled butter, divided
• 3/4 cup low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry Marsala
  • Preheat oven to 300°F. Combine cheeses, prosciutto, and basil in small bowl. Season stuffing with freshly ground black pepper.
  • Run fingers under skin of chicken breasts to loosen. Spread stuffing under skin. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
  • Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning once, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm.
  • Add broth and Marsala to skillet; bring to boil and cook until sauce is reduced to scant 1/2 cup, scraping up browned bits, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in 1 tablespoon butter. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Place chicken on plates. Add any juices from baking sheet to sauce. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.
    

    

  Recipe by The Bon Appétit Test Kitchen

Escalloped Oysters

This was a favorite holiday dish my Mother used to make. Then, I started making it for my in laws when we would visit them at holiday time. They LOVED them! I hope you will too!
1 quart oysters ( type, not specified)
1/4 pound butter melted.
6 cups bread, cubed
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oyster juice
2 Tablespoons sherry
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Drain oysters and remove pieces of shells. Reserve the juice. Pour butter over bread cubes. Place 1/3 of bread in bottom of a buttered 3-cup casserole, then half of the oysters, a layer of bread  alternating bread, oysters ending with bread.
Mix milk, oyster juice, sherry, Worcestershire sauce and salt together. Pour over all. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or till firm and golden. Serves 8

Spring time Hats

I saw these in the store yesterday, and I wish more people wore hats....

Peruvian Steak and Roasted Sweet Potato Bowl

Ohhhh, the image looked so good!
I had to give it a try. But two thing, made me wait. And rethink. My family is not big on hot spicy meals. Darn. and second, I didn't really have the kind of bowls that make this recipe look great.
So, with the help of a manager, in one of the grocery stores I frequent, I was able to make a delicious dinner.

And here is the recipe I adapted:

Peruvian Steak and Roasted Sweet Potato Bowl serves 4

adapted from myrecipes.com

1 c cooked rice, brown or white

1/4 c Salsa Verde

1/2 c black beans ( family isn’t fond of these), or more

3 Avocados, peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 c cubed roasted sweet potato

2 # grilled, marinated flank or skirt steak

3 T roasted pumpkin seeds kernels

4 T chopped fresh cilantro

Honey- Adobo Lime Sauce:

 1 T olive oil

3 T Ancho Pepper Adobo Sauce

1 T honey

1 lime, juiced

Combine rice and salsa verde. Top with black beans, avocado, sweet potato, pumpkin seeds and cilantro in a bowl.

Slice steak and arrange in bowl.

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, Ancho sauce, honey and lime juice. Whisk together.

Drizzle over steak.

That image above, yes, it served one of my boys!

Menu for a good friend

She usually works 20 hours a day. She says she goes to bed at 3 am and is up and at her office by 7:30. She has a family and I don't know how she does it.
For her birthday one of my gifts to her was to give her 4 nights of dinners. I modeled my dinners after some of the new meal delivery programs that many of us use.
Here is an example of one menu:
Filets with Balsamic Glaze
Baked spaghetti
Minted fruit

Twice baked potatoes
Tawook chicken
Persian avocado salad

Stuffed pasta shells
Caesar
Homemade applesauce

Cilantro Lime Chicken
Rice
Zucchini Tomato Bake

Here is the recipe for the zucchini Tomato Bake:

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini, sliced

• 2 medium yellow squash, sliced

• 5 medium tomatoes, sliced

• 1/2 cup quality parmesan cheese, shredded

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• 3/4 teaspoon onion powder

• 1/2 teaspoon Italian spices

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a baking dish, arrange zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes in an alternating pattern (as seen in the photos).

3. Top with cheese and spices. Place into oven and bake for 20 minutes or until squash is soft.

Pfister White House Sandwich

I found this recipe, from Chef Maurice at the Pfister. My mother wrote down, and added it to her recipe file box, that she eventually gave to me.

It's very similar to the old Gimbels recipe except for one ingredient and a few other techniques. The sauce, in my mother's recipe, in addition to cream, calls for chicken stock. The Gimbels recipe calls for heavy cream.

Pfister White House Sandwich

4 slices bread
16 oz sliced turkey
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms, sautéed but not browned
Mornay Sauce:
1/4 c chopped onions
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups cold milk
2 cups chicken stock
salt and white pepper to taste
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Directions for making the sauce:
In a large saucepan, sauce onions in butter but do not brown.
Add flour and sit well over low heat. Do not let it brown.
Add cold milk and mix till smoother. Add brother and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then simmer 10 minutes. Add salt and white pepper to taste.
To make the sandwich:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 1 slice of toast in each of 4 buttered individual casseroles and cover with about 1/4 cup of sauce. Divide turkey and mushrooms among the four sandwiches. Top with more sauce and sprinkle with cheese and bake 8-10 minutes or till light brown. Serves 4.

Cucumber roll ups

I saw something similar on another site and I didn't want to use avocado. Instead I used edamame and these were delicious!

2 c. frozen edamame
3/4 c cilantro leaves
1/2 c Boursin
1/2 c sour cream
3 T Tahini
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Boil edamame in lightly salted water till tender. Drain Refresh under cold water and drain again. In a food processor, puree edamame with remaining spread ingredients until smooth, add ing 1 - 2 T of water if necessary to achieve a think consistency. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate till needed.

Chili cook off

This was a nice surprise yesterday ~
Entry Number 7!!!!
in 2017 -
that number is going to have to become a favorite. Move over  # 6 !

Escalloped Tomatoes

From Make it Now Bake It Later Cookbook- Barbara Goodfellow


A favorite for years. I hope you'll try it!

2 large cans tomatoes
8 whole cloves
8 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
salt
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3/4 c brown sugar
3 or 4 slices while bread pulled into dime size pieces
2 T butter
Put cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaf in cheesecloth
Cook tomatoes underlined, cheesecloth bag, and a dash of salt on stove very slowly for 30 minutes. Stir often.
Add onion, sugar, bread and butter. Place in greased baking dish.
When ready to bake, remove cheesecloth bag and contents and bake at 400 for 1 hour.

Tea Time in Chicago

This is most popular during the holidays. Stopping to have tea with a friend, children. Such a delightful moment.
Some of the best are the Palm Court in the Drake Hotel. Do you know of others? Let me know!

And the Peninsula...............

The Langham.....

The Allis.

Yikes, 3 months since I've posted. Here's why...

     A new grandchild, born in November, took us to Sonoma, Ca for our Thanksgiving.


     And then, it was full engagement, planning for the Christmas holidays. We had 4/5 of our sons along with a few spouses and we hosted our huge family Christmas party for 67 of us.

     Beginning with December 19, each day was a glorious celebration; until December 24.
The next three days were the most unhappiest days of my life, second to the sudden death of my father when I was 15 years old.
I'm thankful that I have a job to look toward each day which I looked to, joyfully, after our holiday break. I love getting up at 5:30 knowing I have a place to go each day. Each day, I get to be with 5th and 6th graders. I just love them all.
Weekends are a different story.
     I had plans to share all my table settings, menus and holiday decor with you. It was all down by December 27.
2016 my husband I also lost many friends. We, like others, were happy to get that year behind us for many reasons. However, 2017 has not been off to a good start. And January isn't over.