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

Thursday's Thought

Spring is made of solid, fourteen-karat gratitude, the reward for the long wait. Barbara Kingsolver

Today I found a large bag of chicken bones in the freezer. Time to Stock up!





Yesterday my PT was telling me the awful chicken soup one of her relatives makes. I guessed the problem right away. For one, she doesn't use salt! And secondly, she doesn't know how to make it clear. Chicken bones or any kind of bones used for making stock, need to go into a pot of cold water. I usually start heating up the pot at this point. Then you add the mire poix- a combo of onions, celery and leaves, and a carrot or two, sliced. You also add a garni bag ( I just add it to the the pot and skip the cheese cloth) or a few peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a few sprigs of thyme. I also float a few stems ( no leaves) of parsley.
Then you let it simmer away for about 4 hours. Cool it in a cold water bath and strain it. then you can heat it up again, and float some more parsley stems on top to help clarify the broth.

Island Parties......

......are springing up everywhere! Our hot humid weather is making everyone think about having a party. Especially before the end of the summer. In the Midwest, our summer is so short and this year it's almost been too hot to do much of anything outside. In fact, if it's not too hot, there's been too much rain. But most of us are like, what the heck.....
My next party, which will have a theme of 'Your T- shirt says what? and Flip flops" will have Jimmy Buffet and Bob Marley in the background to loosen things up.
Among the items on the menu will be:coconut chicken w/ orange dipping sauce
tequila lime shrimp













mini salmon burgers







tomato basil bruschetta


goat cheese cheesecake bites


gazpacho shots

Ginger Oil/open the fridge and what do you see? Check out:Greg Laswell?

GINGER OIL?So, I like using up what I have in the fridge and last night I thought, I love ginger. I don't go through it as much as I'd like. I actually added it to an egg salad I made yesterday- not a good idea. So, I thought, I'd make some ginger oil! While it was heating up in the pot with the canola oil, I searched the net for recipes using ginger oil. I don't think such a thing as ginger oil works. I did find a recipe for ginger oil- but everything related to ginger oil on the net has to do with aromatherapy. Well, I made my own ginger oil and it's ready. Today is Ash Wednesday. Maybe a dab on some fish might be good?
UPDATE
almost old avocado, red, yellow, orange peppers, sour cream, shredded mozzarella and in the cupboard I see Taco seasoning, chili powder and a can of diced tomatoes. Doing the ATkins thing, this was fairly close to what I should be eating. For my husband, I found a few potatoes and boiled them then added roasted garlic and voila! But I really wish someone else would cook for me and not a restaurant. I think I'm beginning to appreciate many creature comforts and for some reason, I can't let go of 'stuff'. My best advice to myself is: don't let go of anything just yet. Timing is not right. Do you read your horriscope? That helps. But, I'm not in a mood to read that anymore.
I don't have the guts to try the ginger oil....

Last night one of my BF's Cheryl and I went to 'SPACE' in Evanston. Saw this guy perform. Are you familiar with his name? Greg Laswell. He had many onscreen and off screen credentials. I would like one of his CDs. Nice.

I don't think I shall watch Tiger Woods tomorrow- let the networks make their 'in depth' analysis for me. Given parameters of 'his speech', it sounds boring. Or, I've been living too long thru too many of 'these speeches' and I know what will be said.