Homemade Chicken Cordon Blue

Homemade Chicken Cordon Blue

Source:  

Serves:  2

2 chicken breasts

6 slices of prosciutto wrapped in mozzarella cheese

12 crackers, finely crumbled

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup flour

1 large egg

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tsp honey mustard

15 fingerling potatoes

10 button mushrooms, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tsp thyme, dried

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Salt and pepper 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine panko and cracker crumbs in a dish and toss with butter.  Arrange on a baking sheet.  Bake  3-5 minutes until slightly browned.  Be careful not to burn.  Remove and allow to cool.  Pour crumbs on a plate and set aside. Reduce oven temp to 400 degrees. 

Slice a pocket in each chicken breast.  The pocket should be about 3 inches wide.  With your finger rub 1 tsp of honey mustard in each pocket.  Then stuff the chicken with the prosciutto slices.  Sprinkle chicken breast with salt and pepper.  

Pour flour in a shallow dish or flat plate.  Pour egg in another dish and beat.  Dredge the stuffed chicken breast in flour.  Move to the egg mixture and coat chicken breast.  Finally, roll chicken breast in crumb mixture.  Put chicken in a baking dish with enough room to surround with potatoes and mushrooms.  Repeat with remaining chicken breast. 

In a large bowl, toss fingerling potatoes, mushrooms, salt, pepper, olive oil, and thyme.  Pour potato mixture around chicken.  Place in oven and cook at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until chicken is done.  After about 10 minutes of cooking cover with foil for remainder of cooking until about five minutes at the end which you'll use to crisp up the chicken.  Chicken should read an internal temperature of 165 degrees when done. 

Enjoy!

Miss J

Chicken Pot Pie

Everyone loves the comfort of a warm chicken pot pie.  I made this over the summer on a rainy weekend.  I absolutely LOVED it.  I soon learned Moe didn't like pot pie so I have decided that I will just invite my friends over for whenever I make it so that they can appreciate the true value of this wonderful dish. 

Chicken Pot Pie
Source:  Modified from Cooking Light, August 2012
Serves:  2

1/4 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup peas (thawed)
1/4 cup sliced leeks
1 slice of bacon
1 Idaho potato, diced in half in cubes
1 cup cubed chicken, cooked
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 package of refrigerated pie dough
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a deep pan or dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat (be careful not to burn).  Add potatoes and carrots to the pan and cook until lightly browned, approximately three minutes.  Add flour, leeks, and salt and pepper to the pan.  Add cooked chicken and mix.  Stir in chicken broth and peas and bring to a boil.  Cook for several minutes while sauce thickens.  If sauce does not reach desired consistency.  Mix in a separate bowl some water and flour together.  Add flour mixture in small increments to get desired thickness.  When ready, spoon mixture into two baking dishes.  

Top with dough and pinch edges down to seal the edges.  

Combine milk and egg whites in a bowl.  Brush mixture over dough.  Cut a small vent in the top of the dough.  Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown on top.  Remove from oven and let stand for at least 10 minutes.  Be careful when serving as baking dish will be hot.  

- Miss J

Ratings:
Miss J, 10 out of 10
Moe, 8 out of 10

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

In my attempts to eat breakfast everyday, smoothies are becoming my best friend.  I am by no means an expert on smoothie making so I basically have been taking the approach of throw anything in and push "blend".  So far so good!

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

Source: Miss J Original

Serves:  1 serving

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 banana

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

7 cubes of ice

Put everything in the blender and push "blend" :)  Serve in a chilled glass.

- Miss J

Rating:

Miss J, 9 out of 10

Moe, not rated

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Lettuce wraps are one of the easiest weekday meals for the working professional. They are quick, simple, delicious, and healthy.  I love this recipe because it blends the warm chicken filling with the crisp cool toppings.  They also make great leftovers .

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Source:  Modified from Cooking Light Magazine, August 2012

Serves:  4

1 cup chopped onion

2 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cumin

6 oz lean ground chicken

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup sliced grape tomatoes

1/2 cup diced cucumber

1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1/4 cup red pepper hummus (spicy hummus is great as well)

8 Boston lettuce leaves - removed from stock, rinsed, and dried

2 tablespoons mint leaves, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil (approximately 2 tsp)

In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat.  Add onions, garlic, cinnamon, cumin, chicken and salt and pepper to pan.  Cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is done.  Combine parsley, tomato, and cucumber in a small bowl.  Combine yogurt and hummus in a small bowl.  Fill bottom of lettuce leaf with chicken mixture, top with cucumber mixture and hummus mixture.  Sprinkle mint and pine nuts evenly on top of assembled lettuce wraps. 

Note:  The original recipe says to combine the chicken and the cucumber tomato mixtures before placing in lettuce leaf.  If you plan on eating all of the wraps in one sitting, I would recommend this approach.  However, if you plan to have left overs then keeping them separate will prevent the cucumbers and tomatoes from getting soggy when storing in the fridge. 

Enjoy!

Miss J

Ratings:
Miss J, 9 out of 10
Moe, 8 out of 10

Out with the old. In with the new.

After a busy summer and TONS of fun, I am back to the world of blogging!  Although food has been a central part of the last few months, sadly eating out has become more of the norm.  As things slow down this fall, I am making a conscious effort to get back on track.  Historically, "getting back on track" meant starting a crazy diet and depriving myself of the things I love (ice cream, pasta, potatoes).  Although this strategy is temping, I have realized with age that this is never sustainable.  It is a quick fix to what is really a lifestyle problem.  Starting today, I am focusing on breaking old habits and starting new ones.  Here is my game plan...

• Eat breakfast everyday.  I rearranged my kitchen so that my blender finally has a permanent home on the counter.  That way I can start my day off with a fruit smoothie without using the excuse that its too difficult to dig out the blender.
• Pack a lunch.   No more are the fast food or cafeteria food that I have been consuming in my stressful work days.  No matter how stressed I am.  There really isn't a good reason that I can't pack my lunch at least 3/5 work days a week.
• Cook dinner four nights per week.  I always over commit on this and then after the first week of having ten thousand pounds of left overs, I give up.  I realized if I can just target four nights then that leaves a night or two for leftovers and once a week takeout if need be (everyone needs a break). 
• Workout.  It doesn't have to be an intense one hour crazy workout.  A simple 20 minute cardio is better than nothing.
• Get up early.  I find it easy to fall into the rut when it comes to my sleep cycle.  Moe is on nights so I have been staying up late working just to crash into bed exhausted and struggle to get up with my alarm.  Since I want to make a smoothie every morning, I better get used to an earlier alarm clock to make it happen :)

Now that the plan is in place, wish me luck on the execution!

Miss J