Chicken Cordon Bleu

This has always been one of my favorite things.  It's really easy and yet I never seem to remember to make it. 

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 slices Swiss cheese
• 4 slices cooked ham
• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 7x11 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness.
3. Sprinkle each piece of chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Place 1 cheese slice and 1 ham slice on top of each breast. Roll up each breast, and secure with a toothpick. Place in baking dish, and sprinkle chicken evenly with bread crumbs.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from oven, and place 1/2 cheese slice on top of each breast. Return to oven for 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted. Remove toothpicks, and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 419 | Total Fat: 19.4g | Cholesterol: 124mg

Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

For this dish we prefer dry fettucine noodles to freshly made because the pasta holds up better to the sauce. The instructions assume that you are using dry noodles. If you use fresh, adjust timing accordingly.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound dry fettuccine pasta
• 3-4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• Black pepper

Additional, for creamy version:

• 1/2 cup cream
• Nutmeg

Method

1 Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil and drop in your fettuccine.
2a Plain version Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over low heat. Once the butter has melted, turn the heat off.
2b Creamy version Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over low heat. Add the cream to the butter as it melts. Stir often to combine the two, do not turn off the heat, but keep the heat at its lowest setting while the pasta cooks.
3 When the fettuccine is al dente (cooked, but still a little firm) lift it out of the pot with tongs and move the pasta to the sauté pan. Do not drain the pasta. You want it wet with the cooking water. Turn on the heat under the sauté pan to medium and swirl the pasta and butter together to combine. Add half the cheese, then swirl and toss the pasta until it has incorporated into the sauce. Add the rest of the cheese and repeat.
4 Serve at once with either a little black pepper (for classic version) or nutmeg (for creamy version) ground over the pasta.
Yield: Serves 4.

Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken

This was a real simple way to use some of the lemons from out lemon tree.


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 lemons, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices

Process

Preheat the grill to 350. Plan on cooking the chicken away from the burner.

Whisk together lemon juice, oregano, garlic, 1/2 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl and add oil in a slow stream, whisking. Divide in half.

Coat the chicken breasts with 1 1/2 tablespoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper.

Place the chicken breasts on aluminum foil large enough to wrap two breasts in a closed pouch. 

Coat the chicken breasts with 1/2 of the lemon juice and oil mixture. 

Close the pounce and place on the grill away from the heat. Let cook for 20 minutes then open the ouch and place the chicken over the heat for 10 minutes to a side to get nice grill marks on the chicken.  During the last 5 minutes grill the lemon slices two to three minutes per side.

When removed from the grill dip into the other 1/2 of the lemon oil mixture. Garish chicken with lemon slices when plating.

Serve.

Sugar Cookie Jewels

One of Gavin's favorite cookies is a Sugar Cookie with M&M's on it.  Not sure if he likes the sugar cookie but he loves the challenge of eating all the M&M's stuck in the top.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon backing soda
3/4 cup M&M's
Granulated sugar

Directions 
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy;  add egg and vanilla
Combine flour and baking soda;  add to creamed mixture just until blended
Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
Sprinkle each cookie with small amount of sugar
Press 5-6 M&M's into top of cookie. Close together is OK they will spread with the cookie.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden; let col 1 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Left Bank French Onion Soup

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
4 yellow onions cut in half, then sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup sherry
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 cups chicken stock
4 cups beef stock
salt, pepper
Sliced baguettes
Emmenthal or Gruyere cheese shredded


Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Heat butter and oil in a large heavy bottomed soup pot.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally,  until caramelized.
2. Add white wine and sherry.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half.
3. Tie the thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns in a square of cheesecloth to make a sachet.  Add, along with stocks; simmer for 1 hour.  Remove sachet from soup. Season to taste.
4. Brush baguette slices with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake until crispy, 5-10 minutes.
    NOTE: on next few days when baguette becomes stale 20-30 seconds in the microwave will make it soft.
5. To serve, fill warm soup bowls with onion soup, float two or three baguette slices on top and add a generous sprinkling of cheese.  Slide under the broiler and cook until the cheese melts and caramelizes.

Recipe is from San Jose Mercury, David Bastide executive chef, Left Bank Brasserie, San Jose.  

Pork Chops in Dijon Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 center-cut rib or loin pork chops, boneless or bone-in (whatever you prefer), about 1 1/4 inch thick
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots or green onions
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup chicken stock*
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional)

*If cooking gluten-free, use homemade chicken stock or gluten-free packaged stock.

METHOD

1 Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over them. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in the butter. As soon as the butter has melted, add the pork chops to the pan and sear them, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat slightly if the chops brown too quickly.

2 Remove the pork chops from the pan and pour off most of the fat. Add the green onions or shallots and cook them on med high heat until softened, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the wine and bring to a boil, deglazing the pan by scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the stock and return chops to the pan. Bring sauce to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and cook until chops are cooked through (145°F internal temp), about 10 to 15 minutes.

3 Remove the pork chops to a warm platter; cover with foil to keep warm. Add the remaining half cup of wine. Increase the heat to high to boil the pan juices. Reduce the juices by half, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and boil 3 minutes more, until sauce reduces and thickens, and scraping the pan with a wooden spoon leaves a trail. Remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard and parsley. If you want, add more mustard to taste. Place chops on a bed of sauce and serve.

Macadamia Nut Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

This is a wonderful recipe that I dressed up with a product I found on Maui. Hershey's Kisses with Macadamia nuts.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate
1 Hershey's Kiss for each cookie.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Makes 48 cookies.