Grilled Chicken Florentine

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:43:35 -0600

I am in love.

I totally followed the recipe I found as far as what to put in it, but I cut about an hour off the cook time by skipping a bunch of stuff like baking it and letting the chicken rest with salt and pepper on it. Bla bla bla, so instead of taking like 45 minutes to prep and an hour and a half to actually cook everything, I think it took me about 45 minutes and that’s including grilling the chicken.

It was delicious.

(Serves 6)
Ingredients
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, fillet in half
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1lb rigatoni
16oz frozen spinach, thawed
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup romano cheese, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup asiago cheese, grated

Preparation Instructions
Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides and grill until cooked through, about 5 minutes each side, set aside.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the rigatoni and cook until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking and the chicken is grilling, make the sauce.

In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour to make a roux, you want a light colored one so only cook and stir for about 3 minutes. Slowly add the cream, stirring between each addition allowing it to come smooth and thick.

Next add the milk, again slowly to allow the mixture to thicken between additions.

Add the garlic, white pepper, cayenne, and salt.

Next add the sour cream and the three cheeses. Stir until melted and smooth and creamy.

Drain the pasta once cooked through and put back into the pot, toss the spinach on top of the pasta.

Slice the chicken up into strips and place on top of the spinach, then pour the sauce over the top of everything.

Mix around until everything is well coated and serve!

You may as well go ahead and put it in a serving dish on the table because everyone is going to want seconds.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:29:01 -0700

This is one of our favorites. We originally had it from Papa John’s and of course I had to recreate it. When I made it this evening I didn’t have any bacon and I normally put bacon on it - bacon makes everything better! Right?! Well, except maybe ice cream. But the pizza was still amazing even without it.

Dough
1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a food processor or mixer with dough hook, combine flour and salt. Drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.
Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.
When you are ready to make the pizza, grab the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 small crusts or 1 large) and squeeze the dough toward the bottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin. When the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.

For the toppings and construction
1 whole Recipe For Pizza Crust
2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
½ cups Barbecue Sauce
Olive Oil, For Drizzling
Salt For Sprinkling
16 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thinly
½ whole Red Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Very Thin
4-6 pieces of bacon
Chopped Cilantro, to taste

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Salt chicken breasts on both sides, then place in an ovenproof dish. Pour BBQ sauce over the breasts and turn them over to coat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, (I like to bake it for about 25 minutes and then finish it on the grill) or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and cut into a fine dice. Set aside.
Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.
Roll/stretch out one pizza crust. Lay it on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle a little olive oil on the crust, then sprinkle on a little salt.
Sprinkle the onions all over the pizza, then the chicken and bacon, then the cheese. Drizzle all over with extra BBQ sauce.
Sprinkle again with a little salt, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle on plenty of chopped cilantro. Cut into squares and serve immediately.

If you made 2 crusts then do the same with the other crust and other ingredients, or save for another time.

Leek, Mushroom and Chicken Pizza

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:28:12 -0700

This pizza was amazing!!!! You need to make it. Seriously. I had some chicken left over from the other night when I made the Not-so-pretty Chicken Enchiladas, it was marinated in McCormick Baja Citrus Marinade and then grilled but you certainly wouldn’t need to do that.

Ingredients
1 recipe Pioneer Woman’s Pizza Dough
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Chicken, shredded
1 whole tomato, diced
Fresh Mozzarella, cut into chunks
4 small leeks or 2 large ones, sliced and thoroughly rinsed
4 large crimini mushrooms, sliced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Roll out your dough. Drizzle olive oil all over it and then spread it around with a pastry brush. Sprinkle Kosher salt all over. Toss on all the toppings so they are pretty evenly spread over the whole pizza. Grind a little pepper over the top and bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned on the edges and very tops of the cheese. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes drizzle a little more olive oil all over and then slice and serve!

Note: Bacon would be a lovely addition to this. But then again bacon is a lovely addition to most things.

Smoked Salmon Pizza

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:27:33 -0700

I think this may a be a new favorite of ours. Linus refused to eat the other pizza I made because it had tomatoes on it, but this one he gobbled down and then also had it for lunch this afternoon. I loved how the flavors blended together and really awakened the taste buds. Yummy!

Ingredients for the Crust
1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.
Spray a large mixing bowl with cooking spray and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

Ingredients for Topping the Pizza
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons dill
2 cloves garlic, minced
8oz neufchatel cheese
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
8oz smoked salmon
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed
1 cup fresh mozzarella, diced

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 450º. Roll out the pizza dough into a round disk and place on a pizza pan.In a medium mixing bowl combine olive oil, dill, garlic, neufchatel cheese, pepper and lemon juice. Mix until well combined. Spread over the top of the dough. Break the salmon up into pieces and place all over the pizza. Sprinkle the onions, capers and mozzarella all over the top and bake for about 20 minutes or until crust is cooked and browned all over. Cut and serve!

Pizza with Fontina and Prosciutto

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:26:59 -0700

We LOVE prosciutto around here so this was something I felt led to make. Make sure you drizzle extra-virgin olive oil on it after you bake it. It makes a world of difference!

Ingredients for the Crust
1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
1-½ cup Warm Water
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
⅓ cups Olive Oil

Toppings
2 cups shredded fontina cheese
2 cups diced fresh mozzarella
4oz prosciutto, pulled apart into bite size pieces
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or to taste)
kosher salt
freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese (optional)

Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.
Spray a large mixing bowl with cooking spray and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

Preheat oven to 450º. On a clean and lightly floured surface roll the dough out to fit your pizza pan. Move the dough onto the pan. Brush all over, even the very edges with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt. Then sprinkle the cheeses all over and bake for about 15 minutes or until cheeses are melted and slightly golden. Remove from oven and add the prosciutto and basil. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil and grate fresh parmesan cheese over the top and serve.

Grilled Chicken with Lemon, Basil Pasta

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:25:52 -0700

Ingredients

4 whole Grilled Chicken Breasts, Sliced
1 pound Penne Pasta, Cooked Until Al Dente
½ sticks Butter
3 whole Lemons, Juiced
¾ cups Heavy Cream
¼ cups Half-and-half
1-½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (or Romano)
Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
20 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped

Preparation Instructions
Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of hot pasta water when you drain. Set pasta aside in a colander.
In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 to 4 lemons. Whisk together. Pour in cream and half-and-heat. Whisk until hot. Dump in cheese and whisk until melted. Add salt and pepper. Check consistency, adding some of the hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed (I didn’t do this).
Pour pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle basil all over the top, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, then add sliced chicken breasts. Serve immediately!

Note: I cut this one in half and it was plenty for our family. I also half whole wheat penne and half rigatoni. That was what I had on hand, but I think this would be really good as a linguini as well.

www.thepioneerwoman.com

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:25:06 -0700

This is one of my go-to meals, I often do chicken if I don’t any shrimp. I searched long and hard over the course of many years to come up with this recipe. But it is actually one of my own concoctions.

Ingredients
3 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 pound raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 box of dried fettuccine noodles

Preparation Instructions
In a large pot boil enough salted water to cook the pasta in. Once boiling, add the noodles, stirring so they don’t stick.
Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the minced shallots and garlic and cook until soft. Then add the wine and shrimp, cook until the wine is thick and reduced by half and the shrimp is pink and firm. Remove the shrimp and add the heavy cream, cooking until thick and bubbly about 10 minutes. Return the shrimp to the pan and add the cheese, salt and pepper. If the sauce gets to thick and gloopy, add a tablespoon or two of milk to loosen it up.
Drain the noodles and toss with the sauce.
Serve hot with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Chicken Lasagna

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:24:22 -0700

I was going to follow a recipe I got from a friend for this but when it came down to actually making dinner, the computer was dead and I was feeling a bit lazy and didn’t feel like unplugging the cord and moving it and bla bla bla. So I winged the whole thing AND it actually turned out really good. I have found the key to a great lasagna is not adding a lot of the cheese mixture and adding extra sauce keeps it very moist and yummy.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cooked and finely chopped or shredded
1 box lasagna noodles
1 1/4 32oz jars of Classico Tomato and Basil spaghetti sauce (or your favorite kind)
8oz whole milk ricotta cheese
8oz shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded fresh parmesan
1 package frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
8 or so crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 egg

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 400º.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, spinach, mushrooms and egg. In a 9x13 pan, poor a little of the spaghetti sauce and spread it around so the first layer of noodles don’t stick.
Next cover as much of the bottom of the pan with the dry lasagna noodles, using your fingers drop tablespoon sized drop of the cheese mixture all over, remember you don’t want to much on there or the lasagna will be dry, you wont necessarily use all the cheese but do what looks right to you.
Then put half the chopped or shredded chicken on and then spoon the spaghetti sauce all over and spread so everything is evenly coated.
Put another layer of noodles over the top and repeat.
On the very top you’ll end with noodles, spread a bit of sauce over the top and cover with foil.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until warm and bubbly.
Remove the foil and add about another handful of either parmesan or mozzarella all over the top and bake for another 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Penne with Vodka Sauce

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:22:56 -0700

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 28oz can canned peeled and diced tomatoes
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh basil
1 pound penne pasta (I used whole wheat)
freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preparation Instructions
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt better with oil; add onion and saute for 8 minutes or until transparent. Add tomatoes and cook for 25 minutes or until almost no liquid remains in skillet; stir frequently.
Increase heat to medium-high and add cream, vodka and red pepper flakes; boil for 2 minutes or until thickened to sauce consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and put in a large serving bowl. Add basil to sauce and pour over pasta. Toss to combine, serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired.

Toasted Penne with Goat Cheese and Bread Crumbs

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:53:21 -0700

Man, I haven’t made this in a long time. I forgot how much I enjoy the flavors. Such a different combination you wouldn’t expect it to be good.

It is though.

Linus helped make it with me this time by operating the food processor to make the bread crumbs and I think he did an awesome job.
Some time ago my Dad gave me this cookbook, The Seattle Kitchen by Tom Douglass. I have made quite a few of the recipes from it and what I have made have been awesome, the french toast is to die for. I should use it more often...

Ingredients
1/2 loaf of stale french bread, cut into 2 inch (roughly) squares
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup minced parsley
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup minced shallots
4 cloves garlic
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon minced, fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
4 oz log soft goat cheese

Preparation Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400º. Place the bread cubes in a food processor and pulse until course crumbs form, set aside.
Place the penne on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Watch it carefully as once the pasta starts to turn it will burn very quickly. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil while the pasta is toasting. Once the pasta is golden, remove from the oven and pour into the boiling water, cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, in a small saute pan melt the 2 tablespoons butter and in a large saute pan melt the other 2 tablespoons of butter. In the small sauce pan, place the bread crumbs, toss until coated with the butter and toast until golden, then add the lemon zest and parsley and set aside.
In the large saute pan cook the shallots and garlic in the melted butter until soft and aromatic. Pour in the heavy cream and simmer until thick, about 15 minutes. Add the herbs the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Drain the pasta and pour into the sauce, toss to coat.
To serve, place pasta in a bowl for each person and sprinkle a little goat cheese on top and some bread crumbs.