Almond Stuffed Chicken with Couscous and Green Beans with Bacon and Toasted Almonds

I love to cook, but I also work full time, so a lot of week nights when I come home, I don't really feel like spending hours in the kitchen. Crazy, I know. This is the perfect weeknight meal. Easy, quick to prepare, delicious, and healthy. Well, sort of. I did saute the green beans in the bacon fat after I cooked the bacon......but you could drain the pan and just use a teaspoon or two of olive oil if you are watching your diet. This meal also uses relatively few ingredients. You might already have these in your kitchen now!

Almond Stuffed Chicken

adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 wedges of Laughing Cow Garlic and Herbs cheese
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• 1/8 cup slivered almonds
• salt and pepper
  

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the filling by combining the cheese, parsley, and almonds in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Next, prepare your chicken. If your chicken breasts are thick, you can butterfly them (cut them in half horizontally, but not all the way through) and stuff them that way. If they are thin cut like mine, you can make roll ups by spreading the filling on top of the chicken breast and fold it over. Either way, lay each chicken breast out on a cutting board.

3. Stuff the chicken by spreading it over the top of the chicken (if using thin chicken breasts) or stuffing it in the middle (if using butterflied chicken breasts). Fold the chicken over and secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer to a foil lined baking sheet. Cover the chicken with foil (to prevent the toothpicks from burning) and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the chicken is completely cooked through.


Meanwhile, prepare:

Green Beans with Bacon & Toasted Almonds

• 1 lb fresh or frozen steam in the bag green beans
• 2 slices center cut bacon
• 1/8 cup slivered almonds
  

1. Cook the green beans in the microwave according to the package directions, but make sure you cook them at the minimum time given since you will later saute them.

2. Next, cook the bacon in a large pan until crispy. Remove to a plate covered in paper towels to cool and drain. Do not drain the pan. If there is a lot of fat in your pan, remove some but leave a tablespoon or two for sauteeing the green beans.

3. Lower the heat to medium low and add the almonds, and toast them for a couple of minutes. Once they are toasted, add in the green beans and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.




As for the couscous, just use your favorite brand and prepare according to package directions. I used Marrakesh Express chicken and vegetable flavor.

Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Burgers

As you can tell, there is no photo for this recipe, unfortunately. I made these burgers yesterday as an easy dinner, and before I knew it, they were all gobbled up with no time for a photo! But let me tell you, this recipe from Ellie Krieger is a keeper...I just HAD to post about them, even sans photo! Since they're made with ground turkey, they're even good for you, and since they're so delicious, moist, and succulent, you wouldn't even know. Even if you don't like peppers (I'm not a huge fan), I am sure you'll still love these. I enjoyed mine with just a few spinach leaves and a little ketchup, but any way you dress them up, these burgers are simply delicious! They make a perfect lunch. I think I may cook up another batch to keep in the fridge for lunches this week. Yum!!

Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Recipe Courtesy Ellie Krieger, www.foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lb. lean ground turkey (I only had a 1lb package, which worked fine. I used a little less filling and my burgers were a little smaller)
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
• 1/2 cup grated part skim mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Seperate the ground turkey into four equal portions. Then, half each of the four portions, making eight patties.
2. Top four of the patties with some of the roasted red pepper and mozzarella.
3. Place the empty patties on top of the ones stuffed with the pepper and cheese; make sure to seal the edges. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Grill (or brown in a pan) for 5 minutes per side or until done. If needed, finish in the oven for 5 minutes. The burgers may appear a little pink around the edges... this may be due to the roasted red pepper.
5. Serve on buns with the toppings of your choice.

February Daring Bakers Challenge: Chocolate Valentino Cake

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Oh, man. If you love chocolate, this is the dessert for you. It's rich, smooth, velvety, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. Simply divine.

This was the dessert I made for my hubby on Valentine's Day that I mentioned in this post. My husband even broke out into dance and song... I kid you not. And then he said it was better than the chocolate souffle at one of our favorite gourmet restaurants in town. So, it gets pretty high praises! Make sure you use really good chocolate, since it is the main ingredient. I use Guittard Semi Sweet, but use what you love.

Another part of the challenge was to make homemade ice cream to go with the cake. The ice cream is almost essential to "cut through" the richness of all that chocolate.Since the valentino is so simple, I decided to take it up a notch and tackle salted butter caramel ice cream. As you might already suspect by the lack of the ice cream's appearance in the photo, it did not turn out well. For some reason, it wouldn't set up, no matter how long I churned it. Hopefully, I'll have better luck next time.

Chocolate Valentino (aka Flourless Chocolate Cake)

Ingredients:

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

Directions:

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Tips:
It is vital to the success of the cake that you not overbeat your egg whites, and also that you do not deflate them at the folding stage. Also, you do not have to use a heart shaped pan. I think a standard 8 or 9 inch cake pan would work, or you could also use ramekins to make individual cakes.

Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Warning: If you bake these cookies for family or friends, they may beg you incessantly to make them again.

I baked these to bring for the worship team, childcare workers, and staff at my church yesterday. I got lots of compliments! These really just came out of a desire to bake and I used whatever I had in my pantry. These cookies were totally gobbled up and described as "ridiculous". Not really sure what that means, but I think that's good!

I have to give all the credit to Jenny over at Picky Palate. I used her recipe for Send Me to the Milky Way cookies as my "base", and just added whatever I had in the pantry as mix-ins. It always works out great and yields a delicious, chewy cookie. Feel free to experiment with this recipe yourself!

A few more tips... I always underbake my cookies a little bit by using the minimum time given in the recipe. They will look "doughy" in the center, but after they sit on the cooling rack for it bit, they become the perfect consistency (at least to me). Finally, my last "secret" is really good vanilla. I swear by it, and it makes the biggest difference in all of my baked goods.

Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Cookie base recipe adapted from Picky Palate

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks softened butter
• ¾ Cup sugar
• ¾ Cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 ¾ Cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt (you may want to cut this to 1/4 if your macadamias are salted like mine were)
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (I used Guittard semi sweet chips and Nestle Chocolate Chunks, since that's what I had in my pantry)
• 1 cup chopped salted Macadamia nuts
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined, scraping edges with a spatula. In a separate large bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate and nuts.

2. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until cooked to your preference. Let cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a cooling rack.

Dinner for My Valentine

This Valentine's Day, I decided to keep it simple. On Christmas Eve, I planned an elaborate dinner - which was great - it just left me in the kitchen all day and tired. So, for this holiday, I decided to keep things easy and delicious. I saw this Fettucini Alfredo recipe from the blog Life's Ambrosia (http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2009/02/fettuccine-alfredo-recipe.html) on Tastespotting, and thought it was just perfect. Easy, yet decadent. A treat for both me and my husband. Served with some crusty garlic bread and a salad, this meal truly hit the spot and left us feeling spoiled. You could add some grilled chicken or shrimp to add some protein to the meal. There was also a very decadent, rich, dessert at the end, but that will have to wait until later - it was my Daring Bakers Challenge for the month and can't be posted right now. But trust me, it will be worth the wait and a wonderful addition to your baking arsenal - my husband was singing it's praises (literally).

Fettucini Alfredo
adapted from Life's Ambrosia

Ingredients

1 pound fettuccine pasta (I used Buitoni fresh pasta)
1/4 cup butter (half a stick)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions

Bring a pot of water to boil, liberally salt the water and add pasta. Cook about 7-9 minutes (or 2 minutes if using fresh pasta). Strain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. The pasta will be slightly underdone but it will finish cooking in the sauce.
Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in a pan large enough to fit the pasta once cooked. Add the garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add the pasta to the pan. Pour cream and cheese over the pasta. Toss to completely coat the pasta. Cook 2-3 (or 1-2 if using fresh pasta) minutes. Add the parsley. Reduce heat to low, let pasta stand 5 minutes until sauce thickens. Toss just before serving.

And now, I have to do just a little bragging on my hubby. Friday evening I arrived home after a double date with some good friends of ours to this:

Beautiful red roses, a cute little teddy bear, a sweet note, and some delicious chocolates. :) I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Strawberry Banana Oatmeal

To me, there are few breakfasts more comforting than a steaming bowl of oatmeal or cream of wheat. This definitely wasn't the case when I was a kid - I thought my dad was "really mean" for forcing me to eat a bowl of oatmeal (or some other kind of hearty, hot breakfast) before school in the mornings.

Flash forward to adulthood - I would usually take packets of oatmeal to work every day for breakfast. And while there's nothing really wrong with that, I was always displeased with the fact that it was full of sugar and/or preservatives; and also that it took more than one packet to fill me up. Now, at the inspiration of other food blogs, I have started making my own oats in the morning, and have found it to be very easy, quick, convenient, and delicious! I also love that it's nourishing and good for me, and that it sticks with me until lunch. It takes about five minutes to prepare in the morning, and I pack it up in a Gladware bowl and bring it to work with me to eat.

Sarah's Strawberry Banana Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oats
  
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• pinch of salt
  
• 1/2 banana, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 tbsp honey
• 3-4 strawberries, sliced
  

Directions

You can prepare your oats one of two ways: one the stovetop, or in the microwave. I usually do mine in the microwave for quickness and so I don't have a dirty pot to clean. Just combine your oats, pinch of salt, and your liquid in a bowl, and microwave it for 2 minutes or so, or according to package directions. If your oats are too thick, stir in a little bit more milk or water. Add your vanilla, honey, and mashed banana, and stir. Top with sliced strawberries. Enjoy!

Tips

Make sure to follow the package directions for your liquid-to-oats ratio. I sometimes buy Irish oats, and they use a little bit more water than my regular rolled oats do. Feel free to use all water or all milk if you like. I use half water, half milk so that I still get the creaminess that the milk adds without all of the calories.

Ina Garten's Lemon Pound Cake

One of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen (www.smittenkitchen.com), says this cake is one of the "top 10 that all good bakers should have in their repetoire". After making this, I can definitely agree! It's perfectly moist and the flavors are wonderfully balanced - it's not too tart, yet not too sweet. The hardest thing about making this cake was zesting all the lemons, and then waiting for it to finish baking and cooling. It's even better if you let it sit overnight, so that the lemon simple syrup distributes itself thoroughly through the cake. It travels well and would make a great gift for someone. Another wonderful thing about this recipe is that it makes 2 cakes. I took one of mine to a Bible study one night, then the next I took the other to a friends house for dinner. I served it with fresh raspberries and vanilla ice cream. If you are a veteran baker, or even if you're looking for a recipe that's great to try as a novice baker, this one is for you.

Lemon Pound Cake

Adapted from ”Barefoot Contessa Parties!” by Ina Garten

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup plus 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted.
  

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 1/2-by-4 1/4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter and 2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Mixing at medium speed, add eggs, one at a time, and lemon zest.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to butter and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Divide batter evenly between pans, smooth tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
4. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves.
5. When cakes are done, let them cool 10 minutes. Invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon lemon syrup over cakes. Let cakes cool completely.
6. For glaze, combine confectioners’ sugar and remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cakes, and allow glaze to drizzle down the sides.

Yield: 2 cakes.