Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts and Thighs – onward MacDuff!

Tags

beets, chicken, chicken pieces, dinner, feta, feta cheese, lemon, one dish, one pan, pilaf, rice, rice pilaf, Stuffed

In my efforts to actually use the all the things I have stockpiled in my chest freezers, I’m trying to use up that feta cheese I got such a good deal on a few months ago.  Aside from it’s appearance as a dip, that feta is having a cameo in some stuffed chicken tonight.  This isn’t the most original recipe, but if it ain’t broke…

 Stuffed meat seems to be disproportionately more impressive than it is hard to make.  It takes a bit of time, but it’s not too challenging and is a great make-ahead dish for when you need a show-stopping entrée.

***And now for something completely different.***

 So, I need your help on difference of opinion that I had with my fireman.  He was helping me cook my rice pilaf, (just a simple one of sauteed onion, rice and a bay leaf) and after it had come up to a boil and been covered, I caught him opening it up and stirring it and I just freaked out in a matter entirely inappropriate for matters of rice cookery.  My reaction was more suited to a situation like finding a kid feeding your dog chocolate bars…

Now, I have a difficult history with ‘white people rice.’  Coming from an Asian household I had only learned how to do rice using a rice cooker.  When I was in culinary school, I learned that once you bring the rice up to a boil in rice pilaf you cover it and let it ride over low heat without ever touching it or opening the lid or stirring it.  Since this seemed to work for me, I have held up this method as gospel.  My fireman says his Mom taught him to stir it occaisonally.  I have no doubt that both methods will result in rice that is fully cooked, and any differences would be that of personal taste and final texture; and the rice was certainly not ruined like my reaction might have indicated.  Infact, it was equally as tasty and fluffy as it usually it.  My whole world is shattered.  What do you do in your house?

On with the show.

Feta Suffed Chicken

Served with Roasted Beets ($1) and Rice Pilaf ($.67)

Serves 4 – cost approx $1.28 per serving, including rice and beets!

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, small dice, sauteed ($.11)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 Tbs minced parsley
• 1/2 tsp dry oregano
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs ($0 if home made from stale bread)
• 1 lemon’s zest ($.15)
• 1 egg ($.28)
• 5 oz/1 small package/1 scant cup feta cheese ($.48)
• salt and black pepper to taste

• 4 chicken pieces to be stuffed – could be breasts or leg pieces that have been de-boned ($2.18)

Start off by making the filling.  When I cooked up some rice pilaf to go with dinner I just sauteed one onion and took out half for my stuffing and kept half in the pot for the rice.  If that’s not what you’ve got planned for dinner, saute up that onion half.  Then mix all the ingredients in the first set.

For stuffing chicken breasts (or pork chops or any solid piece of meat for that matter) you can just hollow out a pocket in the meat with a long, thin knife that runs the whole length of the breast.  Then pack in the stuffing through your initial incision.  I’m always amazed how much stuffing a chicken breast can hold!  And for thighs, I just remove the bone and pound out the meat a little bit so that it’s an even layer of chicken and then roll it up with a handful of filling inside and secure it with toothpicks.   I stuffed all my chicken pieces really full, but with the ammount of filling I had, I could have easily suffed twice as many chicken pieces.  But hey, go big or go home, right?

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Heat up a oven-safe pan over medium heat with some olive or vegetable oil in it.  Sear the skin side of the chicken, 3-5 minutes.  Flip over your pieces gently and then toss in the oven for 30 minutes or until completely cooked through.  (Which is 165 F for any stuffed meats, according to The Man, to make sure any salmonella that infiltrated the stuffing is fully dead)  You can toss in some small to medium diced veggies too to cook with the chicken!  I had some beets that joined the party…

Crespelle di Castagne – Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…

Tags

castagne, chestnut flour, chestnuts, crepe, crepes, crespele, Italian, ricotta, roasted chestnuts, Stuffed, Tuscan, Tuscany, vegetarian

I want to wish everyone in the greater internet area happy holidays; no matter who, what or where you are there’s some sort of solstice-y reason to celebrate, right?

My awesome Mother-in-Law got me some Italian chestnuts at a specialty food shop in her neck of the woods because she figured (quite correctly) I didn’t have any real stores around here and would like them. So, I roasted them up, threw some of them into my coffee grinder to make a bit of chestnut flour and invited my in-laws over for a chestnut-y dinner. We had chestnut crepes, both savory and sweet. I’m so happy they’re both easy going and retired so they don’t mind too much driving to see us up in the mountains.  My in-laws have been so great about including me in their family traditions and celebrations, I really like sharing some of the odd traditions that I’ve collected over the years with them.

Chestnuts are roasted and sold as street food in the cities in Italy in the fall and winter. They also grow in the woods in the hillsides in Tuscany and everyone looks forward to eating chestnuts in the fall time. I learned this recipe for chestnut crepes at my internship in Guamo. The chef got some chestnut flour for his special, fall dishes and had a fun time having me guess what it was by just taste, I had no clue!  In Tuscany they also make a strange sweet and savory, fudge-like treat with chestnut flour, orange rind and rosemary. It’s an acquired taste, I assume. Let’s just say, I vastly prefer making these chestnut crepes instead.

Basic Chestnut Crepes 

If you have a crepe recipe that you love and works great for you, just substitute 1/4 of the flour for chestnut flour, which you may be able to find in Italian specialty stores or you could just grind up your own toasted chestnuts in a spice/coffee grinder.

Serves 4 – both dinner and dessert, cost approx $2.02 for batch or crepe batter

I served this meal with a loaf of bread and it was enough for 4 people, cost approx $1.92 per serving.

Ingredients

• 60 grams chestnut flour ($1? I have no clue what this costs, sorry)
• 150 grams all purpose flour ($.25)
• 2 eggs ($.30)
• 400 ml milk ($.22)
• pinch salt

Whisk everything together until there are very few lumps, strain through a fine mesh strainer and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight.  It’s a very thin batter.  When you’re ready to make crepes, heat a small, non-stick pan over medium heat.  Grease it however you see fit and pour in a small portion of batter.  Quickly swirl the pan around to make a thin crepe.  If this is your maiden voyage on the S.S. crepe, I might suggest watching a video or two first.  It’s not hard to do but it helps to have a good idea before you set sail…

Like so: nice, thin crepes.

Cook your crepes on both sides just to that the batter is cooked, we’re not looking for a lot of browning here.  Let cool for a minute or two and move to a plate for storage.  Make about a million more crepes.

You can go right ahead and fill these little guys or they are happy to wait in the fridge, covered tightly in plastic wrap, for up to one or two days.

Savory Crepe Filling 

Makes enough for 4 servings

• 1 cup ricotta ($.50, I freeze ricotta when it goes on super sale)
• 1 egg ($.15)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup sauteed veggies – I used mushrooms, onion and arugula ($2)

• 2 cups bechamel sauce ($.50)
• 1 cup marinara or ragu ($.50)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix up all the ingredients in the first set, and get a baking pan ready, put about half of your sauces on the bottom of the pan.  Put a scoop of filling on a crepe and roll it up gently, place in the prepared pan on top of the sauces.  Fill up all the crepes you want.  Anywhere from 12-20 crepes for 4 people, depending on how full you stuff them.  Top with remaining sauces

Bake at 375F for 20 minutes or so.

Sweet Crepe Filling

Makes 4 servings

• 1 cup ricotta cheese ($.50)
• 1 orange, segmented ($.50)
• 4 Tbs honey, divided use ($.50)
• powdered sugar – for garnish

Preheat oven to 375F.  Mix ricotta, orange slices and 3 Tbs honey.  Fill your crepes and bake 5-10 minutes.  Sprinkle over some powdered sugar and drizzle on the remaining honey.  Serve immediately, yum!

 

Sausage and Lentil Stuffed Cabbage – The Lentil Adventure Gives in to Bacon…

Tags

bacon, barley, braised, cabbage, cabbage rolls, cream sauce, lentils, sausage, Stuffed

This little recipe took a couple tries to get it right, but I’m pretty pleased with the results.  I was getting tired of lentils, big surprise, but in particular I was getting tired of lentils as part of a vegetarian meal.  I wanted something that felt fancy and rich, but still helped me chip away at my massive box of lentils.  Making these stuffed cabbage rolls a second time was good for me because, on the second go-around, I figured out how to keep from dirtying every pot and pan in the house and how to simplify the sauce and the side dish for these delicious little cabbage rolls.

One thing that I really love is that this dinner, has that ‘Sunday-Supper’ feel to it in the sense that it takes a while to put together but it tastes like a million bucks and makes your whole house smell like braised wonderfulness.  It’s super-tasty but at the same time, it stretches out a mere half pound of ground sausage into a protein and veggie packed dish.  I hope you like it!

Sausage and Lentil Stuffed Cabbage – served with buttered herb noodles

Serves 4 – cost approx $1.41 per serving, including noodles

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry lentils ($.50)
• 1/2 cup pearl barley ($.15 – this is a good item to look for in the bulk aisle!)

• 1 head cabbage ($.99 I got a great deal!)

• 4 slices bacon, divided use? kinda… ($.44)
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb country sausage – this is the leftover half of my sausage roll from the pasta night! ($.99)
• 3 eggs ($.45)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, you know, the kind that comes in a green can, not the kind that comes in a big wheel… ($.50)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 cup fresh herbs or 2-3 Tbs dry – I used some fresh thyme and sage ($0 from my Daddy’s garden!)

• 2 cups stock – any type!
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 cup sour cream ($.35 – look for ‘it’s about to expire’ discounts!)

Budget an hour or so of your time to put this dish together and another hour for it to braise in the oven. This isn’t a quick week-night meal to throw together.  I would strongly advise reading this recipe all the way through.  Start by putting the lentils and barley in a small sauce pot and covering with water.  Simmer about half an hour or until the lentils are fully cooked.  I’ve noticed that they seem to cook at a similar rate…  When done, rinse in a colander and put in a large bowl that you will later assemble your filling in.

While the lentils and barley are cooking away, go ahead and prepare your cabbage.  Blanching and shocking it is absolutely necessary.  (I tried to be lazy and skip this step, it’s bad, don’t do it!)  This process makes the cabbage leaves pliable and easy to fill with stuffing and they seem to cook much better and more evenly when you stuff them and bake them.  First, get your set up going: one pot salty, boiling water, one large bowl salty, icy water and a landing place for your blanched and shocked cabbage, I used a casserole dish lined with a tea towel.  Like so.

Next, cut around the base/stem of the cabbage with a paring knife.  Gently pull apart all the leaves until you have a nice big pile of them.  Like so.

Then, start to move the cabbage leaves, 3-5 leaves at a time, through the blanching and shocking station.  First, you dunk them in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then into the ice bath for a minute or so then into the resting/draining spot.  Ta-da!

[Unnecessary, but dishes/time saving note: keep your pot of hot water on hand for cooking the noodles in later!  Also, use the casserole dish to build your stuffed cabbages in later.]

Ok, so by now we’ve got blanched and shocked cabbage leaves, just begging to be stuffed.  So let’s make some filling to oblige them.  In a large saute pan, cook up the bacon and set it aside for it’s ultimate destiny, being crumbled over the top of your finished dish.  Saute up the onion and garlic in the bacon fat for about 5 minutes and then scoop into the bowl with the lentils and barley.  Add in all the other ingredients in that large set (the eggs, ground sausage, herbs, etc…) and mix thoroughly.  In that same saute pan, cook up a little bit and taste for salt and adjust the seasonings as necessary.  Hang onto that pan for making the sauce at the end.

Now, onto assembly!  (Now is a good time to preheat your oven to 350F)

Put about half a cup of filling in each leaf and roll them up like little burritos.  It made about 16 cabbage rolls for me.

Ho-kay, now pour in 1-2 cups stock.  The level of liquid should come up about half way up the side of your beautiful little cabbage rolls.  Cover and pop into a 350F oven for 45 – 60 min of braising time.

Last step, I promise, when the cabbage rolls all cooked up, gently drain out the delicious stock into the reserved large saute pan.  Don’t worry about getting it all, just what you can without accidentally dumping the cabbage rolls onto your stove top.  Reduce by half over high heat, then turn to medium and stir in the sour cream and paprika.  Simmer to combine for 2 minutes, taste and add salt as necessary.  Pour your delicious sauce over the little cabbage bundles of joy and garnish with the reserved crumbly bacon.  Now the clouds should part and a chorus of angles should sing merrily while shining heavenly light down upon your creation.  Serve with hot buttered noodles, enjoy!

Tex-Mex Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Tags

black beans, corn, queso fresco, Stuffed, sweet potato, Tex Mex

I’m pretty sure that I saw a picture of something like this on Pinterest and that’s where the inspiration for this dish came from.  I love how the soft sweet potatoes pair with the spicy and flavorful filling.  It’s an exciting and colorful vegetarian dish that’s warm and filling too.  Also, I was quite pleased that my fireman dubbed this one ‘the best sweet potato dish he has ever had.’  I’ll take it!

*Note: I made this recipe with twice as many black beans, but it made a bit too much filling.  So I reduced the black beans in the recipe to make it a little more balanced.  Don’t be frightened if your looks a little different, it should be just as tasty, I promise!*

Tex-Mex Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4 – cost approx $1.19 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, diced ($.18)
• 1/2 bell pepper, died ($.45)
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 jalapeno, minced ($.25)
• 2 Tbs minced herbs, I used green onions, but parsley and cilantro would be nice too.  ($.25)
• 1 cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh ($.23)
• 1 cup black beans ($.25)
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 lime, zest and juice ($.20)
• 1 cup queso fresco, crumbled ($0 because I had a friend who gave up dairy and gave me a few pounds of cheese she didn’t want anymore; it pays for your friends to know you are a resourceful and thrifty cook!)
• 3 lbs sweet potatoes, baked ($2.69)

Preheat your oven to 375 F. (And make sure you bake your sweet potatoes first, it takes about an hour or so depending on their size.)

Start making the filling by heating the vegetable oil in saute pan and cooking the onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno for 5 minutes or until the veggies are soft and fully cooked.  Add all the remaining ingredients except the sweet potatoes to complete the filling.  Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Split the sweet potatoes and put them on a baking sheet then pack them full of the filling.  Bake them about 15 minutes to heat all the way through and brown up the queso fresco a bit.  Enjoy!

Bacon Stuffed Chicken Thighs – ‘Do or do not, there is no try’

Tags

bacon, chicken thighs, Stuffed

One very important thing that I learned in culinary school was just to go for it, whether ‘it’ is a strange ingredient, a new technique or an intriguing recipe.  You never know if you like something or if you can do something, unless you try!  If it wasn’t for my chefs encouraging (and sometimes haranguing me), I never would have deep fried a soft boiled egg (freakishly good), or made a three layer mousse cake or butchered a rabbit.  Being graded on dishes definitely put me in the mindset of success being the only option, and it is nice to have that confidence in the kitchen to tap into when attempting something new.  So think about all the great dishes you already make, and know that you can most certainly cook anything you put your mind to!

Master Yoda’s jedi wisdom is useful in our universe as well.

Stuffed chicken was a dish that I learned in my first few months of culinary school, that I probably wouldn’t have attempted on my own but it’s surprisingly easy and is now one of my favorite chicken dishes.  Once you learn the technique, you can flavor it any way you want, this recipe uses some Spanish flavors.  If you don’t feel like de-boning chicken you can cut a pocket into a chicken breast or flatten out a boneless chicken thigh and stuff it.

Bacon Stuffed Chicken Thighs –served with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli

Serves 3 – cost approx $.77 per serving ($1.16 per serving including side dishes)

Ingredients

• 3 chicken thighs ($1.20)
• 2 oz bacon ($.25)
• 1/2 onion, finely diced ($.05)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley ($.12)
• 2 Tbs sun dried tomatoes, minced ($.25)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 Tbs butter, room temperature – divided use
• salt and pepper – to taste
• 1 pinch smoked paprika
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine ($.20)

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Begin by preparing your chicken to accept stuffing.  If you’re using a boneless thigh, flatten it out by smashing it with a heavy pan.  If you’re using a breast, use a paring knife to cut a pocket that runs the length of the breast.  I used bone in thighs and I cut out the bone myself.  Cut around the end of one bone and carefully cut down the length of the bone, making a pocket or a little tunnel through the chicken thigh.

Start the stuffing by cutting the bacon into small pieces and rendering them in a saute pan over medium low heat.  When there’s enough bacon fat in the pan, add the onion and garlic.  Cook until the onions are translucent.  Mix the onion and bacon mixture with the parsley, bread crumbs, sun dried tomatoes and 1 tbs butter to make the stuffing. Season to taste with the salt and black pepper.

Season the inside and outside of your chicken with salt, pepper and a pinch of paprika, then stuff.  You may have to use a few toothpicks to close the chicken around the stuffing.

Heat an oven safe pan over high heat and sear the chicken thighs.   Transfer the pan to your oven and bake at 375 F for about 20 min, depending on the size of your chicken.

When the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the pan to a plate to rest while you make the pan sauce.  Deglaze the pan with the white wine and simmer to reduce for a minute or two.  Whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter and pour over the chicken pieces.  Yum!