Sunday, September 26, 2010

Chicken Stuffed with Golden Onions and Fontina Cheese


This is another dish I made several weeks ago but am just now getting around to blogging. I do remember that it was delicious! I have a new love for Fontina cheese after eating this chicken. It is creamy, light, and slightly nutty, and worked well for stuffing chicken. A few nights later I used it to make a cream sauce for pasta - sweet, creamy, and smooth, not too salty.

I found
this recipe on the Eating Well web site, and of course made a few changes. My version is below.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts; cut a pocket in each
  • 2.5 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/3 c shredded Fontina cheese
  • 1 small shallot, chopped
  • 1/4 c dry white wine
  • 1 c low-sodium chicken broth mixed with 1 tbsp flour or cornstarch
  • salt and pepper
  • Flour, egg, breadcrumbs (the original recipe did not call for breading the chicken, but I was in the mood for breaded chicken. The recipe would work either way.)

Directions

  • Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and season with half of the thyme. Cook slowly until caramelized, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, mix with the Fontina cheese, and set aside.
  • Stuff each chicken breast with half of the onion/cheese mixture. If you are breading the chicken, season it with salt and pepper, dip in flour, egg, then breadcrumbs. If you aren't breading it, just season with salt and pepper.
  • Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the pan used to cook the onions. Add the chicken and cook over medium high heat until done, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a dish and keep warm.
  • Add 0.5 tbsp oil to the pan; add shallots and cook 2 minutes.
  • Add wine and remaining thyme to the pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
  • Add broth/flour mixture (make sure it is thoroughly whisked and smooth first). Let reduce 2-3 minutes. Serve sauce over the chicken.


I really enjoyed this chicken dish. The Fontina cheese worked well with the caramelized onions, and the thyme in the sauce brought the right aroma to the dish. Jon suggested adding some bacon next time... we all know bacon makes everything better! I agree that it would work well with this chicken.




Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Grilled Cauliflower


Nothing says summer like grilled veggies! And this summer we experimenting with grilling everything - it made life easy and we discovered that pretty much any veggies can be grilled. Well, except radishes... I read about grilled radishes in a magazine several months ago so I wanted to give it a shot. Big fail!

Cauliflower was one veggie that we loved on the grill. I made a foil packet, tossed the cauliflower with olive oil, salt, and pepper and tossed it on the grill for about 8 minutes. It was tender, sweet, and slightly caramelized - just delicious!

Lemon-Honey Chicken

Is anybody out there? I know it's been a while, but I hope you are sticking with me! I promise there will be a lot of yummy things coming out of my kitchen again soon.

I can't believe our baby girl is 10 weeks old already - time is flying and life is crazy, but wonderful. Believe it or not, Jon and I have done a lot of cooking since becoming a family of three. Thank goodness for the grill - Jon has been marinating and grilling like crazy, and our meals have mostly consisted of grilled meats, grilled veggies, and easy sides, like baked potatoes, orzo, pasta, rice, or noodles. I have also been cooking meals that we love from my blog, so I haven't had anything new to write about here.

The biggest change in our kitchen is that we usually have to eat one at a time, or cut our food quickly so we can hold our baby girl. Why is it that she can be sound asleep, but as soon as she hears our plates hit the table, she's awake and screaming? And it doesn't matter if we eat at 6, 7, or 8, she knows when it is dinner time.

Ok, back to the food. I did make a few new meals over the summer, one of them being this Lemon-Honey Chicken. Actually, I made it a month ago, but am just now getting around to posting! I bookmarked the recipe a while back when I saw it
here on the blog Closet Cooking. I made a few changes, so my version is below.

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • Salt and pepper
  • Flour for dredging
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp ginger, grated
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest
  • 2 tbsp honey (I used 1 tbsp)
  • Added: 2 small cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 c chicken stock (I used about 3/4 c)

Directions

  • Season chicken with salt and pepper, coat with flour, shaking off excess
  • Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan over high heat
  • Add the chicken and cook for 2 min per side, lower heat, and cook another few minutes per side until cooked through. Transfer chicken to a dish and keep warm.
  • Add 1 tbsp oil to the pan over medium high heat
  • Add ginger and garlic; saute until fragrant
  • Add the lemon zest, juice, honey, and stock. Bring to a simmer, reduce to thicken.
  • Serve sauce over the chicken (I made this a month ago so I can't remember exactly, but I am pretty sure I returned the chicken to the pan for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking).

This dish was very fragrant, actually a bit too much for Jon's tastes (too much ginger and still too sweet, even with just 1 tbsp of the honey). I agree with him on the ginger, so next time I'll use less, but I did like the sweetness from the honey mixed with the brightness from the lemon.