Fig & Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken with Balsamic Glaze

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balsamic glaze, balsamic vinegar, chicken, dinner, figs, food, foodie, gorgonzola, gourmet, honey, postaday2011, recipe, stuffed chicken, supper

The other day I saw figs at the grocery store and blinked twice when I noticed they were actually on sale. I picked up a few and that night I had dreamed… Yes, I have dreams about food, discovering new food items, making food, eating food… I love food, my dreams are evidence. When I woke up, I knew what would be on the menu that night.

Fig & Gorgonzola Stuffed Chicken with Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, extra virgin olive oil, 1 c. crumbled gorgonzola cheese, 8 figs, 1/2 c. balsamic vinegar, 1/2 c. honey

Directions:
Preheat over to 350°F. Add a light coat of cooking spray to frying pan, turn heat to medium. Split chicken breast down the middle to create pocket, quickly add chicken, pocket side down, to hot pan and brown. Remove chicken and stuff with 2 sliced figs and about 1/4 c. gorgonzola, use a toothpick to close and place in baking pan. Repeat with remaining chicken. Add vinegar to frying pan and deglaze, dissolve honey into sauce. Pour 1/2 sauce over chicken and reserve remaining sauce. Bake chicken for about 30 minutes, basting occasionally. Remove chicken from oven, discard toothpicks. Plate chicken and drizzle with remaining sauce.

What will be on your dinner plate tonight?

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Shrimp & Corn Chowder

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chowder, corn, dinner, easy dinner, easy meal, food, foodie, lunch, one pot meal, one pot recipe, postaday2011, quick dinner, quick meal, recipe, rivels, seafood, shrimp, soup, supper, sweet corn

Every restaurant has a different variation of this recipe, some appease my palate more than others. Hubster doesn’t like  seafood or soup and he’s avoiding creamy foods now, so this was the perfect recipe for me to indulge myself. Afterall, I had some leftover shrimp from New Year’s Eve and some leftover champagne (which I used in place of the white wine). So New Year’s Day, I whipped up a batch, here’s my version of Shrimp & Corn Chowder.

Shrimp & Corn Chowder

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. shrimp, 2 Tbs. butter, 1 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning, 1/4 tsp. celery seed, 1 chopped red bell pepper, 10 oz. sweet corn kernels, 4 c. soup stock, 1 c. white wine, 2 c. heavy cream, 1 tsp. fresh chopped parsley, rivels, 1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Directions:
Melt butter in soup pot over medium heat. Saute shrimp and add Old Bay, cook until done. Remove shrimp from pot and add chopped peppers, sauté until softened. Add white wine and simmer. Add stock and corn, bring to a boil. Return shrimp to pot (you can leave them whole, but I prefer them chopped). Add cream and stir throughly. Drop in rivels, boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Mix 2 Tbsp. of the broth with 1 Tbsp. of cornstarch and then return mixture to soup. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened.

What warms you up on a cold winter night?

Roast Chicken Dinner

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carb free. diet, cauliflower, cauliflower mash, dinner, food, foodie, low carb, mashed cauliflower, recipe, roast chicken, roast zucchini, roasted vegetables, roasting, side dish, supper, vegetable, zucchini

Last night’s dinner was simple, roast chicken, mashed cauliflower and roast zucchini. Chicken and zucchini are often served in our household, however, I haven’t made mashed cauliflower in a while (I’ve been making my MIL Cauliflower Casserole ), then I saw this post and started craving my creamy mashed cauliflower.

 

Roast Chicken with Roast Zucchini Spears & Mashed Cauliflower

 

Roast Chicken Ingredients:
1 roasting chicken, 2 c. apple juice, 1/8 c. dark brown sugar, 1 Tbsp. chili powder, 1 Tbsp. paprika, 1/2. Tbsp. ground cumin, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, fresh crackled black pepper, fresh ground sea salt.

Roast Chicken Directions:
Preheat oven 325ºF. Remove gizzards and rinse chicken. Place chicken on rack in roasting pan and pour apple juice into pan. Mix together remaining ingredients to create the rub mixture. Rub some of the seasoning under the chicken’s skin. Press skin back into place and rub seasoning all over the outside of the chicken. Bake (uncovered) for about 1 hour or until meat thermometer reaches appropriate temperature, juices should run clear when stuck with a knife. Baste occasionally. Remove chicken from oven and cover. Let chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Roast Zucchini Spears Ingredients:
3 zucchini, extra virgin olive oil,  fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Roast Zucchini Spears Directions:
Cut zucchini into spears and toss with olive oil. Spread out on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake at 425ºF for about 15 minutes (depends on how thick your spears are). Serve hot.

Mashed Cauliflower Ingredient:
1 head of cauliflower, 1 c. sour cream, 2 Tbsp. dried dill weed

Mashed Cauliflower Directions:
Cut cauliflower into small pieces. Steam until soggy. Place cauliflower and remaining ingredients into a food processor and blend. You can also mash the cauliflower by hand, but the food processor is a bit quicker. Serve hot.

Even though life is really hectic now, I feel better if I take a little time to cook. Now if only my dishes wold do themselves…

What is currently keeping you busy?

St. Patrick’s Day – Boiled Cabbage, Neeps & Tatties

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boiled cabbage, carrots, dinner, ethnic cuisine, Ethnic Food, neeps and tatties, potatoes, recipe, Scottish recipe, stemmed vegetables, supper, tradition, turnips

St. Patrick’s day is the one day when I’m continually asked if I’m Irish; acquaintances, co-workers, even strangers. This must be the one day a year everyone notices my fair skin, freckles, green eyes and the reddish tint in my hair. I smile and inform them my family is Scottish… The most common responses I get? “Same thing,” “Close enough,” or “Oh…” followed by a blank stare. So even though it’s an Irish holiday, I’m making a Scottish dinner. Afterall, same thing? Close enough? Who can tell the difference?

St. Patrick's Day

Tonight’s Dinner:
Boiled cabbage
Stemmed neeps, tatties and carrots
Baked ham (I couldn’t find a turkey ham, so I baked a regular ham for Hubster)

Ingredients:
1 head of cabbage, 6 red potatoes, 3 turnips, 4 carrots, 1 small onion, 2 Tbs. mustard seeds, butter, fresh chopped parsley, water, salt, ham

Directions:
Cut cabbage into 6 wedges, cube potatoes and turnips, slice carrots and mince onion. Bring 1 qt. of water, mustard seeds and onion to a boil. Add cabbage. Place steamer right above cabbage parsnips, potatoes and carrots. Boil and stem veggies until tender. Drain cabbage from the water. Toss neeps, tatties and carrots with a dab of butter and fresh parsley. Serve veggies with a hot baked ham (just kept it simple, rubbed it with salt and baked it).

*Try adding two slices of bacon or a small chuck of the ham to the water while boiling the cabbage. I sometimes will add a strip of turkey bacon, if there are no vegetarians partaking in the feast.

*Vegetarians should add a tsp. smoke flavoring to the water.

What’s your favorite St. Patrick’s Day tradition?