Country Ham & Manchego-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Howdy!

The wedding countdown is on.  Less than 2 months away, we're starting to chip at what we have left to  do bit by bit.  The past week or so, my engagement ring has been at the jeweler's in order to get the bands molded.  I almost feel naked without it!  Like men are just gawking at me like I'm a single woman.  Hehe, I'm pretty vain aren't I?

The end of this quarter of Culinary School is almost upon us.  And I'm definitely ready for the break.  The middle of the month is also my last day at my day job at the pharmacy.  I've worked there for 7 years and it'll be hard to say good-bye.  But I know I've been lifelong friends and it won't be good-bye to those people.  But it also marks the day I'll be moving on.  Really getting on.  I'll be able to work at the restaurant more, especially since I'll be switching to Day-time classes for the next quarter.  Nights and weekends were alright, but I'd be there double the time.  Day-time classes allow me to finished faster (and cook more!) - as well as being able to work at the restaurant more often. 

But all in all, everything is great - except for the fact I've cut myself twice in the past two weeks.  Once on my pinky (sliced the sucker right open) while cleaning my knife - and the second time was just this past Sunday at work - with a bread knife.  Not pretty.  And by the time I went to the Immediate Care Center (my stubborn ass went the next day instead of right after work), it was too late to get stitched up.  So I'll just have to suffer with the battle wounds for now.

Anyway, this is an easy weeknight dinner that's tasty and quick!  Let's get at it!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 pieces of country ham
2 slices of manchego cheese (or cheese of your choice)
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or olive oil)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Wrap your chicken breasts loosely in plastic wrap.  You want it loose enough that they'll be able to comfortably expand, but not too loose that they're "expand" in little pieces all over your kitchen when you smack the crap out of them.

Take a meat mallet or bottom side of a pan and get to smacking.  Flatten the breasts to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness.

Remove plastic wrap from chicken breasts.

Place a piece of country ham on chicken breast.

Place a piece of manchego cheese on top of country ham.

Using butcher's twine or toothpicks (these are more ideal), wrap the chicken breast around the ham and cheese.  If I had toothpicks handy, I would have used those, but the twine sufficed.

Place the flour in a shallow dish.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess flour.

Heat the oil in an oven-proof skillet under medium high heat.  Place the chicken in the pan, seam-side up.  Cook chicken until you get a nice golden crust, about 3-4 minutes.  Flip chicken over and cook for an additional minute.

Transfer chicken to the oven to finish, about 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F.

Serve chicken with barbecue sauce (or sauce of your choice) and side of your choice.  We paired this with macaroni and cheese for a nice comforting meal!

Tempeh Stir Fry

I'm happy to say that this Tuesday morning started off a lot better than yesterday's dog fiasco.  The only thing wrong with today (so far) is that Andy happened to take my keys with him to work!  But I didn't have to work today, so it wasn't like I needed them for anything.  And it gives us an excuse to have lunch together so he can give me my keys back.  So win-win if you ask me =)

And boy is it a hot one!  Almost as hot as yesterday's heat index of 114 F!  Seriously?  114!  And as of right now, it's a heat index of 111 F.  Will. NOT. Be. Running. Outside. Today.  As much as I hate running on the treadmill, my butt is not going to be found passed out on the sidewalk (which I know it will be if I attempt to run outside!).

Anyway, we've been trying to eat a little bit healthier around these parts, but still wanting to get our protein in.  Tofu really isn't an option right now for us, I'm still quite unsure about it - I know, I know - it takes on the flavor you put it in and all that jazz, and eventually I'll get over this hump, but right now, we're both on the fence about tofu. 

I've been hearing a lot of good things about tempeh - which can best be described as a soybean cake, so I figured we could safely give that a try!  Whole Foods had a couple different varieties, so we opted for 2 packs of Vegetable Blend Tempeh.  Andy was still a little leary about it, but I told him to trust me on this one!

Ingredients:

Adapted from Post Punk Kitchen's recipe

1 cup chopped collard greens
1 cup chopped kale
2 8 oz. packages Vegetable Medley Tempeh
2 tablespoons soy sauce
juice from 1 lemon
1 cup water
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 shallot, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
small handful of cilantro, minced
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
3 Thai chiles, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
2 golden beets, peeled and cubed
2 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
Barbecue Sauce, optional

Preheat oven to 400F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread beets and potatoes on sheet in a single layer.  Season beets and potatoes with salt and pepper.  Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bake for about 25 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown. 

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add collard greens and kale.  Simmer for about 8-10 minutes.  Drain greens and set aside.

Crumble up the tempeh into 1/2 inch pieces and place in a large skillet under medium high heat.  Add 1 cup of water, soy sauce, and lemon juice.  Cover and bring mixture to a boil.  Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid is gone.

Lower the heat and push tempeh to one side of the skillet.  Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil on the bare side of the skillet and add shallots, chiles, and garlic.  Sauce for about 1 minute, or until fragrant.  Mix garlic and shallots in with the tempeh and saute for about 4-5 minutes.

Stir in cilantro, fennel seed, and greens.  Cook for 10 more minutes before mixing in beets and potatoes.  Cook until heated through, about 2-3 minutes and serve!  Top with your favorite barbecue sauce, if desired.

This meal exceeded every expectation in my book.  The only thing Andy thought was somewhat off about it was the beets, but he's not as big of a fan of beets as I am, so that's completely understandable.  But he actually liked the tempeh!  So that's a win in my book.

This definitely won't be the last time I ever try tempeh, it's my vegetarian protein of choice as of right now =)

Have you guys tried tempeh?  What's your favorite way to have it?


See you guys tomorrow!

Chicken w/ Asian BBQ Sauce

Happy New Year everyone! 2010 will be big for me, hopefully. A few resolutions:

- be a nicer person. I'm somewhat known as a brash and straight forward person. I don't normally take "feelings" into consideration. I know this is sometime a bad and a good thing, but I'm working towards improving on just being "nicer" and more approachable.

- cook a 5 course dinner for friends. I've wanted to do this for a long time, and I think I've got enough solid dishes that I can actually pull this through. Look for this when it starts to get warmer!

- get a new car. This I'm in the process of doing right now. It's just so hard finding something to stick with and in my price range.

- expand my cookbook collection. Right now I've got about 5 or 6 solid cook books. I want more. And I plan on getting more vintage cookbooks and anything I can get my hands on.

- get accepted to pharmacy school. With my application in since the beginning of October, I still haven't heard anything. The only correspondence I've received is that "we are reviewing other applicants/application and when we get to yours we'll get back to you." Who says that?!?! Come on people, am I in or not? Patience is a virtue, I suppose.

That's just a few things I want to do in 2010. I hope to accomplish them all, but there are only so many hours in the day.

Anyway, this Chicken would not even be close to being as good if it weren't for the bbq sauce. It's amazingly tasty!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Food & Wine's November Issue - "Chicken Drumsticks w/ Asian Barbecue Sauce"

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Chine 5-spice powder
1 whole chicken (about 3 lbs)
salt and pepper
3/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons minced ginger
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon sesame oil
sesame seeds (optional)

Preheat your oven to 425 F.

Mix the vegetable oil and the 5-spice powder in a small bowl. Lather the chicken up with this stuff. Get it nice and shiny. Then season the bird with enough salt and pepper to your liking. Place the bird on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for a total of an hour, turning once in between, but just make sure it is cooked through, depending on the size of your bird.

While that's in the oven, you can prepare your sauce. In a food processor, combine the hoisin sauce, chili sauce, rice vinegar, chicken stock, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and a dash of salt and pepper. Combine until nice a smooth. You'll have small bits of ginger and garlic, but that's okay. Transfer the sauce to a small saucepan and simmer until it thickens just a bit, for about 5 minutes.

Periodically through the roasting period, brush the sauce onto the chicken. Turn over chicken about halfway through, and continue to brush on sauce.

Let chicken rest for about 10-15 minutes after removing from the oven. Carve accordingly and plate. Top with toasted sesame seeds.


I really loved this dish. It makes me never want normal barbecue sauce again! There are just so many flavors singing in your mouth when you bite into this juicy chicken! I served it with a simple sweet potato and cranberry casserole which was just delicious and paired well with the chicken. Enjoy!