Stuffed Baby Yukons

I have been loving cooking, and food, so much recently. This dish was part of our family Christmas tasting dinner menu that my dad and I put together. It was so fun! These are little mini versions of a twice baked potato basically. But they look really pretty and cute too, and are great for entertaining. They can even be a finger food!

Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4

Stuffed Baby Yukon Potatoes
(serves 6 sides- 2 potatoes per person)
12 baby Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2 inches across)
2 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme (dried will work too)
Kosher salt and black pepper
1.5 oz bacon (1-2 thick slices), cooked until crispy and crumbled
3 Tbs thinly sliced fresh chives
1/4-1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1/4-1/3 cup grated Parmesean cheese

Heat oven to 425 deg. Toss potatoes with olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1/2 of the thyme. Bake potatoes on baking sheet in oven about 20-25 minutes (until tender). Remove from oven and let potatoes cool.

When potatoes have cooled, slice off the top of each potato, and use a small spoon or melon baller to scoop out/hollow the inside of the potato, transferring the insides to a mixing bowl. In the bowl, mash the potato with the bacon, 1/2 of the chives, creme fraiche/sour cream, remaining thyme, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Using a small spoon and your fingers, fill the hollowed potatoes with this mixture, forming a small mound. Sprinkle with cheese.

Return potatoes to 450 deg oven and bake until the filling heats through, 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining chives and serve warm.

Oh, and yes, in case you were wondering, that is a bottle of Stags Leap, my all-time favorite Cab, and a Christmas gift from my amazing father-in-law!

Search Feature!

New and improved to the cheeseformeplease blog: a search feature. It's still a work in progress. But now, at the top of the blog is a search box, where you can type in keywords, such as "chicken", or "breakfast" and, hopefully (knock on wood), the corresponding blog post recipes should come up. I'm still working on it, but it should be up and running this week :) . YIPPEEEEE!

Chicken Saltimbocca

Oh my. I just logged onto my "blog" to see that I haven't posted anything since September. Embarrassing! It's amazing how fast life will pass you by if you let it. And we have let it. Now, this doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking. But, it does mean I haven't been cooking much new. Mostly repeat recipes and meals for this family over the last couple of months.

But ladies and gentlemen, after a brief hiatus, I am back! And ready to cook!

My family was just here from Michigan and for our "Christmas dinner", my dad and I cooked a series of small plates. This first post is a modified version of a Giada De Laurentiis recipe for Chicken Saltimbocca. It's basically thin chicken cutlets rolled up with yummy stuff and then cooked in chicken broth.

Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 4
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 4

Chicken Saltimbocca
(6 servings)
6 3-oz chicken cutlets, pounded evenly to flatten
6 super-thin sliced pieces of proscuitto
half bag or so of fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese
About 2 cups of chicken broth (low sodium if possible)
Juice from 1/2 lemon
salt/pepper
olive oil

After pounding out the chicken cutlets to flatten, place them on a workspace, season with salt and pepper, and top with a piece of the proscuitto. In a small saute pan, add 1 Tbl olive oil to pan over medium heat, and saute spinach. Then remove from heat, take spinach and arrange in even lay across each chicken piece, on top of the proscuitto. Sprinkle the Parmesean cheese over the spinach. Then, starting with the small end of the chicken, roll the chicken and toppings, and secure with a toothpick.

Heat 2 Tbl of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes each side. Add the chicken broth and the lemon juice, and then using a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the browned bits up. Bring the liquid to the boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes, turning chicken 2-3 times throughout. Transfer the chicken to a platter, and continue to simmer liquid over high heat for 2-3 more minutes. Serve without toothpicks, and drizzled with chicken broth liquid.


Oh this is so yummy. And very salty, I might add, so try and use the low-sodium broth if you can, but if not, don't worry about it.

* NOTE: I'm going to put this in another post, but save the liquid from the pan when done with this dish. Just put it in some tupperware and put in fridge.

Sweet Garlic Buns

This is definitely a random discovering, having much to do with leftovers. I'm always at a loss on what to do with the leftover Sweet Hawaiian Rolls/Buns in the package of 8, when we only use 4 or whatever. That's when I decided to try and make garlic bread with it. And, boy, am I happy I did.

Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): cheese
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 2

Sweet Garlic Buns
Sweet Hawaiian Rolls/Buns, sliced in half
Butter
Garlic Salt
Shredded cheese (mozzarella, provolone, or Monterrey jack)

In small dish or bowl, melt 1 Tbl butter for every 2 rolls/buns you are making in microwave. Put oven to broil, set bun halves face side up on baking sheet, and place under broiler. Lightly toast, about 2 minutes, or until you see them start to brown (be careful not to let burn). Take out from under broiler. With a spoon, gently drizzle melted butter over each half of bun, as evenly as possible (if have baste brush, could use this also). Then, sprinkle garlic salt over each half, and then top with thin layer of shredded cheese. Put back under broiler for 1-2 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve open faced or as "sandwich".

I can't believe I am going to say this, but be careful to not put too much cheese. I, of course, put way too much cheese, and it wasn't as good. Just a thin layer will suffice. But this was a nice easy snack to make or a good side with dinner, and it puts a sweet spin on your average garlic bread.

I Have So Much To Blog About....

I'm clearly in a slap happy mood and having fun with my play on words today: so much to blog about? not brag about. It never hurts to smother your chicken? Or anyone else for that matter. I can't help myself.

Coming up this week:
- Sweet Garlic Buns
- Spice Up Your Life, And Your Chicken
- Rice and Veggie Pilaf

I'm trying to get these posted ASAP, I promise.

It Never Hurts to Smother Your Chicken

This sounds like a self help book or something.... "Don't be afraid to smother your man" or something along those lines. This is a book I would never read for the record, but it IS ok to smother your chicken.

I get very tired of cooking chicken. I just feel like I run out of ways to do it. So I started treating chicken breasts as if they were different types of sandwiches. And I like different "toppings" on my sandwiches, so why not put these on my chicken?!

Cheesy Factory (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): really? a "sandwich" without cheese?? Get serious.
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 3
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 3

Smothered Chicken
2-4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (1 per person)
Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
Avocado
Bacon
Mango Chutney Aioli (recipe in other blog post)

Season chicken breast with salt and pepper, and cook as desired (grilled, baked, in pan, etc.). Preheat broiler. Spread thin layer of mango chutney aioli on top of chicken, then add thin slice of avocado. Top the avocado with 2 bacon slices, and sprinkle with desired amount of shredded cheese. Place smothered chicken on broiler pan, and broil about 30 seconds (enough to melt cheese). Serve hot, with side of aioli for dipping if desired.

I think the key to this recipe, is to add a thin layer of favorite condiment to the chicken before adding any veggies or bacon, cheese, etc. It keeps the chicken moist when going into the broiler, and adds a little extra flavor. You don't have to make mayo chicken, just a thin layer will do: mayo, mustard, honey, Italian dressing, etc. They will all be good.

Just picture what you like on your sandwiches, or on your salads, and use those toppings on your chicken to create a whole new taste. 

Taco Chicken? Greek Chicken? Red Wine Vinegar Chicken?

I wanted to find a new "Chicken Taco" recipe yesterday, without much luck. I just get sick of the same ol' taco and fajita way I make chicken, and wanted to try something new. I found a chicken soft taco recipe on www.allrecipes.com that sounded like an interesting mix of ingredients, but it was highly rated, so I figured I would give it a whirl.

Let me first say, this is extremely easy, and very tasty, but I can't decided whether it was best for tacos. It almost tasted like Greek food tacos or something. Either way, I served it with Cheesy Corn as a side and it was great.

Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): 2
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 2.5

Chicken for Greek or Tacos
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
Tortillas
 Olive oil

Heat 1-2 Tbl olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Saute chicken for about 20 minutes. Add vinegar, lime, sugar, salt, pepper, green onions, garlic, and oregano, and mix well. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve in tortillas with favorite taco condiments OR over salad.

I improvised on the salad thing. I was just thinking that this chicken would probably be so good over salad! Throw in some chopped tomatoes, olives, feta cheese and red onion? You have yourself a nice little Greek Salad.

Like I said, random mix of ingredients. Especially the lime? Weird. Anyway, it all came together quite nicely and tasted very good.