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Friday, February 20, 2015

CHICKEN PICCATA

I just tried this recipe this past weekend and absolutely wanted to share since it's so dog gone tasty!  I had been looking for main dish recipes since I had some guests coming to town and this recipe was one of two that I was considering while they were here.

As it turned out, I chose not to make this one since it took a little bit more prep time and I wasn't sure with everything else we had going on during their visit if I would have time to pull it off.  Instead, I chose to make it for my husband and me... but gosh, my guests totally missed out!!!
As it turned out, it really didn't take all that long to put it together.  So now I know.......

INGREDIENTS:

4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied, pounded thin and then *cut in half
1 cup all purpose flour, for dredging
salt and pepper
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
¼ cup olive oil
2 lemons, 1 juiced, 1 sliced
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 bouillon cube (I used one Swanson chicken flavor boost packet instead)
2 Tbsp. capers, drained
1/3 cup fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

On a cutting board, filet each chicken breast and trim off any fat.  Place two pieces of chicken at a time between two pieces of parchment paper,.  Pound with a flat mallet, until the cutlets are about ¼ inch thick.  Set aside and repeat until all the chicken is pounded thin.   (*While the instructions/ingredients indicated to cut the butterflied breasts in half I chose to leave them as is.  If you were cooking for a larger group, I could see taking the time to make additional portions)

Season each side of the chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge each cutlet lightly on each side with flour.
Heat olive oil in a skillet.  Brown the meat for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden.  Once brown, place the pieces in a single layer cookie sheet with a rim or a glass casserole dish.  The chicken will continue to cook in the oven.

After all the chicken has been browned, turn up the heat and pour the wine into the pan and boil down for a minute so the alcohol cooks off.  Add the lemon juice, stock, bouillon, butter and then the capers.  Allow the sauce to cook for a minute or two.   At this point, the recipe indicated to pour the sauce over the chicken, place the lemon slices on top, cover with foil and place in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  I felt the sauce was too thin, so I placed  a heaping Tbsp. of cornstarch and about the same amount of cold water in a cup and stirred to make a thickening agent.  I added that to the sauce and it thickened to just the right consistency.

Before serving add fresh parsley.

Because I was making such a small batch, I actually eliminated the oven stage and did everything in the same pan; simmering the sauce and chicken on the stove top for approximately 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

GIFT TAGS

As I get more and more comfortable with my Silhouette machine, I attempt all sorts of different projects both for myself and for others.  I'll be able to share several projects that I've done for upcoming summer wedding in the months to come......

In the meantime, these cute gift tags were a prototype for a friend of mine, so I snapped some pictures along the way to share.
The first step is to work within the software to develop the design and layout......this particular project is called a print and cut since I first send it to my printer then I feed it through my silhouette to have it cut out the shapes for me.

Those who have used a silhouette recognize the look on the right which is an actual snapshot of my computer screen when working within the software.  Basically, I perfect the design and then I can easily duplicate as many as I'd like to fit on one sheet of paper with a simple click of a button.

The red line in the picture is the "cut line"....as you can see from the picture below, the blade cut around that line and left the inner decorative frame line that I added as part of the design.

Once they were cut, which is amazingly fast....... I punched holes in the tags and placed some colored baker's twine through the holes so they can be attached to a gift.

I've now made gift tags, greeting cards, vinyl wall designs, heat transfer designs, and labels for candy wrappers and jars.  I'll keep trying new things, and undoubtedly make mistakes along the way, but that's where the learning comes from.    So fun.....and the designs are endless!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

SPINACH AND SAUSAGE CRUSTLESS QUICHE

My daughter had shared a crustless quiche recipe a couple weeks back and I chose to make a few changes as I was putting it together......It turned out so yummy that I had to share!

It's also reasonably "lite".... no crust, skim milk and reduced fat sausage.
Obviously, there are all sorts of combinations for the ingredients....here's how I put it together......

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg. Jimmy Dean reduced fat breakfast sausage
½ tsp. minced garlic
½ bag fresh spinach leaves ( 10 oz. bag)
4 large eggs
1 cup skim milk
2 oz. feta cheese
¼ cup grated parmesan
½ cup shredded mozzarella
¼ tsp. rosemary 
salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown sausage in a medium size skillet; add spinach leaves and cook just enough to wilt the leaves.  

Spray a pie dish/casserole with non-stick spray.  Spread the sausage and spinach leaves evenly on the bottom of the dish.  Next add the feta.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth.  Add the milk, parmesan, rosemary and a sprinkle of pepper.    Pour this mixture over the spinach, sausage and feta.

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top.   Place the dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer to the oven.  Bake until golden brown on top and the center is solid; approximately 45 minutes.  

Enjoy!