Savory Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
6 thin slices of deli ham
6 slices of cheese (swiss, provolone or pepper jack)
2 t sage
1 1/2 c fine bread crumbs (seasoned or plain)
1/2 c parmesan cheese
3 T dried parsley
4 T melted butter
Toothpicks

Place chicken breast on cutting board, cover with wax paper and pound lightly with meat mallet until breast is approximately ¼ inch thick.  (Be careful not to punch holes in the breast)

Place a strip of ham and one slice of cheese on each breast.  I used swiss cheese on 3 of the chicken breasts and pepper jack on the other 3.  Tuck in sides and roll up jelly roll style.  Secure with two or three toothpicks.

Combine bread crumbs, parmesan, sage and parsley in a medium bowl.  Dip chicken rolls in melted butter, then roll in crumb mixture until well coated.  Place in a shallow baking pan coated with nonstick spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes.  Recipe courtesy of Kristen Harris

Eggs Benedict Stacks

This easy but elegant twist on an old breakfast tradition looks and tastes gourmet.


Eggs Benedict Stacks

Ingredients:

6 large eggs, divided
2/3 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 English muffins, cut in half
Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce (see below)
8 slices Canadian bacon

Directions:

In a pie pan, whisk together 2 eggs, milk and salt with a fork. Soak English muffin halves for 1-2 minutes on each side. Heat a small frying pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray over medium-high heat. Cover and cook soaked muffin halves one at a time for about 2 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. Place cooked muffin halves on a plate and set aside. Cook the remaining eggs individually as desired. To assemble stacks, toast 2 muffin halves in toaster for 1 minute, or until lightly crisp. Place 1 muffin half on a plate and then spread with a tablespoon of Easy Blender Hollandaise Sauce. Place 2 slices Canadian bacon over the sauce. Place a cooked egg on top and then drizzle generously with more sauce. Lay remaining muffin half on top and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Easy Hollandaise Sauce:

Ingredients:

3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup butter

Directions:

In a blender, blend egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and white pepper. Melt butter in microwave until sizzling hot. Turn blender on low and slowly pour in all the melted butter. Serve warm. Store inthe refrigerator 3-5 days. Makes 1 cup.

This recipe is from Donna Kelly's 'French Toast' cookbook.

Southwest Chipotle Burgers

Southwest Chipotle Burgers

Burgers:
1 1/2 lb ground chuck or ground sirloin
1 chipotle pepper canned in adobo sauce  (1 chili or less for kids, 1 1/2 for anyone who likes it spicy)
1 1/2 T adobo sauce (from the chipotle chili can)
1/4 C grated onion
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t cumin
1 1/2 t kosher salt
1/4 t pepper

4-6 good quality buns
1 tomato
1-2 avocado
lettuce
optional: jack, cotija, or queso fresco cheese

Chipotle-lime Mayo:
1/2 C Mayo (light works fine)
2 t lime juice
1 t adobo sauce (from the canned chipotle chilis - not the chilis, just the sauce)
2T chopped fresh cilantro

Start by making the sauce.

Place mayo, adobo sauce, lime juice and cilantro in a small bowl and stir together then chill.

Now place the beef in a bowl and gently crumble with your fingers. Add the chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, grated onion, garlic powder, cumin, kosher salt, and pepper. Use your hands (yes, your hands!) to gently mix things together. If you go crazy and over-work ground beef it gets a yucky texture. Just mix it enough to distribute the ingredients and call it good.

Divide into 6 patties and place on a preheated grill, indoor grill pan, or skillet.

If you want to top with cheese, do so in the last few minutes of grilling. Use jack  cotija, or even some queso fresco. While the burgers are cooking, toast buns and spread chipotle-lime sauce generously on each side of each bun.

When the burgers are done to your liking let them stand for 5 minutes off the grill/pan and then pop onto your prepared buns. Top with tomato slices, avocado slices, and a crisp piece of lettuce.

If you made extra sauce, serve it on the table so people can slather it on every bite.

Recipe from www.ourbestbites.com

Whipped Honey Butter

Honey Butter 

2 cubes real butter, (close to room temp- works best when slightly chilled still.)
2/3 C honey
¾ C powdered sugar

(If your butter is too soft, you'll end up with a gooey mess, so I just leave it out on the counter for about 20 minutes or so before beating and it turns out nice and fluffy)

Just place it all in a bowl and beat with an electric hand-mixer for about 30 seconds.  You can use a Bosch or a Kitchenaid but it turns out better with a hand mixer.  Serve at room temp with warm rolls, irish soda bread, scones etc.

Thai Peanut Noodles

Thai Peanut Noodles

1/2 c. chicken broth

3 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter

1-2 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce (1/2 tsp is best for kids, 1 is mild with a bite, 1.5 is medium, 2 is hot)

1 1/2 Tbsp. honey

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger

2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

8 oz. Udon or linguine noodles

Chopped green onions

Chopped cilantro

2 limes, cut into quarters

Chopped peanuts

Cook noodles in salted water. In the meantime, combine chicken broth, peanut butter, chili sauce, honey, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk until smooth and remove from heat. Toss cooked noodles with sauce and divide among 4 bowls. Sprinkle with green onions, cilantro, chopped peanuts, and garnish each serving with 2 lime quarters. Before eating, squeeze lime juice over noodles and stir to combine.

 *If desired, you can add meat to this dish by stir-frying shrimp or very thinly-sliced chicken (partially freeze it first) in some olive oil with a couple cloves of garlic, some fresh ginger, some green onions, soy sauce, and a small squirt or two of Sriracha chili sauce.

recipe courtesy of www.ourbestbites.com

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Candy Corn Cupcakes

1 18.25-oz. white cake mix

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

Yellow and orange food coloring

A double batch of Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling (see below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 24-cup muffin tins with white paper liners (although you may not make it to 24 cupcakes). 

Combine all ingredients except for food coloring in a large bowl and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium for 2 additional minutes.

Divide batter equally into two bowls; you should have about 2 1/4-2 1/2 cups of batter in each bowl.Mix about 1/2 heaping tsp. of yellow coloring into one bowl of batter and 1/2 heaping tsp. of orange coloring into the other bowl.

Divide the yellow batter evenly among the muffin tins. I used a standard cookie scoop, which measures about 1 Tbsp. Holding the edges of each pan firmly, bang the pan a few times on the counter to level out the batter. Repeat the process with the orange batter. 

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan and then allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.When ready, frost the cupcakes and garnish with a candy corn. When you cut them open, they look like this:

Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling

6 T Flour
1 C milk (whole milk is best, but I used non-fat or 2% when it's all I have and it's actually fine)
1 C real butter
1 C granulated sugar
2 t vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. The INSTANT you see the bottom of the pan remove from heat and start straining over a bowl.  I used a rubber spatula to push the liquid through.  This is a fast thing so go quickly.

You should end up with a nice, smooth mixture. It's almost like

 pudding before it's set.

Put this mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely, it's fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don't want it warm at all. When it is chilled, you can move on to the following step.

It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You'll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Don't be scared. It's going to look like a goopy mess. 
 Beat on med-high for 7-8 minutes. I know it is a long time but I was promised it would turn out and it did!

It should turn out light, silky and oh so good!  If it isn't light and silky, try beating it a little bit longer.

For more details on any of the above go to www.ourbestbites.com and look up candy corn cupcakes.  You will love EVERYTHING on their site!