Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of Jeff's favorite meals of all time and yet I don't think I've ever made it for him.  Or if I have, it's been a loooong time.  Thankfully he gave this 5 stars.  I did too.  It's c'est magnifique!  : )  I used regular lunch meat ham instead of the prosciutto, and the recipe called for Gruyere but I used Swiss.
It did take a bit longer for the chicken to cook, which was annoying because my side dishes were done right on time, and since that doesn't usually happen I was a little annoyed.  : )  So at the end of 25 minutes I turned the oven up to 400 and it took maybe 10 more minutes until the chicken was done.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 thin slices prosciutto di Parma (or whatever ham you like)
• 1/2 pound Swiss cheese, sliced into 4 equal sections
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lay the chicken breasts in a large zip loc bag and seal the bag. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove the one breast at a time and lay 1 slice of prosciutto neatly over the top to cover the breast, followed by one of the slices of cheese. Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll up tight like a jellyroll.  Secure with toothpicks. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Season the flour with salt and pepper. Mix the bread crumbs with thyme, garlic and kosher salt, pepper, and melted butter. The butter will help the crust brown. Beat together the eggs and season so the flour, the eggs and the crumbs are all seasoned.
Remove the plastic wrap. Lightly dust the chicken with flour, dip in the egg mixture and gently coat in the bread crumbs. Lightly coat a baking pan with olive oil and carefully transfer the roulades onto it. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and cooked through.
Serve immediately.

Recipe altered slightly from a recipe by Tyler Florence.

Mexican Mess

This is a highly versatile, customizable recipe. I think the thing that makes it different than most of the Mexican recipes I've seen or made is that it uses taco sauce instead of salsa. I like salsa, but it is more runny than taco sauce and often changes the consistency of the final product.
Although the original recipe called for them, I have never made this with refried beans, only with black beans, so I would suggest adding some flavoring like onion powder, salt  & oregano or whatever you like if you're using canned beans.

Customizable Mexican Mess

1 can of beans - refried, black, pinto, whatever you like
seasoning for canned beans, if desired
1/2-1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 can green chilies, optional
1-3 c. shredded cheese, depending on how much you like
1 bottle taco sauce

You can cook this in the oven (in a 9x13 pan), in a slow cooker or in the skillet. Layer the ingredients in the order listed. Cook one of the following ways:

• Bake at 400 for 15-30 min.
• Slow cook on high for 2-3 hours, or on low for about 4 hours, or until warmed through.
• Heat with a lid on the skillet over med-low heat until warmed through.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, etc, if desired. Eat with tortilla chips.

Peach Salsa

This is so good! I could seriously just eat it with a spoon.

Peach Salsa

Ingredients

• 1½ cups ripe peaches, diced (4-6 depending on size)
• 1 cup tomato, diced (about 2 medium)
• 1 tablespoon jalapeño, finely minced (about ½)
• 1/4 cup bell pepper, dice small
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced (or whatever kind you want)
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped, optional
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder or other chili powder ( I used chipotle)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
• salt and pepper to taste
• for spicier version add more jalapeño or cayenne powder or other ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients together well. Serve right away, or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

From shewearsmanyhats.com

Chicken Noodle Casserole

This is a really yummy casserole that isn't your standard casserole with a bunch of cans of food mixed together. It's really flavorful.

Chicken Noodle Casserole
Recipe slightly adapted from Cook’s Country April/May 2013
12 oz wide egg noodles (7 3/4 cups)
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup cooked shredded chicken
4 ounces deli American cheese, chopped coarse
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed and patted dry
25 Ritz Crackers, crushed coarse

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in pan.  Add noodles and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until just al dente, about 3 minutes.  Drain noodles and rinse with cold water until cool.  Drain again and set aside.
2.  Melt 1 tablespoon butter in now-empty pot over medium-high heat.  Add bell pepper and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to bowl; set aside.  In now-empty pot, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Add flour and cook, whisking constantly for 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in half and half, a little at at time as you whisk to incorporate flour mixture and smooth out lumps.  Add broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
3.  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.  Whisk American and cheddar cheeses into sauce until smooth. Stir shredded chicken, noodles, bell pepper mixture, peas, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 1/4 teaspoons pepper into cheese sauce.
4.  Transfer mixture to 13×9 inch baking dish and top with crackers.  Bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 15 minutes.  Let casserole cool on wire rack for about 15 minutes.  Serve.

Peaches and Lemon Cream

This is a simple and delicious summery dessert.  The original recipe calls for half of the amount of cream, but we really like the cream part so we doubled it...

Peaches with Lemon Cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2-1 tsp lemon zest

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form.  Beat in brown sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and refrigerate until using.  Slice peaches in half and remove pits.  Grill, sliced side down on aluminum foil (sprayed with cooking spray) until peaches are tender and begin to caramelize (about 10 minutes).  Serve grilled peaches with lemon cream.

Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce

This is our new favorite pizza sauce - and much quicker than the ones you have to cook!  It's not really "fresh" tomatoes since it uses canned ones.  But it's yummy. :)

Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce

makes about 2 cups
15-ounce can whole or diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, or to taste
Olive oil
½ tsp basil
¾ tsp oregano
½ tsp marjoram
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Blend the tomatoes with the garlic, balsamic vinegar, and a drizzle of olive oil, as well as well as the spices in blender.
This keeps up to a week in the fridge and much longer frozen. Freeze in individual bags, then defrost overnight, snip off a corner and squeeze out the sauce.

Homemade Sports Drink

Chad drinks a lot of Gatorade and I just kept wondering if there was something less chemically that he could drink sometimes instead. There are pioneer recipes for schrub and switchel, but they both have vinegar and are not my favorite thing to drink (neither are most sports drinks). So I did a search and found several recipes for sports drinks. I only tried one version, but I thought it was really good with a light flavor that quenches thirst better than plain water (and no, it doesn't taste salty). My kids really liked it too. Chad liked it, but I think it will take a while to wean him from the convenience of the powder mix stuff.
And that is the downside to this - it's not as readily available as the pre-made or powder mix. But for times when you know you're going to want some, you can make it ahead and have it ready. And I also mixed the base syrup and kept it in the fridge for a couple of days and then mixed in the water and ice and it was still good too.

Homemade Sports Drink
1 c. hot water
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4-1/2 c. orange juice
1 T. lemon juice
ice
cold water

Mix the sugar and salt into the hot water until completely dissolved. Stir in the juices. Put into a quart size water bottle along with a handful of ice cubes. Fill the rest of the way with cold water and shake or swirl to combine it all.
Yield: 1 quart

This recipe adapted/combined from The Daily Garnish and One Good Thing by Jillee

Perfect Cupcake Frosting

This is my new favorite cupcake frosting (along with cream cheese frosting, of course).  It is sooo much better than buttercream.  I love it for a few reasons: 1) it's much lighter than buttercream so you can actually eat it along with the cupcake (I almost always scrape most of the buttercream off before I eat my cupcakes) 2) it's kind of glossy and pretty and looks almost like it has egg whites in it 3) it's sweet and very smooth (think silky even!) but it doesn't overpower the flavor of the cupcake itself.

Perfect Cupcake Frosting
ourbestbites.com

Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
3 T Flour
1/2 C milk (whole milk is best, but I use non-fat when it’s all I have and it’s actually fine)
1/2 C real butter (I prefer salted, but you can use also unsalted and add salt to taste)
1/2 C sugar (that’s granulated sugar, not powdered sugar)
1 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 with a rubber spatula, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan.   Continue to cook until mixture has the consistency of thick pudding or paste.
Put  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. As it’s cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top.
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 if you have one, instead of the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Mixture will separate and look messy, keep beating!  Continue beating until mixture comes together and is light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes, but time varies.  Take a sample of frosting between your fingers; frosting is done when light and fluffy and sugar granules are dissolved.