chicken

“Mighty Rad Gumbo”…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

Or so sang “Little Feat” in this song about gumbo and his mamma being in the “Seafood Hall of Fame” because of her cooking. It was this song that was my original inspiration to create a gumbo recipe. If you have ever read this blog, you will know that I am no stranger to driving, a LOT, whether it was my epic 4 hour round trip to commute to my last job or the months I had to drive north to western Pennsylvania before we moved there. Along those same lines, I recently completed a move to North Myrtle Beach and, as can be imagined, there was a great deal of driving involved as we shuttled items from western Pennsylvania to the beach. When the weather is nice and people aren’t driving while sitting on their shoulders, I listen to my iPod and when this song came up my mind went into overdrive!  I had never done a gumbo, sure there were stews and soups and such but gumbo?  In my head, it was kind of exotic.  You know the stuff that chefs in New Orleans (Neawleans as pronounced) do with their voodoo spices and tantric cooking practices. So, I did not want to do a “safe” regular gumbo but wanted to do something that brought together a whole host of other flavors (kind of a combination creole-gumbo, a “cre-umbo”, if you will) and since I was cooking for a large group, I wanted it to make a decent quantity so you may have to trim down the amount of the individual ingredients if you are making for fewer than 8. You may notice that there is no added salt or an excess of seasonings as all of the flavor comes from the Andouille sausage with which you start the recipe. This recipe is the result of all that time in the car. I loved it and so did the folks who were eating it (one had it for breakfast the next morning).  As you may, or may not, know the first to taste a new recipe has the honor of creating the name.  My niece Caroline (the southern one), because of the Olympics in Rio gave the recipe its name, “Brazilian Blowout Gumbo”.  (special note: next up is a honey mustard, tarragon glazed chicken but that will be later this week)

Brazilian Blowout Gumbo

(Makes 6 – 8 servings)

Gary Bechard – The Well Fed Cyclist

Ingredients:

3 – Boneless-skinless chicken breasts, cubed

14 ounces – Andouille sausage, sliced crosswise

16 ounces – Cooked tail off shrimp, defrosted, 51 to 70 count

1 cup – Fresh okra sliced

1/3 – Medium sweet onion, rough diced

1/3 – Red bell pepper, diced

1/3 – Yellow bell pepper, diced

1/3 – Green bell pepper, diced

1 ½ stalks – Celery, diced

1 – 28 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes

1 – 28 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 – 28 ounce can of diced fire roasted tomatoes

2 – 15 ounce cans of fire roasted corn

1 handful (about 3/4ths cup) – Fresh Parsley leaves, finely chopped

3 – Cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 ounces – Chicken stock (or vegetable stock if the spirit moves you)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I say this amount but it should only be enough to swirl around the bottom of the pot a couple of times during the cooking process)

1 tbsp – Coarse ground black pepper

2 tsp – Thyme (I used dried ground)

A brief note before the construction instructions: I normally chop my vegetables and meat ingredients ahead of time because it makes for easier cooking and cleaning.

Construction Instructions:

In a big stockpot, pour a nice “figure 8” of olive oil on the bottom. Turn the heat to mid range (5 or 6 on most electric ranges) and bring the oil up to temperature remembering that olive oil has a low smoke point and does not withstand high heat very well without breaking down. When the oil is hot, add Andouille sausage slices and cook them until they are done and they have rendered their fatty goodness on the bottom of the pan. Remove the slices from the pot with a slotted spoon, set aside and add a little bit more olive oil and bring the oil back up to temperature. Next add the chicken cubes and cook them until they are done and repeat the process of removing the cubed chicken and setting aside. Once again, drizzle a little bit of oil in the pot and with a wooden spoon scrape some of the tasty bits off the bottom and add your garlic sautéing this until the garlic softens making sure that you do not allow the garlic to turn brown. Lower the heat to low medium and then, add the onions, peppers and celery sautéing these until they soften. With all of that goodness going on in the pot, add the okra slices and pour in the chicken stock covering the vegetables. Cook the okra until it is tender then add back the chicken and the sausage. Once this is done, add each of the cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce and the fire roasted corn (water and all) and stir all of these together allowing the ingredients to get acquainted. Next add the parsley and the thyme, re-stir, to distribute the herbs evenly. Lower the heat so that the mixture is at a low simmer (the liquid will lightly bubble and not be a rolling boil) and make sure that you are constantly stirring to make sure the heat stays even throughout the mixture and to start breaking down the whole tomatoes. You can aid in breaking down the tomatoes by cutting them through with the edge of the wooden spoon with which you are using to stir. The process will take about 30 to 40 minutes and you should notice that your liquids cooking down a bit. In the last 10 minutes, after the whole tomatoes have broken down, add the shrimp and cook for another 10 minutes until they are heated thoroughly.

I served this over whole grain brown rice with jalapeno-cheese bread slices.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Everyone needs a quest…

~ Gary Bechard ~ 1 Comment

First, I have to apologize for not posting last week.  I was not prepared as I had too many recipes which had not been converted to electronic format and the food notebook is well, for lack of better words, something that looks like the rants and scribblings of a lunatic.  The notes do not translate well (kind of like seeing Swahili for the first time) and are not electronic.

Now I believe that everyone needs a quest or something to strive for.  Is it wrong that my current culinary quest is to stuff  everything in the cabbage family?  I have been looking at Savoy cabbage for quite some time, not in an inappropriate way mind you, and have been wondering with what I could possibly stuff it. I wanted to have something lighter than regular stuffed cabbage which leaves you with that, I don’t know, feeling that you just ate a bowling ball. I decided on chicken because the boneless – skinless breasts take on flavors well and are easy to work with and frankly, I have already done the “shrimp thing”.  Finally, I cannot lay claim to thinking of the Frank’s Sweet chili sauce as a topper for these beauties because my wife came up with the idea during her heating them up for lunch the next day.  Without further delay, here is the recipe.  Mind you, this recipe is a bit labor intensive but so very worth the effort. I shared this with some of the ladies at work and they loved them!

Putting on the Savoy

(Chicken stuffed Savoy cabbage)

(Serves 4-6)

The Well Fed Cyclist – Gary Bechard

Ingredients:

2 – Chicken breasts, boneless – skinless, baked, shredded and fine diced (I went ahead and did 3 with one of them becoming an awesome chicken sandwich the next day)

1 1/2 cups – Basmati rice, about 4 servings (I used Uncle Ben’s for simplicity) prepared according to package instructions.

1 – Small head of Savoy cabbage

1/3 cup – Green onions, chopped (Stuffing mixture)

1/3 cup – Mushrooms, fine chopped, I used cremini mushrooms (baby portabellas) (Stuffing mixture)

For the roasting of the chicken:

1 tsp – Kosher salt

1 tsp – Coarse ground black pepper

1/2 tsp – Smoked paprika

6 sprigs – Thyme leaves

1 tbsp – Rosemary leaves, fine chopped

1/4 cup – Chicken stock

Preparation – Take the chicken breasts and place in a small baking dish in which you have put the chicken stock, season with the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, thyme and rosemary. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes or until they are done (internal temperature 165 to 170 degrees) and set aside to cool. Note: you can always do the chicken a day ahead if you would like to cut down on preparation time on the day you are stuffing the cabbage.

While the chicken is doing its thing in the oven, core the cabbage head by taking a 3 to 4 inch deep cone around the stem of the cabbage. The cone should be about the same length as a good paring knife. Place the cabbage head in water topside down and boil for about 35 minutes (nifty it is the same amount of time as the baking time on the chicken, eh?) or until the leaves begin to soften. Once the cabbage head is done, take and set in a colander to drain and cool.

Construction Instruction –

Rice – I used Uncle Ben’s rice because it is easy and only takes 10 minutes. Cook the rice according to the package directions drain well and set aside.

Stuffing Mixture – Take your chicken and fork shred and fine dice and toss into a very large bowl. Next add, cooked rice, green onions and mushrooms. Now you are ready to fold everything together until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

 

Creating the stuffed leaves – First, make your “production line” in a pretty large working area of the kitchen with the colander that contains the cabbage, then the stuffing bowl, a large flat plate on which to stuff and fold the cabbage leaves then your baking dish. In the baking dish (a deep 9” X 13”) or similar dish (the one that I use is about 2 ½ “ to 3” deep) put about a ¼ inch (about a 1/3 cup) of chicken or mushroom stock in the bottom to keep the leaves moist during the baking process. Working from the outside of the cabbage head take a leaf and place on the plate with stem side toward you, spoon about a couple of tablespoons worth of the mixture in the center. The amount of mixture will vary with the size of the leaves.Then, take the stem side and fold over top of the mixture so that the end is at the edge of the pile of mixture, next, fold each side to the center and finally take the far end and fold toward you. Take the completed packet and place with the smooth side up in the baking dish. Repeat, this process until you have a layer of packets along the bottom of the baking dish. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

 

Plating – I plated these 2 to 3 per person and allow each person to put the amount of Frank’s brand sweet chili sauce they desire on top. I served this with a double helping of stir-fried vegetables.

 

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

 

 

There’s a conflict in the kitchen?

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

I need to explain myself regarding the title. There is this small outdoor restaurant in Pittsburgh called “Conflict Kitchen” which does recipes native to a place that is in conflict with the United States.  They do the recipes for usually 3 to 4 months and then change to another area of the world with the same criteria.  The latest place was Cuba and the recipes were awesome! Perfectly cooked black beans and rice, shredded pork done in their “Mojo” marinade and shredded beef done in tomato sauce, and other yummy flavors of course, which was to die for.  I applaud the chefs who put this food out and I have to say the food was better than what I had in Miami.  This restaurant was the inspiration for my Mojito marinade.

Sorry there was no post yesterday but it was the last leaf roundup before winter sets in up here and it took a bit of time.  If you have been following the latest posts, I told everyone  that I was working on a new pork (and chicken for those who roll that way) marinade based on the rum drink the Mojito.  Little did I know that another name for “Mojo” marinade is “Mojito” marinade and everyone has pretty much the same take on it.  I wanted to do something different, my own spin, so to speak. The result is a marinade that is kind of a marriage of the rum drink recipe and a traditional Mojo marinade.  I used the marinade on boneless pork chops which I seared off in a pan before popping them in the oven at 325 degrees for about 45 to 60 minutes.  I served them with black beans and rice and a nice cucumber salad.  Without further delay, here is the recipe.

Not Your Mama’s (Mojito marinade for pork and chicken)

Covers 1 ½ to 2 lbs of meat

Gary Bechard – The Well Fed Cyclist

Ingredients:

1/3 cup – Extra virgin olive oil

1 oz – White rum or you can substitute 1 tsp of rum extract

8 to 9 – Mint leaves, chopped

1/8 to 1/4 cup – Cilantro, chopped

2 to 3 limes – Juiced, (the limes I used were pretty large as limes go so you may have to use more as you want to have about 1/4 cup of juice)

1/2 cup – Orange juice

1 tbsp – Brown sugar ( I used a minimally processed sugar)

5 – Garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 tsp – Ground cumin

1 1/2 tbsp. – Dried oregano leaves

1 1/2 tsp – Lemon peel

1 tsp – Coarse ground black pepper

1 tsp – Kosher salt

Construction Instruction:

Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl, whisk until thoroughly combined. Cover the mixture tightly with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. You are really going to want these ingredients to become intimate. Once this mixture has set for the requisite amount of time put your pork or chicken in a large plastic bag that seals very well, add the marinade and allow the combination to set in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The longer you marinate the better the flavors are going to be.

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Sometimes life gets in the way…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

I would love to have this post be upbeat and funny but there are just some times that it just does not work out that way especially when you have a loved one in the hospital and they are not expected to leave. Unlike some folks, I love my in-laws as they have always been wonderful to me. My father in-law loved my cooking and I even created recipes for him.  He is one of the reasons that my recipes do not have a lot of added salt.  I will be thinking of a recipe which I will dedicate to him here when I have it completed. I want it to be a monument to his personality and one that will bring us all wonderful memories of a great man every time I make it. I love you Bill, even though out of respect I had a difficult time calling you that and see, I did take care of your daughter. In the interim, here is a post from the old site that was almost lost.  It is a very, very easy recipe but awfully delicious.

Desperate times call for…

Some of the best things can be born out of desperation and this recipe is an example of one of them. I was in charge of cooking dinner one night for me and the children but had not had any time to go to the grocery store to pick up anything specific. I knew I had chicken in the freezer (Who doesn’t?) but that was about it. I did not feel like serving the kids fast food because heaven knows that they will eat enough of that stuff in the course of their lives. So, I rooted around in the pantry and found a small jar of pineapple preserves and from the fridge a half bottle of teriyaki sauce and some soy sauce. I combined them together in this recipe which was so easy I recreated it with a pork tenderloin. (same steps and ingredients except for replacing chicken with pig)

Fast Hawaiian Chicken
(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:
1 – Small, jar of pineapple preserves
½ a bottle or less of low sodium teriyaki sauce
1tsp – powdered ginger
1 tsp – coarse ground black pepper
2 tbsp – low sodium soy sauce
4 – Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1tsp – dried basil leaves
1tsp – dried parsley flakes
Sesame seeds
¼ cup of peanut oil
9 X 13 baking dish

In a small bowl mix peanut oil, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, parsley and basil and whisk together. Set this mixture aside for a moment. Spray baking dish with Pam or some other cooking spray and add about 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the dish. You can even use rice wine as a liquid if you would like. (Less, if you are using a smaller pan or have reduced the recipe) Arrange chicken in the bottom of the pan and evenly sprinkle (distribute) ginger and black pepper over the top of each piece, kind of pressing the herbs into the chicken with your fingers. Take the teriyaki mixture which had been set aside and slowly pour over chicken. Spoon pineapple preserves evenly on each chicken breast so that each has its own layer. (It’s kind of like adding a blanket to each of the chicken breasts) You can add fresh pineapple slices around the outside of the chicken because it kind of looks nice (and tastes pretty good too when it’s done). Take sesame seeds and kind of “salt” them over top of everything before you put it in the oven.
Bake in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees for 40 minutes making sure to gently (you do not want to blast the pineapple from the top of the chicken) baste chicken about every 10 minutes with mixture from bottom of baking dish.

I served this with pineapple jasmine rice and green beans dressed with ginger salad dressing.

Enjoy!

There is a plot twist…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

You would think that there is some nefarious murder mystery going on with the title and all but it is just about the food and as always, everything is about the food. And, I know, I know, I am flip flopping more than a politician during election season, and I even posted a fish recipe in the midst of what should have been “chicken week”  but I consider this recipe a kind of “two-fer” so possibly it could count for both? So, I guess, in a way, this entry is kind of a plot twist.

This was not a recipe born of desperation or the result of my CADD but was the result of figuring out what to do with a ¼ pound of 31 to 40 count shrimp. That amount of shrimp does not really make a meal for 2 people and is more annoying sitting in the freezer partially open than being used in a recipe. The way I thought of it is I figured that if the Japanese steak houses can serve hibachi chicken and shrimp together, I could combine the two in one easy to carry package (not that you would want to carry it but you could). It does not take a whole lot more effort than the Bay Watch chicken breasts but it does have a distinctly different flavor and you really do not need a sauce.

Shrimp Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Asian style
(makes 3-4 servings)

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 – Green bell pepper fine diced
1/2 (or less) – Red bell pepper fine diced
1/3 – sweet onion, fine diced
5 – Cloves garlic, fine diced
2 oz – Fresh chopped ginger root
1/4 lb – Shrimp, fine diced
4 – Shitake mushrooms fine diced
2 sticks – Celery fine diced
Coarse ground black pepper (to taste)
Small handful fine shredded fresh parsley (use dried if you must about 1 ½ tablespoons)
7 – Basil leaves fine chopped (use dried if you must about 1 ½ tablespoons)
Peanut or Canola oil
Soy Sauce and/or Teriyaki Sauce

Filling:
In a large skillet, cover bottom of pan with peanut or canola oil and over low/med heat sauté peppers, onion, garlic and celery until softened and onions become translucent. Add mushrooms and ginger root, sauté on low heat for about 2-3 minutes, season to taste with pepper. Add shrimp and go until the shrimp pieces turn pink, then season with teriyaki and soy sauce (remember that there is a lot of salt in those sauces so be sparing). After shrimp is done, add parsley and basil and keep on heat for another 2-3 minutes while mixing these ingredients in. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.
Stuffing it:
Take chicken breasts and, from the side, make a pocket by cutting the long way the entire length and almost all the way through (should look like a pita pocket). Take a spoon and stuff chicken with filling (do not overfill) enough so that edge can be closed with a toothpick, cooking string or skewers. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes (add a bit of water or chicken stock to bottom of baking dish to keep moist).

This was served with sushi rice but can also be served with pineapple jasmine rice in addition to snow peas with mushrooms and almond slices. I also always serve a green salad with ginger dressing.

Enjoy!

It’s a Saturday Evening post…

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

Literally, it is a post that is happening on Saturday evening. Get it?  Bad joke I know but I am full of them because  the whole day today was devoted to cleaning the house while it rained 2 plus inches. However,  I am stoked!  Well not really about cleaning but I am excited to put out a new recipe.

I guess you could say that this is “chicken week” but that originally was not the intent since I was thinking about finishing out my fish recipes. We can always go back to those when I am off my chicken kick (I guess my Cooking Attention Deficit Disorder (CADD) kind of kicked in.). Chicken is one of the staple proteins at my house and they are normally done in one of a few ways, fried, faux fried, baked, broiled or grilled. This particular recipe is for shallow frying and should be reasonably healthy because it uses boneless/skinless chicken breasts and olive oil.

This recipe is the product of my cooking CADD because I was thinking of one thing and watching another and came to the conclusion that they could be done together with good result. You see, I was there in this restaurant having ordered chicken over greens while thinking of other ways I could use the Prosciutto I had leftover at home and it hit me (well not really) that if you could attach the Prosciutto to one side of the chicken it would provide salt and a savory flavors which I could compliment with other parts of the meal. The result is this recipe. Oh, I can attest to the quality of this recipe because bona fide Italians who were staying at my house loved this meal.

Fugetaboutit
Chicken over Greens
(makes 4 servings)

4 – Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz – Prosciutto (sliced very thin)
1/3 – Medium sweet onion (diced fine)
8 (or more) – Cloves garlic, (diced fine)
1 tbsp – Coarse ground black pepper (or to taste)
10 – Fresh basil leaves (fine shredded also called a chiffonade)
8 – Romaine lettuce leaves
Handful – Italian parsley (chopped fine; use dried if you must about 1 ½ tablespoons)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar (get the good stuff)

Ready – Preparing the chicken:
Pound the chicken breasts to about ¾ of an inch using the flat side of a meat tenderizing hammer. Next place thin slices of Prosciutto on the “smooth” side of the chicken breast enough to cover the entire top in about one layer. Then take the “prickly” side of the meat hammer and pound the Prosciutto on to the chicken. It should stick with no problem. Take and gently set these aside Prosciutto side up.

Set – Revving up the oil
In a large skillet, cover bottom of pan with olive oil (a little better than a third inch deep or enough that it would be up to half way up the edge of one of the pounded chicken breasts) and over low/med heat sauté onion and garlic until softened and onions become translucent. Add basil and parsley continue sautéing until basil and parsley have wilted.

Go – Cooking the chicken
Take prepared chicken breasts and place in the pan Prosciutto side down and lower heat (low – medium is good here). Now…drop your tongs and step away from the chicken! You will have to resist the urge to constantly flip the chicken breasts and will only flip them over once for this recipe. That is why the heat is kind of low. Cook these on the one side until you can see that they are almost fully cooked (about 5 to 7 minutes) you will see the top edges of the chicken breasts begin to turn lighter. After you see that they are almost done carefully flip them over to have them Prosciutto side up and complete the cooking (another 4 to 7 minutes). The chicken breasts will be done when they are firm when you press on them with the tongs. You will notice that small bits of garlic and onion will stick to the chicken and this is perfectly okay. Note: I can usually do 3 chicken breasts in my pan and set the ones that are done in the oven on warm until the others are ready to serve.

Prepare the plates
Take about 3 romaine lettuce leaves and place them flat on each plate and drizzle lightly with balsamic vinegar. When each chicken breast is done place them Prosciutto side up on the lettuce.

-Meal served with either angel hair pasta dressed with just olive oil and Italian seasoning or a cold pasta salad with roasted red pepper and olives (a recipe for another time) and green beans done with onion and Portobello mushrooms.

Enjoy!

The grand pistachio experiment…

~ Gary Bechard ~ 3 Comments

Trying to have an understanding of how I end up with ideas for recipes, is for the most part, a mystery. Last we heard from our hero, he was eating a bagel, having some yogurt and dreaming of chicken.  Ah, a grand creative process you are thinking, right? Well, not the most exciting, I know, but it worked for me. I had been thinking of stuffing some chicken breasts for a while with something different than the one in my “Baywatch Stuffed Chicken Breasts” (large and swollen with stuffing, you could say, though not bouncy) Since the yogurt I was eating was of the Greek variety, my thoughts immediately turned to feta cheese and naturally spinach and mushrooms which play very nicely with that type of cheese. I also wanted to do a sauce and figured that I would do it with Greek yogurt since I never tried that before and I understand that it works, when done correctly. When I got my ingredients back to the house, I believed that I needed a bit of texture in the stuffing, the crunch factor, for lack of a better phrase, and decided to see what pistachios and feta tasted like together.  All I can say is, yum! and to paraphrase the commercial, “Wonderful pistachios!” (and, oh, I did get crackin’).  At first, I thought that maybe the combination was a mistake but on the second try, it still tasted as good so they ended up in the stuffing. You will notice that in this recipe there is no salt listed as an ingredient and that is because there is plenty in the chicken stock, feta cheese and pistachios so add salt at your peril. I hope you try this and let me know how it turns out. I would love to hear from you.  Now on to the recipe!

Enjoy!

The Well Fed Cyclist

Pistachio “Feta’sh”

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

(makes 3-4 servings)

Ingredients:

3 to 4 – boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Filling:

5oz bag – Fresh baby spinach

1/2 cup – Feta Cheese crumbles

1/3 cup – Roasted pistachio meats, fine chopped

1/4 cup – Sweet onion, diced fine (about 1/4 a medium onion)

1/3 cup – Mushrooms, diced fine

1/4 cup – Fresh parsley, chopped fine

4 to 5 cloves – Garlic, fine diced

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – A few good turns around the pan will do

1/2 cup – Chicken Stock (to wilt the spinach)

Coarse Ground black pepper to taste

Oregano – Dried and ground (to dust chicken before going in the oven)

Cinnamon – Ground (to dust chicken before going in the oven)

Sauce:

¾ cup – Plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage)

1 tbsp – Honey

1/4 cup – Mint, chopped fine

1/4 cup – Chicken stock

1 to 2 pats – Unsalted butter

1 – Lemon (the juice of)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – About 1/4 cup more or less

Filling:

First, wilt spinach in a 4 to 5 quart pot with a tight fitting lid. Put chicken stock in the bottom and put over medium heat turning the spinach every so often until wilted. Take spinach out and let cool in a colander while it drains.

Next, in a large skillet, do a few good turns on the bottom of pan with olive oil and over low/med heat sauté onion and garlic until softened and onions become translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté on low heat for about 2-3 minutes, season to taste with pepper. Add parsley and keep on heat for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.

Note: Make sure that your spinach and your skillet mixture are cool because you do not want them to melt the feta when you put them together.

Now, get out your large bowl campers because there is some mixing to do. Take your spinach and squeeze as much water out of it as you can (I use cheesecloth) and finely chop before putting it in the bowl. To the bowl, add the skillet mixture, feta cheese and pistachios. Fold all of the ingredients together making sure that all of the items are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Take the bowl and put in the refrigerator to cool for about 10 minutes.

Take chicken breasts and, from the side, make a pocket by cutting the long way the entire length and almost all the way through (should look like a pita pocket). Take a spoon and stuff chicken with filling (do not overfill). Place in a baking dish and dust each chicken breast with oregano and cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered for 40-50 minutes (add a bit of water to bottom of baking dish to keep moist).

Sauce:

Using a shallow skillet, do a couple of good turns around the pan with olive oil, add the pats of butter and honey and bring up the heat to just below medium. When the butter has melted, add the chicken stock and lemon juice and stir until mixed together (only about a minute or two). Next, lower the heat and add in the yogurt and fresh mint and whisk together. Heat until the sauce is warm. WATCH THAT PAN AND DO NOT CURDLE YOUR YOGURT, sorry to yell but I did that with the first batch of sauce that I made and had to throw it out.

-Meal served with basmati rice and a steamed carrots, broccoli and cauliflower floret mix.

You were always on my mind (and other chicken musings)

~ Gary Bechard ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to my first, or second, official post on my new domain.  I always wanted to be master of my domain and now (and for a very reasonable price I might add) I am.

I was thinking this morning of chicken and other assorted random things but the chicken thoughts were kind of sticking so I know that I will have to do something with them. New readers may not know that I have been known to go off on a chicken rant, and other assorted ones, every so often, mainly in my head but sometimes out loud and this morning while eating my daily bagel and having some yogurt it was no different. I was thinking that I have done a whole Greek chicken on the grill, pounded as for chicken and greens, cubed and done with olives and capers, with rustic tomato sauce, etc., etc. so I was thinking that I would try a Greek chicken (it’s what happens when you are eating Greek yogurt) but in a different way with a sauce. I am admittedly not terribly fond of sauces because most tend to cover the flavors of the food on which you are using them but I believe there is a way to do a sauce that would compliment the flavors in the main course as opposed to covering them. This evening’s attempt will be to do a Greek yogurt sauce sort of like a Taziki but with a twist, which I have not figured out yet, to go over spinach and feta stuffed chicken breasts.   I have yet to figure out the sides to be served with the entree but I am hoping to come up with something interesting.

On a side note, I will attempt moving all of the previous posts (from a hosting site that will remain nameless) and I am hoping to be able to archive them on this site for your reading enjoyment. We will see how that goes.