Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Every once in a while, each of us tires of the same repertoire of weeknight dinners and yearns for something a little different. How many times can we eat the same grilled chicken breast without becoming completely bored?

In one of those moments of culinary monotony, I vowed that, "this week, we will have something new." After thumbing through some of my more recent cookbooks, I found a recipe for bacon-wrapped stuffed chicken breasts. This recipe comes from a book I received as a gift last Christmas: The Ultimate Cook Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

The chicken is roasted with a stuffing of dried fruits and rosemary leaves, and the breast is basted and moistened by the rendered fat from the bacon. Aside from some minor "surgery" required on the chicken breasts during the preparation, this relatively straightforward recipe certainly qualified as "weeknight fare." Here is my version of the recipe:

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts

3/4 c chopped dried plums (prunes)

1/2 c chopped dried cranberries

1 T chopped rosemary leaves

2 t olive oil

1/2 t freshly ground black pepper

1/2 t kosher salt

4 6- to 8-ounce boneless skinless chicken breasts

8 bacon slices

4 T balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 F, and center a rack in the oven.

In a small bowl, mix the prunes, cranberries, rosemary, olive oil, pepper and salt.

Using a very sharp paring knife, create a pocket in each of the chicken breasts along the longer edge. The best way to cut through the chicken is to repetitively create small slits in the chicken, enlarging the cavity without cutting through the other side.

Stuff one fourth of the fruit mixture into each of the chicken breasts, and wrap the chicken around the stuffing. Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each breast so that the edges of the bacon end up on the bottom of the breast. Place breasts in a rectangular baking dish.

Bake the chicken for about 40 minutes, basting occasionally with the pan juices. During the last 5 minutes, drizzle a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar over each breast. Cook until the chicken reaches about 170 F. Remove the breasts, and let them rest for 10 minutes before serving to reabsorb the pan juices.

Serves 4

Wine Suggestions: The combination of chicken and bacon with woody herbs calls for an aromatic, earthy red wine that is not too tannic. A French Cotes du Rhone, a Spanish Tempranillo or even a California Merlot would pair well with this dish.

An Abundance of Blueberries

Last week at the local grocery store, the summer crop of blueberries hit, and they were almost giving them away. I bought a LOT more than I needed and decided to get creative, making something beyond the standard blueberry pie or pancakes. At the same time, I was regretting the fact that my ice cream maker had remained unused nearly all summer even though the temperatures are approaching 120 F in Phoenix this time of year. The result of my inspirations was a wonderfully intense blueberry gelato.

For this recipe, I googled "blueberry gelato" to find a basic recipe. After a little tweaking, the recipe was ready to go. The gelato was a welcome accompaniment to some leftover lemon butter cake from the previous night's dinner with friends, and the intense purple color looked great on the plate. Here is the recipe:

Blueberry Gelato

2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and destemmed

1/4 c blueberry preserves

1/4 c water

1/4 t salt

2/3 c sugar

3 egg yolks

2 c whole milk

2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a heavy saucepan, combine the first 4 ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes at a slow boil.

Meanwhile, in a medium sized mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and the sugar is nearly dissolved, about 5 minutes. Heat the milk in a separate saucepan until hot but not boiling. Slowly pour the milk into the egg yolk and sugar mixture, stirring constantly to avoid "scrambling" the eggs. Return the milk/egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir constantly.

Place the blueberry mixture in a blender with the vent open. Do not cover completely to avoid getting burned! Blend until smooth, using a towel to loosely cover the vent.

Add the blueberry mixture to the custard and let cool at room temperature for 20 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and refrigerate until cold.

Process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. This should take about 25 minutes. When processed, pour the mixture into a cold glass or plastic container, and freeze for at least 2 hours to allow the mixture to firm slightly.

Gelato is best eaten on the day of preparation to savor the silky texture.

Serves 4

Who Doesn't Love Cupcakes?

What is it about cupcakes that makes everyone's day just a little bit brighter? No matter what the occasion, a batch of homemade cupcakes just seems to make everyone smile.

Last Spring, Stephen and I took a trip to New York City for the first time and were amazed by the popularity of a wonderful shop in Midtown Manhattan called Magnolia Bakery. The line for this establishment was literally out the door. Cupcakes were the specialty of the house.

Each day, the bakers at Magnolia prepare an array of decadently rich, perfectly decorated cupcakes. Many of these cupcakes are prepared right in the window of the bakery for passersby to behold. Each one of these jeweled treats is little piece of heaven. We tried the vanilla and coconut cupcakes, both of which were sheer bliss to sample.

For this Independence Day, I decided to make a tradition of the fruit-topped, "patriotic" cupcakes which feature the ripe berries that are in season at the market in the middle of summer. The base for these cupcakes is a simple yellow cake that is perfect for any cake-worthy occasion. The frosting is a rich, not-too-sweet cream cheese topping that is adorned with fresh raspberries and blackberries. Needless to say, these beauties were a hit. Here is the recipe:

Yellow Cupcakes (Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, New Cook Book)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups milk

Line 2 cupcake pans (about 24 cupcakes) with paper cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 375 F.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter on high speed with the sugar and vanilla until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each egg. Add dry ingredients and milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed (or blending by hand) after each addition until just combined. Do not overbeat. Scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling about 1/2 full.

Bake at 375 F for 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire racks for at least 30 minutes. Frost with cream-cheese frosting and decorate if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 t pure vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese well until combined, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and beat 30 seconds more. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until spreading consistency is achieved.

Frost cupcakes using a small spatula or pastry bag fitted with a large star-tip.

Cupcakes can be decorated with fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries or strawberries as desired.

Serve the day the cupcakes are make, keeping refrigerated.

Yields: 22-24 cupcakes

Wild Sockeye Salmon with Tomato and Corn Relish

Yesterday at the supermarket, we were picking up our weekly groceries, and the fresh, wild sockeye salmon immediately caught my eye in the seafood case. The brilliant red flesh of this fish stood out againt the background of precooked shrimp and unremarkable white fillets - perfect inspiration for a light summertime meal.

Right now, the markets are full of wild Pacific salmon from the annual early summer harvests. The difference in appearance and taste of this salmon is obvious when compared to farmed salmon. The wild salmon fillets are deep, dark crimson, and the flavor is pronounced with almost a lobster-like natural sweetness.

Keeping with the spirit of the season, I prepared the salmon in a very simple manner and topped the cooked fillets with a corn and tomato "relish" containing three of my favorite summer ingredients - sweet corn, grape tomatoes and basil. With a loaf of crusty artisan bread and a bottle of slightly chilled red wine, this light meal was a perfect complement to the blazing Arizona heat outside the door.

Roasted Sockeye Salmon with Tomato and Corn Relish

2, 6-ounce fillets of wild sockeye salmon, skin intact.

1 t seafood seasoning, preferably Old Bay

2 T unsalted butter

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Relish:

1 ear yellow or white sweet corn, shucked

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, cut into thirds

1/4 cup roughly chopped basil

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepare relish:

Immerse corn in boiling water for 5 minutes. Immediately remove the corn and plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When the corn is cool, slice the kernels off the cob into a bowl. Add the grape tomatoes and chopped basil. Season with a small amount of salt and pepper and stir to combine. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 450 F. In a microwave, melt the butter in a glass container and pour onto the middle portion of a foil-lined baking sheet. Rinse the salmon and pat dry with paper towels. Season each piece generously with seafood seasoning, salt and pepper. Place the salmon fillet side down on the butter in the baking sheet.

Roast salmon for 6 minutes and then turn the fillets over with a spatula. Roast 5 to 6 minutes more, depending on the thickness of the fillets. The salmon should barely flake when pierced with a fork. Avoid overcooking the fish.

Place each fillet of salmon on a dinner plate, and top with a generous portion of the relish.

Serves: 2

Blogger's Note: As many of you are aware, I have been on a nearly 4-month hiatus from blogging due to an illness. I am happy to say that I am back to blogging and look forward to writing many more inspiring posts about food and wine. Thank you to everyone for your concern and well wishes!

Braised Pork Chops with Garlic and White Beans

Last Christmas, I received a wonderful book from Stephen called Wine and Food: A New Look at Flavor, Williams-Sonoma. Being a Williams-Sonoma book, it is naturally filled with page after page of beguiling photographs of food and wine as well as tempting recipes for great food; however, this book takes a new approach to demystifying the art of pairing food and wine. Wines are broken out by what they refer to as flavor profiles, and dishes are dissected to highlight the main ingredients as well as companion ingredients that are the keys to pairing the food with wine. In addition, cooking methods are listed and associated with certain types of wine.

The wines themselves are also broken apart into categories such as soft whites, juicy reds and other terms that are a bit more approachable to those of us who are not editors for "Wine Spectator". This approach to pairing may seem somewhat more highbrow than the old rules of red wine with red meats and white wines with chicken and fish, but they actually make a lot more sense. This book has taught me to pay more attention to the flavors you add to a food rather than just the main ingredient to create an appealing combination of food and wine.

Last night, I tried a recipe from this book for pork chops braised with garlic and white beans. The book suggested several matches for the dish, including some rich whites (white Rioja or a Cotes du Rhone Blanc) and some alternative pairings, such as a Grenache-based rose or a Cotes du Rhone Rouge (a juicy red). Since we always prefer to drink red wines with dinner and we did not have a Cotes du Rhone on hand, we drank a Montepulciano de Abruzzo from Italy.

Montepulciano is a relatively simple wine with mild tannins, good acidity and flavors of dried cherries, earth and even some gaminess - perfect with a rustic, slow-cooked pork dish. The fact that I substituted fennel seed for the sage in the recipe created an even stronger link between the wine and the food. This wine is not what I would call a "sipping wine" but rather an old-world style wine that is meant to be enjoyed with food. As the book mentioned with the Cotes du Rhone, a juicy red wine such as this made the braised pork taste even meatier.

Here is the recipe for the pork, which has been altered slightly from the original:

Pork Chops Braised with Garlic and White Beans

4 center-cut pork chops (thick cut)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 T olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
8 whole cloves of garlic
1/4 t red pepper flakes
2 t fennel seed
1 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 c chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Season the pork chops all over with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the pork chops and sear, turning halfway until browned (about 6 to 8 minutes total). This is best done in 2 batches. Transfer chops to a platter.

Reduce heat to medium low. Add the onion, carrots, garlic and red pepper. Stir well, scraping the brown bits from the pan, about 4 minutes. Add the fennel seed and broth and bring to a boil. Nestle the pork chops back into the pan, cover and braise in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the pork is cooking, mash half of the white beans in a bowl with a potato masher or fork. Add both the mashed and whole beans to the pot after the pork has braised for 20 minutes. Uncover the pot and return to the oven. Braise for 15 to 20 minutes longer or until the sauce thickens slightly and the pork is tender.
Spoon the sauce into shallow bowls and top with the pork. Garnish with parsley. Serve right away with slices of rustic bread.

Serves 4

Country French Apple Galette

As many of you may have noticed by now, I have a peculiar obsession with French Country cooking. In October of 2007, Stephen and I traveled to the Loire Valley in France and had the opportunity to experience the inspiration behind this glorious cuisine. France's Loire Valley contains some of the richest farmland in the world, yielding what I consider to be the best possible ingredients a cook could desire. Tart apples, sweet butter, pungent soft cheeses, white wines bursting with minerality and ripe fruit and the freshest seafood - you will find it all there. A cook cannot help but be inspired.



While the ingredients are the best, the cuisine of this region is far from fancy. The dishes have a really casual feel and are prepared in a simple manner to highlight the natural beauty of the ingredients. This apple galette was made in the Country French style. A round of butter pastry (the same used for more complicated pie crusts) is rolled out in a circle and filled with sweetened apple slices and dotted with butter. The pastry is folded up around the apples to hold in the juices released by the heat of the oven. Imperfection is not only acceptable, but desirable.



The recipe is a slightly modified version of one found in Williams Sonoma's Cookbook, Pie and Tart:


Harvest Apple Galette

1 rolled out pie crust round
4 large, tart apples, peeled, halved lengthwise and cored (Granny Smiths work well)
2 T cold unsalted butter
3 T sugar
½ t ground cinnamon
¼ t ground allspice

Place the round of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with 1 T sugar and dot with pieces of 1 T butter.

Thinly slice each apple crosswise, keeping halves together. Flatten the apple slices slightly, and lay them cored side down in the middle of the pie dough round. Repeat with remaining apple slices, arranging them around the center apple half. Leave a border of about 1.5 inches uncovered. Sprinkle the apple slices with 2 T sugar and the spices. Pleat the edges of the dough around the apple slices. Dot the apple slices with small pieces of the remaining 1 T butter.

Cut 3 strips of aluminum foil, about 2 inches wide. Use these strips of foil to cover the edges of the dough if they brown excessively during baking.

Refrigerate the galette until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 F.

Bake the galette for 15 minutes, and reduce oven temperature to 375 F. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender, 30 to 40 minutes longer. Be sure to cover the edges of the crust with the strips of foil to avoid over-browning.

Cool the galette on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Yields: 1 9-inch galette (about 6 servings)

Chicken "Shepherd's" Pie

This is the time of year when I crave winter comfort food. After the holidays feasts have passed and you've gotten over the guilt associated with New Year's weight loss plans, it's time to make those one-pot comfort dishes that cool weather seem to make just that much better. Even here in Phoenix when the February temperatures remind one more of spring than winter, this type of dish is just right.

Traditionally, shepherd's pies are made with lamb (hence, the name). Where we live, lamb can be difficult to find, but we always seem to have leftover roast chicken that is perfect for this dish. The pie is filled with winter vegetables and fragrant with herbs, complementing the chicken beautifully. The mashed potato topping is lightly browned with the juices of the filling bubbling up the edges of the dish. Plan on making this pie on a Sunday when you've got a bit more time to spend in the kitchen. If you are lucky enough to have both leftover roast chicken AND mashed potatoes in the house, this recipe easily becomes Monday night fare. Here is the recipe:

Chicken "Shepherd's" Pie

6 medium Yukon Gold or Russett potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 leek (white and pale green parts only), rinsed well and chopped
1/3 c dry white wine
2 cups leftover roast chicken, chopped
1 T all-purpose flour
3/4 c chicken broth
2 t chopped thyme leaves (or 1 t dried)
2 t chopped rosemary leaves (or 1 t dried)
1 pinch grated nutmeg
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Sprig of rosemary for garnish (optional)

In a large pot of water, boil the potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the potato boiling water. Drain the potatoes, mash with a potato masher and add 1 T butter, reserved water and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease a medium-sized baking dish (Corning-type is perfect) or 8 x 8 inch baking dish and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the vegetables over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until tender. Pour in the white wine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the wine is reduced. Add the chicken and 1 T of flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring well.

To the chicken and vegetables, add the chicken broth, herbs, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 5 to 6 minutes, until slightly thickened. Pour the mixture into the baking dish.

Top the chicken and vegetable mixture with the mashed potatoes, and use a spatula to spread it around and cover the dish. Use the tines of a fork to decoratively "rake" the surface of the potatoes, and garnish the dish with a sprig of rosemary. Dot the top of the potatoes with small pieces of the remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the potatoes are lighly browned. Cool slighly before serving.

Serves 4

Wine pairing: This is a hearty winter dish with strong-flavored herbs, perfect with a French Cotes du Rhone or a Spanish red. We drank the 2005 Finca Luzon Jumilla from Spain, which is a blend of 65% Mourvedre and 35% Syrah. It has flavors of blackberry and earth that really work with the rosemary and thyme in this dish.