Sunday Supper: Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken w/ Spinach & Pine Nut Orzo

Last night we had a terrific Sunday Supper of stuffed chicken and orzo. I forgot to take photos, but I will still post the recipes for anyone who may be interested.

Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast
Recipe courtesy Guy Fieri

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 3/4 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup chopped marinated sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 3/4 cup white wine, divided
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped Italian parsley leaves
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions
In a saute pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When the oil is hot add the onions and saute until translucent. Stir in the artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes, then add the salt, pepper and garlic. When the garlic begins to lightly brown, deglaze with 1/4 cup of the white wine. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the butter, allow it to melt, then toss in the Parmesan and parsley.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool before stuffing the chicken breast.

Rinse, trim and pound out chicken breasts to about 1/4-inch thick. Do not over-pound as holes in the chicken will make it difficult for the chicken to retain the stuffing.

Put 1/4 of the stuffing mixture at 1 end of a chicken breast. Gentle roll the chicken breast folding the ends in to help keep the stuffing from coming out during the cooking process. Secure the chicken roll with 2 toothpicks. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts and
stuffing.

Heat the 2 tablespoons of the remaining oil in a medium saute pan over high heat. Add the chicken breasts, with the secured side of the chicken first, to insure the roll with stay together. Brown the chicken on all sides, add remaining butter, and deglaze with remaining white wine.

Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes.

Remove the chicken to a cutting board and discard the toothpicks. Slice each breast on a bias into 5 pieces and transfer to a serving platter. Drizzle with remaining pan drippings, garnish with a sprinkle of Parmesan and serve.

Orzo with Spinach, Grape Tomatoes & Pine Nuts
my adaptation from a a few recipes; Serves about 6

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 package frozen, organic spinach; partially or fully defrosted
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 package grape tomatoes, cut into halves
• 1 lb of dried orzo pasta
• 26 oz container of chicken stock (substitute vegetable stock if vegetarian)

Directions
Heat a large covered skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and when it is hot, add the partially defrosted spinach and break apart as it heats. Stir in a pinch each of salt and pepper. Transfer the spinach to a strainer set over a bowl and drain. When cool enough to handle, press down on the spinach to extract as much liquid as possible and reserve the juice for later

In a large heavy skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly golden. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, until the garlic gives off its aroma. Add in the cooked spinach and remove from the heat.

In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Cook the orzo, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for about 9 minutes or until tender. Once most of the stock is absorbed and orzo is tender stir in the spinach mixture, then stir in the uncooked grape tomato halves. Lastly, add remaining spinach juice to taste.

These two recipes were delicious together and the orzo reheated nicely tonight for dinner :-)

STL Illustrator: Dan Zettwoch

My sister gave me a completely awesome screenprint for my birthday from a talented St. Louis Illustrator/Artist, Dan Zettwoch.

The print is called St. Louis Style and it features all of the famous, local fare from my favorite hometown:

Of course my favorite feature is the STL style pizza and the equation for provel cheese (no, not provolone, provel).

Man I miss that cheese! My mother-in-law brought us two pounds of provel when she came up for Thanksgiving just because we can't buy it here.

I know many St. Louisans read my blog so I wanted to share the work of this local (to you) artist. This new print is a 3-color, hand-pulled screenprint on wheat-colored Canson Edition paper, edition of 100, 30" x 11 1/4" and he's selling them for $25 apiece while they last.

A great addition to any kitchen or rec area :-) Now I just need to get mine framed and hung.

Our Thanksgiving Feast (w/Centerpieces & Recipes)

This Thanksgiving we invited our families to come to Chicago, which I spoke about previously here. And in hosting this potentially stressful event, I realized something telling about myself. There is something about big-old stressful life events that somehow do NOT stress me out. At all. Don't get me wrong the planning, prepping and waiting for the event to come have some stress and freak-out moments. And day-to-day some might say that I am a high-strung person, but for some reason I feel SO comfortable and in the zone in situations that often send other people into hives.

For example, a wedding day can be one of the most nerve-wracking days of many people's lives, but mine was literally the most calm day of my life. I seriously had never felt more at peace, so much so that my husband, family and bridesmaids all commented on my serenity. And now, hosting my first Thanksgiving, my mom and Dave both admitted that they cringed a little thinking about how I might fly off the handle if the whole meal didn't fall into place as expected while also hosting my-in-laws and family for the first time. But I didn't. In fact, the meal came together perfectly and I literally felt like I floated through the day. I think I just love the sense of satisfaction of everything coming together and creating something special (meals, memories) for those that I love.

If I could find a way to make every day a Martha Stewart Living or Wedding day, I might be one stress-free lady. Eventually maybe this cooking/hosting/coordinating gig can be more a part of my day-to-day life, but until that time I'll savor the serene moments and try to remember how therapeutic that can be when the smaller stressors start to get to me. But enough with the psychoanalysis, and on to the fun table-scape and scrumptious recipes that were a big hit!

For my Thanksgiving Table, I took a cue from Martha and drilled out fresh pumpkins & gourds to make autumnal candle holders for our centerpieces. See the gourd candle instructional video here. Then I took a brown platter, filled it with green split peas and added warm colored candles to the gourds. And voila!

(excuse the quality of my iPhone pic)

Now on to the Thanksgiving Recipes...

Alton Brown's Good Eats Roast Turkey: Seriously if you only take one thing away from my blog ever, it should be this recipe along with a promise to never prepare your turkey any other way. Yes, it's that good. Prior to this recipe, I thought the turkey was just a sideshow to the main event of scrumptious sides... never living up to it's main course ranking. It was just there; always a bit dry and with little seasoning. But if you brine and roast your turkey next year following this recipe be prepared to enjoy the juiciest tender bird on earth. Period. And it's not just a fluke. We did this at my mom's house for Christmas again with two large turkey breasts and had the same excellent results. **One tip: Coat the turkey with canola oil first, then put it in the pan. I poured the canola oil over the bird in the roasting pan which caused a lot of excess oil in bottom and lots of smoke while you have it at 500 degrees. We revised it at my mom's and got no smoke.

Sausage and Apple Stuffing: This was my second favorite part of the meal, and again it made an encore at my mom's Christmas because it was such a hit. I used turkey sausage, although it called for pork, and it was still very good.

Barefoot Contessa Homemade Gravy: Yummy, rich and delicious. Enough said.

Emeril's Cranberry Sauce: I grew up on the canned stuff so this is a major upgrade.

Bourbon Pecan Pie: Ok, so this ALSO made a second showing at Christmas if that tells you how repeat worthy this pie recipe is. I was a little heavy handed on the Maker's Mark bourbon and had no complaints ;-)

The rest of the meal was rounded out by my roasted brussels sprouts, my mom's sweet potato and pecan crusted casserole, her green bean casserole, and warm rolls.

Oh, and I also followed Colleen's advice and wore my favorite apron to top it all off :-)

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone.