Chicken Cordon Bleu: SHV

I worked at a restaurant years ago that served this (I say served, not made, because they came premade and frozen); I cannot even count how many I had. Not only did I love the chicken itself, but it came with this amazing mushroom cream sauce that I am going to try and recreate from memory. Between that, baked potatoes and rye whiskey, I've got most of my mid-twenties weight gain sorted out. Here is the somewhat healthier version:

You will need:

4 bone-in chicken breasts, over a pound
4-8 slices lean deli ham, about 80-100 g
4 slices swiss cheese, although a light Havarti or light Monterrey Jack would work
1/2 c flour (I am using whole wheat whole grain, but all-purpose would work too)
Salt, pepper, thyme
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 c 1 % milk
1/2 c panko bread crumbs
Oil spray
1 tsp olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 small onion, grated or finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 c white wine
2 c chicken broth
1/2 c homogenized milk or whipping cream

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Next, prep! I recommended bone-in chicken breasts because they tend to be bigger. Also, you can save the raw bones for stock, they are the best for jelly. I will explain when I do a stock / soup post. Cut as close to the bone as you can, including the tender.

Helloooo chickie

Start pulling up the skin slowly

Slice under the skin, follow along the membrane

Nekkid!

I am cutting the tender off to make chicken strips for the kiddos:

Set up your dipping stations: stir the 1\4 1% milk with the mustard, add some salt and pepper to your flour and throw some thyme into your breadcrumbs.

Grate or chop your onion finely but don't press your garlic just yet, save that for the pan. Wipe your mushrooms and slice thinly.

Now we start! Once you have your chicken off the bone, there are two ways to prepare this chicken. You can choose whichever works best for you; I will demonstrate both. For the first, put the a chicken breast between two pieces of plastic. I like to use those thick Ziploc freezer baggies, but only when I am ready to throw them out because I am cheap and they are not. Start to pound the chicken, working from the centre towards the edges, until it is about half an inch thick all over.

De-tendered

Ziploc baggie pounding

The other method is to butterfly. You want to find the centre of the breast, slide a sharp knife in a parallel line, scraping along gently until one side is open like a flap.

Focus on the other side and do the same, opening it up like a book on each side.

Either way will work. Depending on how comfortable you are with a knife, or how much you like to work off some aggression with a mallet (say because your 4-year-old is STILL not listening and is picking at his brother ALL DAY. AGAIN. Hypothetically) you just need a flat, wide chicken breast.

Save these for stock - trust me!

Season your chicken with a little salt and pepper, lay on one or two slices of ham and then a slice of swiss cheese.

Starting at the longest edge, start rolling up the chicken carefully keeping the ham and cheese in the middle until you can fold one side over the other.

Pin with toothpicks, set aside and do the rest.

Dip the chicken in the flour, then the Dijon mixture, then roll in the bread crumbs.

Place on the cookie sheet, seam side down and spray with oil. Bake for 45-50 minutes, flipping and spraying halfway.

Meanwhile, sauce! Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan, sauté the grated onions for 3-4 minutes, until almost softened. Crush the garlic into the pan and cook for just one more minute. Add in the mushrooms and thyme, cook for 4 more minutes.

Deglaze with the wine, stirring with a flat edge to scrap up all the browned bits on the bottom.

When the wine is gone, add in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce and cook, uncovered, until you can drag a wooden spoon across the centre and it leaves a trail, about 8-10 minutes.

Add in the milk and cook for 3-5 more minutes, stirring until smooth and fully blended.

This came in at 350 calories per serving; I am adding a roasted potatoes and some steamed veggies and bam! Right around 500!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Oat Sandwich Cookies: SHV

It's been a couple of rainy days, so now that I've baked a bunch and stocked up on bread, I thought I would make something chocolate-y. These cookies are different from most of the ones I make; for one thing the shortening makes them super flaky and they don't have chocolate chips. A cookie without chocolate chips in some form or another? What FOR?? However, they are one of my mom's favourites and they are nice to give oot.

I didn't intend to make these healthier, but ran out of all-purpose flour. I know, what??? I have several tens of pounds of flour in my pantry at any given point; turns out it was all  whole wheat or whole wheat whole grain or bread flour. So here they are with mostly whole wheat flour and a close eye on the fat. I am not always going to be making reduced-calorie versions of things, I firmly believe that some things should be made as they were intended, and eaten in teeny tiny amounts and truly enjoyed. These cookies are not those and so can take a bit of adjustment. Enjoy!

You will need:

1/4 c butter, softened
1/4 c shortening (I've also used lard, but I would not recommend golden shortening)
3 Tbsp sugar
2/3 c whole wheat or all-purpose flour (I used 1/4 c ap, then the rest ww)
1/2 c rolled oats (not quick, unless that's all you have)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 Tbsp cocoa
1/3 c icing sugar

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, line a baking sheet with parchment paper (you will really really want to do this, these suckers stick) and get out a stand mixer.

Beat the butter, shortening and sugar all together until lightened and fluffy.

Add in the flour slowly, then the cocoa and oats.

Roll into 12 balls and place on your prepared cookie sheet.

Flatten the balls with a spoon as shown, or with a wet fork. A clean wet fork, mind.

Bake for 20 minutes or until just starting to brown on the bottom. Place the whole cookie sheet on a rack to cool; these can be crumbly and this helps them stay together.

Start your icing! Cream your butter, gradually add in the cocoa and icing sugar. You can either put the filling in a tube and pipe it out, or just use a knife / spatula. Whatever works best for you. You just want to make sure your icing is spreadable without being gooey. Add a tiny bit of milk if you find it is too stiff.

Spread some on a cookie, top with another. It's that simple! This recipe makes 6 sandwich (double) cookies at 324 per, which seems SO HIGH! I will be eating half of one tonight, and then the other half tomorrow, and then I think I will give them to my neighbor's husband to see if he wants to take them into work.

Almond Cheesecake Brownies: The Somewhat Healthier Version

I felt guilty earlier; realising that I hadn't posted an actual recipe in such a long time, so I decided to whip up some brownies. Plus my awesome neighbour took my oldest for a bit in the afternoon so I felt like my batteries were all a-raring to go.

This is a recipe I've used for years, but I found myself horrified looking at the ingredient list, I mean, as if I am going to use a whole half cup of butter! As IF! TWO CUPS of white sugar???? Perhaps I could just inject it directly into my heart? Anyway, this is my first renovation but I can see there is a little more work to do. Will update then, but for now, enjoy this incarnation!

You will need:

1 1/4 c all-purpose unbleached flour (obv room for movement there)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c butter, unsalted (always!)
4 oz semisweet chocolate (I use Chipits but not all chips will melt properly, know thy chocolate!)
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, 4 squares
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c white sugar
5 large eggs (5!!)
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 8 oz pkgs cold light cream cheese (12 oz)
3/4 tsp almond extract

Prep! Measure everything, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with oil. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl or in say, a two-cup measuring cup.

Save dishes!

Melt the butter and two chocolates in a heavy-bottom saucepan over low heat. LOW heat. To make this faster, you could and probably should chop up the unsweetened squares, but then some of that chocolately goodness would not be in your belly. Up to you. My choice is clear:

In the belly it is

 Stir until all melted together and smooth. Remove from heat. V important, no scrambled eggs.

Stir in the brown sugar.

Add in four of the eggs and 2 tsp of vanilla.

Slowly add in the flour mixture just until blended.

Goo! Chocolate goo!

Place the cold cream cheese in a mixer, blend for 30 seconds then add in the half cup of white sugar.

Add in the last egg, almond extract and last 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, mix until just blended.

Pour half of the brownie mixture into the greased 13 x 9 pan, spread to cover.

Using a large scoop, spoon out the cheesecake mixture in 6 large dollops on top of the brownie layer.

Dump on the rest of the brownie mixture, spread to cover.

Use a knife, dragging it along the length to mix the layers together, creating a marbled effect.

Marble-y!

Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, remove to baking rack to cool.

Cut into 32 pieces (4 slices one way, 8 the other), it works out to 133 calories each, which is not terrible, but I would still like to see if I can get a decent brownie texture with whole wheat flour. Maybe a whole wheat pastry...next time! Enjoy these for now!

Warmed with whipped cream would be amazing I bet!