GardenFresh Tomato Sauce!

My neighbour has gifted me with several pounds of fresh tomatoes from her garden, so I'm going to make a boatload of fresh tomato sauce! Woot! Plus! It was National Vegetarian Day! Done!

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!

Monday: Turkey Pastitsio

This is traditionally a Greek dish done with beef and even sometimes lamb (which I canNOT bear to even smell cooking), topped with a bechamel sauce and eleventy-thousand calories. Amazing, silky beefy calories. However, the main part of the meal, the interesting spices and sauce, hold up well when adjusted a wee tiny bit. Try it!

You will need:

1 lb extra lean ground turkey

1 large onion, chopped fine

1/4 c tomato paste

1 c beef stock

1 tsp cinnamon

100 g pasta of your choice (I am using multigrain fusili, but you could use rotini, or macaroni)

1 1/4 c 1% or skim milk

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

3 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 tsp grated nutmeg

2 tomatoes, sliced thinly

1/4 c breadcrumbs (I am using panko, but whole wheat would be better)

Salt, pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees (I know, hot, right??) and spray a 9 x 9 glass dish with oil. I prefer glass because of the browning and the cut-ability, but whatever you got. You will notice that I used a 10 x 13 pan in the pictures, I feel now that was a mistake. Smaller! Less is more in this case.

Saute the chopped onion with the turkey in a non-stick saucepan for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until the onions are softened and the turkey is no longer pink. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Get your pasta started now-ish. Add the tomato paste and cup of stock (you could substitute one cup of red wine if you aren't planning to inebriate any children), the cinnamon to the saucepan and bring to a boil.

Trust me! It's going to be sooo good!

Cover and let simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse your pasta; I like mine just slightly underdone when I am going to bake it with something containing liquid. I hate overcooked pasta. Yes, I even used the "H" word.

Place the meat mixture in the bottom of the prepared dish, top with a layer of pasta.

Halfway...

Playing hide the turkey

Then start your bechamel sauce. This is your basic white sauce (and the basis of macaroni and cheese!) but here's where I found that a smaller dish would have worked better. This is quite a thick sauce, it cuts back on the traditional ratios, and it will fit a small square dish perfectly.

ANYway, take your now-clean saucepan (seriously, wash it), melt the butter and add in your flour. Mix well together with a wooden spoon.

It just looks like it's going to taste awesome, doesn't it?

Or use a spatula!!

When the butter and flour is really well mixed (it will resemble small dry bits), start adding the milk, slowly, just covering the bottom of the pan.

Apparently I am not managing my heat well

And stirring until each new batch of milk is incorporated. Repeat until all the of milk has been added and the sauce is nice and smooth.

Add in your nutmeg and some more salt and pepper. This is a good time to taste, add more seasoning as required. Spread the sauce over your noodle-covered turkey.

Leetle skimpy in the big dish

Layer on your tomatoes.

Overlap them if you have to

And sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered in the smoking hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes, there should be bubbling.

I cut this into 6 servings at just over 250/per serving. DO NOT use this as a guaranteed measure, I was looking at the back of all of my own packages, etc etc. It can vary! Anyway, enjoy!