Meal: Brie Stuffed Chicken, Roasted Red Pepper Pasta and Cheesy Crostini with a Garden Salad

This meal was specially prepared for my mother on her birthday. She had asked for pasta and this is what I came up with. The recipe below is for the crostinis, pasta and the chicken. As for the salad, just mix lettuce, kale, spinach, and your favourite vegetables and dressing. This meal also requires a little prep in advance for the roasted red peppers, I don't suggest you buy them since there are many ways to easily make them yourself as shown in the link.

Ingredients

Chicken

4 chicken breast, boneless, skinless 

8 slices of brie, however thick you want them

cooking string (i.e. one that does not contain chemicals)

smoked paprika and black pepper

Crostinis

1 bread of your choice, thinly sliced

2-3 garlic cloves

shredded cheese

dried thyme

Pasta

enough pasta for 4 people, about 150g

2 cloves garlic, finely minced or crushed

1 medium onions, finely minced

black pepper

1 tbsp (15mL) butter or margarine

1 tbsp (15mL) flour

1 cup (240mL) milk

2-3 roasted red pepper, chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven at 375 F.

2. Cut the each chicken breast in the middle but not all the way through, just like a hot dog bun. Stuff each breast with 2 slices of brie. Use string to tie each breast so the brie stays inside and doesn't ooze out too much. Put the breasts on a baking dish/sheet, sprinkle each one with black pepper and smoked paprika. Cover with a foil and bake for 40 minutes on bottom rack, remove the foil for the last 10 minutes.

3. Preparing the pasta and the crostinis only takes about 20 minutes, so you can rest for a bit or prep everything else. 

4. Bring water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente; drain leaving only a little bit of water so they don't dry up if your sauce isn't quite ready.

5. During that time prepare the crostinis, place the bread slices on a baking sheet. Rub some freshly cut garlic (don't throw it away after you are done, mince/crush it and use it for the pasta sauce) on the bread slices. Sprinkle the cheese evenly on each slice, and top with dried thyme. Bake for 5 minutes on the top rack when there is only about 15 minutes left for the chicken to cook. This way your guests can start enjoying their meal while you finish up.

6. As for the pasta sauce, heat oil in a medium pan on medium heat. Cook the onions and the garlic seasoned with black pepper for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add butter, let it melt then add the flour. Whisk for about 3-4 minutes to ensure there are no lumps and that the flour cooks a bit. Add the milk and whisk for a couple of minutes. Mix in the roasted red peppers and keep mixing until the sauce is at desired consistency. Incorporate the cooked pasta without the remaining pasta water.

7. Your chicken should be ready by now. Take it out of the oven and let it sit covered with the foil for 5 minutes before you remove the strings, or you can let your guests remove their own. 

8. Plate up and enjoy!

Serves 4.

Stuffed Mushrooms Caps

Picture of before they were cooked because my family devoured them!

These healthy bites were a hit at my family's Christmas party! I took this recipe, changed all the measurements and added more spices, which means the flavour came from the spices and not from the butter. They were quite simple to make and packed with fibre which can be rare for holiday appetizers.

Ingredients
20 medium mushroom, white or crimini
1 tbsp (15mL) margarine or butter
1 tbsp (15mL) olive oil
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tsp (5mL) freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp (2.5mL) dried oregano
1 tsp (5mL) smoked paprika
1/2 cup (120mL) lentils, cooked or canned and drained
1/2-3/4 cup (120-180mL) cheese, grated - I chose old cheddar
1/2 cup (120mL) plain breadcrumbs
Smoked paprika for garnish

Method
1. Preheat oven at 375 F
2. Lightly oil a baking dish big enough to hold all your mushroom caps.
3. Remove stems from mushrooms. Finely chop the stems and set aside. Arrange the mushroom caps in the baking dish, round side down.
4. Heat olive oil and margarine in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Add the chopped stems, onions, black pepper, oregano and smoke paprika. Cook until onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
5. Mix in the lentils, cheese, and breadcrumbs. Once all combined, remove from heat.
6. Stuff the mushrooms with the mixture. Sprinkle smoked paprika on all of them.
7. On middle rack of oven, bake for 8 minutes and broil for 4 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy!

If you are making them for a diner party at someone else's house, I suggest you do steps 2 to 6 at home and the baking once you're at the diner party.

One-Pot Chicken Curry

I must start with an apology, I was so hungry and so excited to eat this delicious smelling curry that I forgot to take a picture of my meal. It's the third curry I've made in a month because I was not satisfied with the results of the others. What I was looking for in this curry is a medium heat with a nice and creamy consistency without using cream, you'll see what I mean when you taste it.

Ingredients

Cooking oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, minced

2 red hot peppers, minced, optional for heat

3 tbsp (45mL) red curry paste

3 chicken breasts, cut in about 1" pieces

1 large broccoli, cut the florets and slice the stem (remove some of the hard skin on the bottom of the stem before slicing)

2 carrots, peeled or washed and sliced
1 can (400mL) coconut milk

Method
1. In medium to large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Cook onions, garlic and the hot peppers for 3 minutes, until right before the onions turn translucent.
2. Add the red curry paste and mix it in the onion mixture.
3. Add the chicken and continue cooking for 10-12 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Continue flipping/mixing as you cook so that by the end the chicken is coated with the curry paste as well.
4. Add the broccoli (florets and stem) and the carrot slices. Cook covered for 5 minutes.
5. Add the coconut milk and bring down the heat to let simmer for 20-30 minutes, uncover for the last 5 minutes of cooking to reduce the liquid a little and acquire the desired consistency.
6. Serve on a bed of white or infused rice. Enjoy!

Serves 4.

Spicy Coriander Cod with Turnip, Carrots and Potatoes

We just bought a hot coriander chutney at a craft fair and the lady suggested we try it with fish...So we did and it gave a kick to a very simple meal. This meal required a lot of cutting but very little work after it was in the oven and very little ingredients.

Ingredients
1/2 turnip, peeled
2 carrots, peeled
4 medium potatoes, washed
olive oil
black pepper
salt, optional
4 cod filets
1/4 cup (60mL) panko
1/4 cup (60mL) hot coriander chutney*

Method
1. Preheat oven at 350 F.
2. Cut the carrots and the turnip in equal-size sticks, about 2-3 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Set them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with a little bit of oil and season to taste.
3. For this step you can either cut the potatoes like the turnip and carrots or you can slice them like we did (about 1/4 inch thick). Set them on another baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and season to taste.
4. Put both baking sheets in the oven on different racks for 40 minutes. After 15 minutes, rotate and switch their spots. After 10 minutes rotate and switch them again.
5. When there is only 10 minutes left for the vegetables, mix the panko and the chutney together. Top all 4 filets with the mixture.
6. Take the vegetables out of the oven and put in the fish for about 7-10 minutes, depending on how you like your fish done.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 2-4.

*If you can't find this type of chutney at your local grocery store, which you probably won't unfortunately, I suggest you try looking for a recipe and just mix all ingredients together in a blender. Ours contains fresh coriander, cashew and almond paste, cider vinegar, hot peppers, onions, basil, garlic, ginger, cane sugar, sea salt and spices. This one is the closest I found to my pre-made chutney but there are some varieties that contain either mint or coconut depending on your taste.

Spicy Shrimp Tomato Sauce on Pasta

This dish was fast and simple and I would gladly make it again on a busy week night. Most of the flavour from this dish comes from the spicy sausage and there is just enough tomato to coat everything. This can easily be done with any vegetables you have on hand, we had kale and mushrooms but I can imagine this recipe being delicious with spinach and grated carrots.

Ingredients

1 spicy Italian sausage without the casing

1 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

6-8 mushrooms, thinly sliced

16-20 shrimps, uncooked, deveined, shell off

1/2 tbsp (7mL) black pepper

1/4 tsp (2mL) cayenne pepper

1/2 tbsp (7mL) oregano

1/2 tbsp (7mL) parsley
4-6 kale leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 can (400mL) crushed tomatoes, salt free

200g spaghettini (or any long pasta)

Method

1. Heat oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add sausage meat, cook for 1-2 minutes breaking the meat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes.

2. Make a well with the meat/onion mixture and cook the mushrooms in the middle for about 5 minutes. Mix together.

3. During that time, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta until aldente (as per box).

4. Back to the skillet, make another well and cook the shrimps for about 2 minutes on each side. Season while they cook with black pepper, cayenne, oregano and parsley. Mix everything together.
5. Add the kale in the mixture and cook for about 3-5 minutes (depending on how big you cut the leaves).

6. Add the crushed tomato to the mixture and let simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes.

7. Your pasta should be ready, you can drain it and add it to the sauce. Enjoy!

Serves 3-4. 

'Quick' Cabbage Rolls

It's that time of the year again when I buy a large cabbage, make a coleslaw and don't know what to do with the rest. Last year, I made a soup but this year I figured I'd try myself at cabbage rolls. I started looking online for recipes and noticed that it takes two hours to cook! I therefore chose to alter the recipe so it would only take one hour total, counting prep and cooking. In a shorter amount of time, I was able to create the same result, I am pretty proud of myself for that!

Ingredients
6 cabbage leaves
1 (240mL) cup white rice
2 cups (480mL) vegetable broth (any type of broth can be used)
1lb ground beef, extra lean
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp (15mL) ground black pepper
1 tbsp (15mL) dried basil
1 tbsp (15mL) dried thyme
1 tbsp (15mL) dried oregano
1 1/2 cup (360mL) no added salt crushed tomato
1 tbsp (15mL) dried oregano
1 tbsp (15mL) ground black pepper
1 tsp (5mL) cayenne pepper, optional
Parmesan

Method
1. Cook rice as per package but instead of water use broth.
2. Bring a large pot to a boil.
3. Carefully remove six leaves from the cabbage and, one by one, let them soften in the boiling water. This takes about 5 minutes per leaf. The spine will still be hard but it will be removed before making the rolls.

4. On medium-high heat, cook the onions and garlic in a little bit of oil for about 3 minutes. Add in the ground beef, black pepper, basil, thyme, and oregano. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until you no longer see pink. Make sure that as it's cooking, you break the meat apart.
5. Preheat oven at 400 F.
6. Mix the cayenne pepper as well as the extra oregano and black pepper in the crushed tomatoes. You can skip this step if you use a pre-made tomato sauce, either homemade or canned.
6. The rice should be ready by now. Mix 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of spiced crushed tomatoes with the beef mixture.
7. Place a cabbage leaf on a plate, remove the spine with a knife. Scoop about 1/6th of the beef-rice-tomato mixture on the cabbage leaf. Fold one end of the cabbage leaf over the mixture, roll and tuck the sides in to prevent the filling from falling out. Repeat until you have used all the mixture and cabbage leaves. 

8. Place rolls in a 9x9 pan with seem at the bottom. Cover rolls with the rest of the crushed tomato and grate parmesan over each roll.

9. Cook for 25-30 minutes on the middle rack.

I served mine on a bed of rice because I had leftovers. Serves 6.

Apple Muffins

I went apple picking a couple of weeks ago and decided that buying 14lbs of apple was a good idea. I guess it was because apple picking is so much fun, but then I had to figure out a couple of recipes to incorporate apples into. One of them was apple muffins. I took my mom's muffin recipe and tweeked it to add in my home made applesauce. My applesauce is simply made with apples and cinnamon, so no added sugar, and I kept the peels to give it a nice pink colour.

Ingredients
Dry 
1/2 cup (120mL) white flour
1 cup (240mL) whole wheat flour
1 cup (240mL) old fashion oats
1 tbsp (15mL) wheat germ
1 tsp (5mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5mL) baking soda
1/2 tbsp (7.5mL) cinnamon

Wet
2 eggs
1 cup (240mL) vanilla or plain yogurt
1/2 cup (120mL) brown sugar
1/2 cup (120mL) unsalted butter or margarine, melted
1 cup (240mL) apple sauce

Method
1. Preheat oven at 400 F
2. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together, set a aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix wet ingredients together.
4. Incorporate half of dry ingredients in wet mix. Repeat with other half. Do not over mix. Let sit for 5 minutes, the mixture will fluff up.
5. During that time, butter a 9"x 9" pan.
6. Put mixture in pan.
7. Bake for 20-23 minutes on middle rack. Test it with a clean knife or a toothpick by inserting it in the middle, if it comes out clean, it's ready!
8. Remove from pan and cool on a rack. Wait for the loaf to cool at room temperature before cutting it.

This recipe can easily be turned into muffins, bake them for 16-18 minutes. Makes 12-18 muffins.