Pesto Chicken

I was stumped as to what to have for dinner tonight.   Earlier in the day I had taken a pork tenderloin out of the freezer for tomorrows dinner, but knowing I had waited too late in the day to take anything out for tonight, that we would have to have the stand-by chicken something or other…:/

So I start my googling.  I have some store bought pesto in the frig so I search for “pesto chicken” and find this, posted by Tish over at Recipe Zaar.  This is my usual way of finding last minute recipes if I go off the beaten path of regular fair.  So I skim through the recipe to make sure I have everything and off I go!  I put my famous frozen chicken tenderloins into the microwave and auto defrost for 5 minutes. I so love auto defrost and the fact that I can wait until 4:00 pm before deciding on what to have for dinner! This is super simple and fast!   My kind of dinner![/donotprint]

First you toss the chicken in the pesto and then arrange it on a foil lined cookie sheet. This goes into a preheated oven. The recipe called for an oven temp of 400.   I don’t know about your oven, but that is way too hot for mine and these little chicken tenderloins, so I set it at 350 or 325 for convection. I set the timer for 25 mins.



While the chicken was baking, I opened a can of green beans, sliced up some red onions very thinly and tossed it all together with olive oil and red wine vinegar, minced garlic, salt and pepper and then put that in the frig to chill a bit.



Since this is a last minute, thrown together dinner, I reach to the pantry for store bought scalloped potatoes and make those according to the package directions. Once those are simmering the chicken is about done and ready for it’s next step. Take that out of the oven and put a slice of tomato on each piece of chicken.  I was actually lucky enough tonight to be able to go pick two small tomato’s from my shabby garden.  And no, shabby garden is nothing like “shabby chic”…but that’s a whole different post for a different time….

Anyway, next you put some shredded mozzarella on top of the tomato.   This is what these looked like when they came out of the oven. I’m very glad I thought to lower the temp.



You now put them back in the oven and I diverted from the recipe here and put them under the broiler for about 3 mins, until the cheese started to brown a tad.



To plate the dish, I spread a good spoonful of pesto on the plate and then laid the chicken on it.



Ok, so recipe….

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves


• 1/2 cup refrigerated basil pesto


• 2-3 plum tomatoes, sliced (optional)


• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.


2. Line baking sheet with heavy-duty foil.


3. Place chicken and pesto in medium bowl; toss to coat.


4. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet.


5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.


6. Remove from oven; top with tomatoes and cheese.


7. Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

My Notes: I used frozen boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins. I baked at 350 for 25 mins. and I sliced regular tomato’s to put on top.

Now, the reviews…;)

This recipe is missing a bit of something and it might be as simple as salting and peppering the chicken before tossing it with the pesto. I think home made pesto would be a zillion times better because it would be less oily. Mine was really oily and the dish was VERY rich for my taste. I also think it would be better with a more flavorful cheese. Maybe Fontina, which is what I think I will try it with next time.  It might also be really yummy to replace the tomato’s with roasted red peppers.

All in all it was an ok dinner. Jim ate two servings, Jack hardly ate dinner at all because he was eating on and off all day and I think he was just full, though he did eat all of his green beans. Sadly, my favorite tonight were the boxed scalloped potatoes! I’m so easy….:)

Btw....I never meant for this to become a cooking or recipe blog.  Lately it just seems that's about all I'm doing in my life.  I do love to cook, though I normally just create my own stuff without recipes much less measurements. (which isn't so easy to share)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and  that you're not involved in the stock market! And if you are my advice is to NOT look at your statements for a little while...;)[

Another Saturday Night....What's for Dinner?

Yep, it's another Saturday night and we are home (as usual)!  It's very VERY hot here again with heat indexes over 100.  I just looked at my weatherbug and it's showing most of the county covered in this heat, so I guess we are all going through it together!

Ok, so on to dinner....I grilled tonight so as not to heat up the house.  Jim is trimming shrubs yet again, so just me grilling (be afraid....very afraid, though come to think of it, you're not eating this, so no worries).

No recipes tonight because you don't need any.  I took a whole chicken, rubbed him with house seasoning which is just salt, pepper and garlic powder and then stuck him on this little grilling gadget with an open can of Coke inside of him. ( we picked these up at Bass Pro Shop) It's even better with a can of beer, but Treeman drinks long necks so I didn't have any.  Though I guess I could have poured the coke out and filled it with beer from a bottle eh?  I digress...so back to the chicken....





While the chicken was cooking,  I tossed some asparagus spears and sliced red peppers with salt, pepper, minced garlic and balsamic vinegar and olive oil.   I threw these on the grill when the chicken was pretty much done.



While the veggies were grilling  I made up a simple salad of red leaf lettuce, tomato's, green onions, apples, walnuts and feta cheese. I then dressed it with Balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.  This is equally as yummy with blue cheese but feta is what I had on hand.





A bit over cooked on the outside, as usual when I grill, but its delicious all the same I promise! :)





Nice and simple!

Are you grilling this weekend?  I have a bunch of favorite outdoor cooking ideas I look forward to sharing with you over the summer and would love to hear if you have favorites as well!

Hope you're all having a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

Saturday Night, What's For Dinner?

This is what we had tonight…I love capers but I really wish I had some artichoke hearts in the pantry (note to self), that would have been even better!

Chicken Piccata (my way)

• 10 Chicken Tenderloins ( I buy a massive bag of these from Costco)


• Salt and Freshly ground pepper


• All purpose flour for dredging


• 1 egg plus a splash of water for dipping between dredging


• 6 Tbs butter


• 5 Tbs. Olive Oil


• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (way less if you’re using other than fresh)


• 1 cup chicken stock or broth


• 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed


• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped (if you only have dried, go ahead and add dry to the sauce while cooking)


• optional: Artichoke hearts and/or White Wine

Directions:

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off, then dip in egg and back into flour, again shaking off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 Tbs of butter with 3 Tbs of the olive oil.  When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the chicken one piece at a time.  I usually do my dredging and dipping as I’m putting them in the pan.  Depending on the size of your pan, you may have to do this in two batches. ( I have a really big pan because I hate to have to do it in two batches)

Cook for about 3 minutes and when browned, flip them and cook the other side for 3/5 minutes.  When they are cooked go ahead and move them to a plate and remove the pan from the heat.

Now add the lemon juice, chicken stock/broth and capers.  This is about the time I add either a little flour or cornstarch to some reserved stock or plain water and add to the pan to thicken it up,  but only because I like my sauce pretty thick.  This along with the strength of the lemon can be adjusted according to your own likes.  Now return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove chicken to platter, add remaining 2 Tbs. of butter to sauce and stir or whisk until smooth.  The above recipe should give you enough sauce, but if you like extra (like we do) you can always double it up!



Scalloped Potato Gratin

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream


• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme


• 2 garlic cloves, chopped


• Butter


• 2 lbs. white potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch thick slices


• salt and pepper


• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for broiling during the last 5 min.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a pan, heat up the cream with the sprigs of thyme and chopped garlic.  While the cream is heating up, butter a casserole dish.  Once the cream is heated, add the parmesan and salt and pepper to taste then mix.  Next add the sliced potatoes to the cream mixture, just stirring them around to coat them with the sauce.  Pour into your buttered casserole dish, spreading them out evenly as you pour.  Cover with foil and bake covered for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Not sure why, but some potatoes just seem to take more time to cook, so start checking them around the 45 minute point.  When desired doneness is reached, remove foil and add more cheese on top and bake or (broil if desired) uncovered for an additional 5 minutes.

Note: You may also layer in other cheeses as you’re adding the potato slices to your baking dish. Makes 4-6 servings.



Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend and finding a way to stay cool!  Heat index around 102 here today....and to think, it's only June!