Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ham sandwiches are wonderful but after a couple they definitely get old. So, if you are looking for a way to use up all that left over holiday ham, here is a simple yet delicious recipe for you.


Chicken Cordon Bleu
Inspired by Jenn Cuisine


5 thinly slicked chicken breasts
5 slices of ham (I used leftover)
5 slices of Swiss cheese
1 c. milk
1 c. flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. bread crumbs
2 tbsp herbs de Provence
tooth picks
salt & pepper
vegetable oil

Season chicken on both sides. Lay chicken flat and layer with cheese and ham. Roll chicken and secure with tooth picks.

Place the milk, flour, eggs, and bread crumbs (combined with the herbs de Provence) in four separate containers. Dredge the chicken first in the milk, then flour, eggs, and finally the seasoned bread crumbs.

In a cast iron skillet heat 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil over medium heat. Cook chicken for 2-3 minutes on all sides.

Serve over cauliflower mash (or with whatever you choose).

Snowman Pops

I know it has been well over a month since my last update, and I so apologize. Life has been crazy with a few curve balls thrown in for good measure. However, I am back in the kitchen and have plenty to share.

These are a treat I made for a clients holiday office party. They are brownie pops covered in white chocolate and decorated to look like frosty the snowman. I just love how festive they turned out!

Merry Christmas!

Halloween Feast

Our friends, ABC, had a Halloween party this past weekend and I got to help cook. Below is the menu we created. We had so much fun coming up with these ideas and hope that they can offer some inspiration for your own party, even if it is a year away!

Appetizers
Monster Guts (guacamole)
Devil's Salsa
Graveyard Dip (spinach and artichoke dip with crackers)
Bloody Fingers (fried mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce)
Frankenstein's Eyeballs (tomatoes filled with guacamole and topped with an olive)
Mummy Dogs


Main Course
Trick or Treat Tacos (beef and chicken)
Skeleton Bones (sour cream rice)


Drinks
Witches Brew (Peach Mango Sangria)
Assorted Beer
Jello Shots


Dessert
Pumpkin Cake (funfetti cake)

The Nest

I was selected for 'recipe of the day' on the newly wed website thenest.com

Check out my picture!

Caramel Apples #2

I was recently hired to create caramel apples as a wedding favor. The bride and I choose a traditional look using a popsicle stick, over sized cupcake liner, and twine. For a fall wedding I think this is a wonderful idea!

If you would like to make your own caramel apples (with nuts) check out my directions here.

Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts

This is a great quick week night meal. It came together in less than 20 minutes and was full of the flavors of the season, which I love!

I also imagine this being a wonderful starter course for a fall themed dinner. (a small portion of course)

Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts
Adapted from Real Simple October 2009

Serves: 4

1 lbs cheese ravioli

4 tbsp olive oil, divided

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1 crisp apple, cut into match sticks

1/4 c. fresh parsley, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook ravioli according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp oil in a skillet. Add walnuts and cook until lightly toasted, approximately 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add apple and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and toss with walnuts. Combine with ravioli and drizzle with remaining 2 tbsp oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Taco Bar

This past weekend my dad turned 60 so of course we threw him a surprise party.

(and boy was he surprised)

As he is a lover of tequila it only seemed fitting to create a menu with a Mexican theme.

Menu:

Appetizers

Chips

Salsa

Guacamole

Taco Dip

Queso Dip

Taco Bar

Chipotle rubbed chicken

Grilled flank steak

Taco season ground beef

Vegetarian re fried beans mixed with black beans (vegetarian 'meat' option)

Black bean salad

Cheese & Sour Cream Rice

Hard shell corn tacos

Soft shell flour tacos

Sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, onions, and shredded cheese

Dessert

Margarita Cupcakes (recipe below)

Chocolate chip cookies (for the kids)

Bar

Strawberry Margaritas

Regular Margaritas with salt

Dos Equis

Corona with lime

Pacifico

Tequila shots

Margarita Cupcake
Adapted from Good Things Catered

2 c. AP flour
1 tbsp instant milk powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2c. sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 c. margarita mix (no tequila)
5 egg whites, room temperature

Frosting
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare 2 cupcake pans with liners.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, instant milk, baking powder, salt and set aside.

In another bowl beat together butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in vanilla and then the margarita mix. Reduce speed and mix in flour mixture a little at a time until completely combined.

In a separate bowl, with clean dry beaters, whip egg whites on high until they form stiff peaks. Using a spatula fold egg whites into the batter until just combined.

Pour the batter into the cupcake pans and bake 20-22 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Meanwhile in a bowl of a stand mixer combine cream cheese, butter, lime juice and zest, vanilla extract and beat on high until mixture is light and fluffy. Slowly add in salt and sugar until combined thoroughly. Place in fridge to chill.

Once cupcakes are cooled pipe on frosting. Garnish with straws, lime slices, and coarse salt.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

My hopes were very low this year that I would be able to find canned pumpkin. I have heard over and over on message boards that there is a pumpkin shortage so when I was at the grocery store the other day and they had ONE CAN left I grabbed it. Funny how when you can't find something you want it.

I used this pumpkin bread recipe (minus the chocolate chips) but cooked it in my muffin tin and topped it with cream cheese frosting. mmmm.... pumpkin....

Good luck on your pumpkin search this year!

Bridal Cookies

One of my best friends is getting married this weekend in Denver Colorado. She asked me to create 140 bride and groom favors for her big day (eek). In the end I am really happy with the way these turned out, clean and simple. Now I just hope she likes them as much as I do.

Congrats Tracy + Joaquin!

Stay tuned, the groom cookies will be here shortly!

Sugar Cookie decorated in Rolled Fondant and Royal Icing

Cupcake Crawl

My birthday was this past weekend and I am so excited that I got to spend it on a Cupcake Crawl with the culinary club, What's Cooking Chicago! We hit 10 bakeries! What a sugar high. It was a great time trying all the different cupcakes Chicago bakeries have to offer.

Below are the bakeries we stopped by and what HusbandPlzak and I sampled. Thanks again Joelen!
First stop was Sweet Honey Bee Bakery. We tried the red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. This was HusbandPlzak's favorite. It was amazing!

Angel Food was our second stop and are currently celebrating their 5th anniversary. We tried the Boston Cream cupcake. We weren't huge fans of this but the rest of the group LOVED this bakery so I will have to give their other offerings a try.

I am a chocolate and peanut butter lover and this cupcake did not disappoint. I just loved the atmosphere at Sensational Bites. They had a ton of adorable decorated sugar cookies as well as fabulous mini cakes.

Southport Grocery had an offering of simply chocolate or vanilla cupcakes. Can't argue with the basics but the frosting was a little sweet for me.

Walking into Dinkel's was like taking a step back in time, I loved it! We tasted a vanilla cupcake with strawberry filling and butter cream frosting. The cake was amazing but I would have loved a little more filling because it was so yummy.

Bleeding Heart was one of the coolest bakeries I have ever been too, if not the coolest. I LOVE the idea of an organic bakery and their flavor options were super creative. We tried the Ginger Roger which had poached pears, candied ginger, and chocolate frosting. Very unique and very yummy.

And here at Pheobe's you can find the BEST of the best (well in my opinion). This was at the end of the day so I was almost sugared out but the Salted Caramel cupcake was TO.DIE.FOR.

At Molly's we tried to switch it up from all the chocolate and try the Key Lime Cupcake. I really enjoyed this filling and would definitely go back to this adorable bakery.

Our last stop of the day was to the Meatloaf Bakery where the cupcakes were all made out of meatloaf! Such a simple yet creative idea. We tried the Mac n' Barb (turkey meatloaf topped with mac and cheese with bbq dipping sauce) and the No Buns About It (bacon, ground beef, onions, and cheddar cheese topped with cheesy potatoes)