Parmesan-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Delish meets no-brainer in this exceptionally easy, yet very good chicken dinner.  Really, you can serve this to company.  Quick to prepare and not long in the oven.  All things being equal, I can maybe come up with a photo.... Soonish. 

Everyday Food, October 2005

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Grated zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 4 bone-in chicken breast halves (about 3 pounds)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, mix parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and zest. Season with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
2. Divide parsley mixture into four mounds. Carefully loosen chicken skin with fingers; tuck parsley mixture under skin. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan.
3. Bake until skin is crispy, chicken is cooked through, and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 165 degrees, about 30 minutes.

30-Minute Turkey Chili

I made this yesterday.  (April 9, 2013) Next time I will double it.  I'm serving it again with brown rice from the baked brown rice recipe to fill out the servings and to enhance the protein combo the way rice does. We discussed the merits of this recipe in some detail since I'm putting it into the rotation.  The consensus was that while we would have said "this is not our usual chili recipe," we would not have said, "Wow, this recipe really suffers for lack of beefy red meat."  I'm inclined to try the standard recipe with turkey instead of beef, just to see.  Will report.  

30-Minute Turkey Chili

From Food Network Kitchens

Prep Time:10 min

Cook Time:30 min

Level:Easy

4 servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, chopped  (I believe I have the blessing of Cooks Illustrated for pressing rather than mincing or chopping.  I almost always press garlic.  And 5 cloves is over the edge for me.  3.  2 1/2.)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons chili powder  (I used Pensey's Hot and 9000--one teaspoon of each.) 

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 chipotle chile en adobo, coarsely chopped, with 1 tablespoon sauce (You can keep canned chiles in adobo in the pantry for years on end and eat it without dying.  Apparently.  At least not after 22 hours or so.)

1 pound ground turkey

1 (12-ounce) Mexican lager-style beer (Some reviewer used IPA.  So I did, too.  Easily swayed.) 

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juice.  (Here's a thing.  I used a 28 oz can because of an attention span problem.  Seemed to make no difference, but be aware.)

1 (15 1/2-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

Sliced scallions, cilantro sprigs, avocado, sour cream, grated Monterey jack cheese, and/or tortilla chips, for garnish, optional

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, salt, chili powder, and oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and the chipotle chile and sauce; cook 1 minute more. Add the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 3 minutes. Add the beer and simmer until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes--crushing them through your fingers into the skillet--along with their juices and the beans; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes.

Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with the garnishes of your choice.

Cook's Note: A skillet's larger surface area reduces sauces faster than simmering in a saucepan.

Baked Brown Rice

Baked Brown Rice

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time:1 hr 5 min

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups brown rice, medium or short grain (Critical importance on the med or short.) 
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter/you could use olive oil if your prefer.
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the rice into an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

Bring the water, butter, and salt just to a boil in a covered saucepan. (The cover is to keep the water from steaming away and screwing up the proportions/if you grab it as soon as it starts to boil, you can skip the lid.  I do.)  Once the water boils, pour it over the rice, stir to combine, and cover the dish tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. [Or two layers of reg foil.  Heavy duty is just so easy and satisfying to us.  Get the regular size if you get it; not super long which is neither of the above.]  Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove cover and fluff the rice with a fork. Serve immediately.  It's ready immediately; you do not have to serve it right then.  Just fluff again.  Mike if you have to. (Serve next week.  I always wrap the leftovers in the foil from the baking; like a little carry-out swan.)  

Apricot Lamb Chop

Just in case you'd like to try this.  And you know what.  You could probably do this with a pork chop.  When you pull the chop out of the oven, set it on the stove and pour the sauce over; turn the chop.  Plate.  Drizzle with extra sauce.  (Save leftover sauce for up to a week and drizzle on, I dunno, anything.  Breakfast cereal.)  Or smarter, probably, halve the sauce recipe.  

4 servings


Ingredients:

1/2 cup apricot preserves  [Didn't have 'em; used Orange Marmalade (the go-to preserve); not sorry.]

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic  (Just press a clove; what are they thinking?) 
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce  (I really advise the use of low-sodium soy sauce.  Even though "low" in this instance is a joke.  A cruel joke. No taste difference that I can discern. Especially in a recipe that calls for a half tsp.)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
8 4-oz lamb loin chops trimmed
1 Tbs. Olive oil.

Preparation:
Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Combine salt, cinnamon, and pepper, and sprinkle over both sides of lamb. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with olive oil (as little as you can get away with; the lamp will add fat and you don't want a lot of grease in the sauce.) Add lamb to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove skillet from heat; add apricot mixture, turning lamb to coat. Place 2 chops on each of 4 dinner plates; spoon remaining apricot mixture evenly over chops. (I vote 3 chops)