Just Gettin' Cookin'

At the beginning of this year, I sat down and made my New Years resolutions, but with that-- I separately created a list of goals that I'd like to accomplish before leave New York in a couple of months. I have taken my list of goals and divided it all between the months I have left, so I don't near the end, faced with an entire list of things that I still need to accomplish. One of the things on my list is to cook more, so this week I've begun trying some fun new things;)

There's a restaurant at the base of my building, just adjacent to the lobby that makes the most amazing blueberry yogurt parfait's! I nonchalantly asked one of their employee's what their secret was to making them taste so yummy. . . and this is what she told me:

Take Low Fat plain yogurt, blend in blueberries ( I found out later, it's best if you blend the blueberries, and then stir them into the yogurt. Then you put a couple spoonfuls into the designated yogurt container, and top it with a light layer of honey, then granola (it's actually really yummy with raisins too) topped with blueberries, you can do as many layers as you want!

So I tried it. . . and tada! Oh this is such a yummy treat, and you can add something to it like a banana, or an apple-- separately;) and viola. . . You've got yourself nice healthy meal!

Here is a fun recipe that I made for all my rommies tonight, Broccoli Crunch, along with the following recipe, Chicken Cordon Blue:

I found this recipe on one of my favorite recipe blog sites: http://www.101cookbooks.com/ you should check it out! She's got so many awesome ideas, and fun, tasty pictures to look at ;)

Broccoli Crunch Recipe-

The success of this salad hinges on the broccoli. Buy good-quality bright green broccoli with tight florets. Now that you have good broccoli, do your best not to overcook it - you don't want it turning to mush.

4 -5 cups tiny broccoli florets (and chopped stalks if you like)

1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped

Scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/4 cup almond butter

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons hot water

2 small crisp apples, cut into bit-sized pieces (if you aren't going to use the apples immediately, let them sit in a bowl of water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon)

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup toasted or candied walnuts or almonds

1/3 cup pan-fried crunchy shallots*

chives (optional)

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt as you would pasta water. Boil the broccoli just long enough to take the raw edge of - 10 or 15 seconds. Drain and immerse it in cold water (or let cold water run over it). At this point, I like to spin the broccoli in a salad spinner to get the water off, but a few good knocks against the sink in a strainer can do the trick pretty well. Set aside.

Make the dressing by sprinkling the salt over the clove of garlic. Smash the clove and chop, smash and chop - turning it into a paste. In a small bowl whisk the salty garlic paste with the almond butter, lemon juice, honey and olive oil. Add the hot water and whisk until light and creamy. Taste, make any adjustments and set aside.

In a large bowl gently toss the broccoli, apples, red onion, most of the shallots and nuts with a generous drizzle of the almond dressing. Turn out onto a platter and finish with the rest of the shallots and chives if you like. Serve family style.Serves 4.

*Stir together the shallots, a splash of clarified butter (or olive oil) and big pinch of salt In a large skillet over medium heat. Stir every few minutes, you want the shallots to slowly brown over about fifteen minutes. Let them get dark, dark brown (but not burn), and if needed turn down the heat. Remove from skillet and onto a paper towel to cool in a single layer where they will crisp up a bit.

Chicken Cordon Blue:

I found both of these recipe's on http://www.kraftfoods.com/, but couldn't decide which one to use, so I tried a little bit of both, and created my Chicken Cordon Blue Combo ;)

Chicken Cordon Blue #1

4 tablespoon butter
1 cup flour
4 boneless, skinless breasts of chicken
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 very thin slices smoked ham
2 cups bread crumbs
6 ounces Lorraine Swiss cheese, cut into four chunks

Directions-

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in glass baking dish. Lightly flatten chicken breasts between plastic wrap with mallet. Lay 1 slice of ham and 1 piece of cheese on flattened breast, fold in half and seal close with toothpicks. Repeat process for remaining chicken breasts. Coat each piece with flour, then eggs and then bread crumbs. Place chicken pieces in glass baking dish. Turn to coat with butter. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with parselyed rice and steamed broccoli

Chicken Cordon Blue #2

4 chicken breasts skinless and boneless
4 thin slices prosciutto di Parma
1/2 pound Gruyere, grated
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lay the chicken breast between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently pound the chicken to 1/4-inch thickness. Remove the top sheet of plastic and lay 2 slices of prosciutto neatly over the top to cover the breast and sprinkle a quarter of the cheese over the prosciutto. Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll up tight like a jellyroll inside the plastic wrap. Squeeze the log gently to seal and twist both ends tight to form a nice log. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Season the flour with salt and pepper. Mix the bread crumbs with thyme, garlic and kosher salt, pepper, and melted butter. The butter will help the crust brown. Beat together the eggs and season so the flour, the eggs and the crumbs are all seasoned.

Remove the plastic wrap. Lightly dust the chicken with flour, dip in the egg mixture and gently coat in the bread crumbs. Lightly coat a baking pan with olive oil and carefully transfer the roulades onto it. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and cooked through.

I really liked both the Chicken, and the Broccoli, but the Broccoli recipe called for so much dressing, and I just drizzled it over the top and then mixed it all together. I only used like a third of what the recipe called for-- and that was plenty! I also added pears to it, because I ran out of apples, I actually preferred the improv ingredients- my roomies concurred, it was delish.

Well that's the first three of my "New Recipe's", with those 3 down. . . only 17 more to go! haha if you've seen Julie and Julia, then you can see where I got my inspiration-- loved that movie! I really just think it will be fun to learn to try some new things-- and I better take advantage of these amazing farmers markets while I have them!