Chicken Alouette

I made this on Tuesday night.  It is one of those recipes you definitely don't need to make, but is fun to make.  It is from one of the cookbooks my mother-in-law just sent me, Southern Living Our Best Christmas Recipes.  It is the Christmas season at our house; our tree is up and our Christmas decorations are all over the place.  But I think you could make this any time of the year and the Southern Living Police would not come and get you.  Although, I am not from the south so I cannot state that with 100% certainty.  For this recipe, you use puff pastry dough and wrap up chicken breasts, then braid narrow strips of puff pastry dough to decorate the tops of the bundles.  In their picture all the bundles are symmetrical and of the same size.  Of my 6, 4 were oddly shaped, 1 looked like a kite, and the last one looked like a candy corn.  But the kids and I had fun making them.  Also, "alouette" means "lark" in French, according to the reputable website Wikipedia.  So the real name of this recipe is Chicken Lark.  Mmmmm sounds good, right?

Chicken Alouette
17.4 oz pkg puff pastry sheets, thawed
4 oz chive and onion flavored cream cheese
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp water
Kale leaves, optional (and left out by me)

Unfold pastry sheets and roll each into a 14x12 inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface.  Cut first sheet into 4 rectangles.  Cut second sheet in half, then cut one of the halves into two rectangles.  Set large rectangle aside (carefully because it's probably really thin by now).  Shape each small rectangle into an oval by trimming off corners (if you want to give these to your children to play with, along with some cookie cutters, they will like it); spread pastry ovals evenly with cream cheese.

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper; place one in center of each pastry oval.  Lightly moisten edges of pastry with water.  Fold ends over chicken; fold sides over, and pinch to seal.  Place bundles, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Cut large rectangle crosswise into 36 strips (about 1/4" wide)(I didn't count or measure and didn't have enough but it was fine).  Braid 3 strips together (way harder than it sounds)(have your daughter help you so husband cannot determine which ones you did and which ones a child did), and place crosswise over chicken bundles, tucking ends under.  Repeat with remaining strips, making crosses on each bundle.  Cover and chill up to 2 hours, if desired.

Combine egg and water.  Brush egg over pastry bundles.  Bake at 400 on lower oven rack 25 minutes or until golden.  Arrange chicken bundles on kale-lined serving platter, if desired (ummm, no).  6 servings.

We had this with cranberry jelly (because we love it and had two cans left over from Thanksgiving) and rice.  Nathan did not like this because of the cream cheese, but it really wasn't that much.  Everybody else thought these were great.  So it was definitely a fun recipe to make, but not one that will become a regular part of our rotation.  I purposely chose to make this on a day that we had nothing to do in the afternoon, and it took from about 3 pm to 5:15ish to do all the steps, including thawing the puff pastry sheets.  The kids had a lot of fun, so that counts for a lot.   

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Last recipe from this cookbook!  Can I get a woot woot?  I brought these to take into work tonight, since nobody here really likes pumpkin.  Of course I opened a can of pumpkin for the sake of the 1/2 cup this recipe calls for, and it was a Sam's Club size can of pumpkin, too, so now I have like 3 more cups to use up, but I think I can manage that. 

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
2 cups flour (I used 1 cup white and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk (who has that laying around?  Put 1 tsp lemon juice in measuring cup and then fill to 1/3 cup mark)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400.  Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or insert paper liners.  Stir together flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and ginger.  In separate bowl combine butter, pumpkin, buttermilk and eggs.  Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.  Spoon into muffin pan.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan.

Okay so I tried one of the muffins that broke when I took it out of the muffin pan (I only had 7 cupcake papers left, so 5 of the muffins had none, and 1 broke really bad when I took it out of the muffin pan).  It was good and moist, but didn't taste very pumpkin-y.  But I will still bring them to work, with some butter (real butter that melts on muffins mmmmmmm).

Cinnamon-Maple Pork Chops

This is the second to last recipe from this cookbook, Back of the Box.  The last one is the pumpkin muffins I referred to in a post a few days ago...I am going to try to make them tomorrow to take to work tomorrow night, and then I can call this cookbook "done."  Woot!  Of course I have about 2/3 of a shelf full of cookbooks waiting to be started.  The ingredient they want you to buy for this recipe is the ketchup.  They want you to buy Heinz, but I always buy Hunt's (with no HFCS).

Cinnamon-Maple Pork Chops
2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp fresh thyme
2 tsp hot pepper sauce (I used zero tsp)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, finely chopped
6 thick pork chops (about 3 lbs)(I used boneless)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Combine ketchup, syrup, seasonings, hot pepper sauce, and garlic in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce is very thick.  Cool completely; stir in onions (I did not cool it completely, who has time for that?  I cooled it for 10 minutes).  Preheat the grill to medium high and grease lightly (I used my George Foreman grill).  Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper; coat all over with half of the sauce.  Grill chops, basting often with remaining sauce, for about 7 minutes per side or until only slightly pink in the center.

I only had 4 pork chops, so I only made 1/2 of the sauce.  Even then it was plenty.  I knew 2 cups of ketchup would be too much, even if it was going to reduce down some when it was boiling.  It smelled so great, and the kids all thought so too.  We had this with mashed potatoes and corn.  It was a very yummy meal and we'll definitely have it again.

Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake

This sounded easy and so good.  It's the last dessert from Back of the Box.  They want you to buy the peanut butter chips, but I buy those almost all the time, so I didn't do it because they told me to.

Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Chocolate crumb crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
Cheesecake:
1 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 10 oz pkg Reese's peanut butter chips
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup cold whipping cream, whipped
Sliced fresh fruit for garnish, optional (I did not add this--peanut butter and fruit doesn't sound good to me at all)

For the crust:  Stir together crust ingredients in medium bowl until blended.  Press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan (which I now have because my mom got me one for Christmas last year).
For the cheesecake: Beat cream cheese with lemon juice in a large bowl until fluffy.  Combine peanut butter chips and sweetened condensed milk in medium saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly (I confess I did NOT stir constantly), until chips are melted and mixture is smooth; add to cream cheese mixture, beating until well blended.  Beat whipping cream in small bowl until stiff.  Fold into cream cheese mixture.  Pour over crust.  Cover and freeze 4-6 hours or until firm.  Remove sides of pan.  Garnish with fruit if desired.

I only have 1 mixing bowl, so first I whipped the cream and transferred it to a different bowl, then washed my mixing bowl so I could do the cream cheese mixture.  I made this last night after supper, so it was in the freezer for 24 hours.  When I got to Lisa's house, I put it in her fridge; it was there for about an hour and a half before we cut into it, and with a sharp knife it cut with no problems.  My springform pan sprang apart perfectly.  Some crumbs escaped onto the counter but probably because I didn't "press firmly" enough during that step.

This came out incredibly good.  Even all the kids liked it.  A few of them said it more than once.  And then all 3 of my kids said this is the kind of birthday cake they want when it's their birthday.  So I guess you could say it's pretty good.  Some grown ups (Nick and Steve) had 2 pieces.  It was rich, but not too rich.  Not too sweet, but not like some cheesecakes I've had that are SO rich and thick and not very sweet at all.  It was a very nice balance. I have a friend and blog reader who makes incredible cheesecakes, the real kind, not the no-bake kind.  She might give us some tips.  Stay tuned for that  =o)

Pineapple Glazed Pork Chops

Only 4 more recipes to go from Back of the Box!  2 of them are pork chop recipes, and I am making both of them this week, because I want to finish the book. Another one is a dessert recipe I'm going to make for home fellowship.  And then the last one is for spiced pumpkin muffins, which I am going to make even though I will likely be the only one that eats them.We had this recipe on Monday but then I worked Monday & Tuesday nights so I haven't had a chance to post it yet...Sam wanted to help with dinner last night, and he actually did a lot of it.  The featured ingredient is the pineapple.

Pineapple Glazed Pork Chops
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
4 pork chops (I used boneless but it doesn't specify)
1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, undrained
1/2 cup apple jelly
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp water
1 tsp cornstarch

Brown chops with garlic in butter in large skillet.  Remove chops from skillet; spoon off fat.  Add pineapple, jelly, cinnamon, and ginger to the skillet.  Cook over medium heat until jelly melts.  Return chops to skillet; spoon sauce over chops.  Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until chops are no longer pink in the center.  Remove chops to serving platter; keep warm.  Stir together water and cornstarch; add to skillet.  Cook, stirring, until thickened.  Spoon sauce over chops.

So this was pretty good.  I wasn't planning to thicken the sauce, because it's an extra step and I thought it wouldn't matter, but then I decided to and I'm glad I did.  It was more the consistency of applesauce after it was thickened, and it was very tasty.  Nathan had no sauce on his, and liked the meat by itself.  The rest of us liked the sauce on the meat.  We had this with Stove Top stuffing and carrots.  I'll keep it.

Honey Cashew Five-Spice Pork

I think the name of this one pretty much tells you what's in it.  The recipe writers must have run out of descriptive ideas.  This is from Back of the Box, and they just want you to buy the pork.  I already had some in the freezer left over from something else.  5-Spice powder is an expensive spice with cinnamon, cloves, fennel, pepper, and anise.  Anise is what the flavor of black licorice is.  Which I do not like.  But I didn't know that until I bought a whole bottle of this stuff for some ridiculous price.  Counting this recipe, I have used it 3 times.  I still have like 42 tsp left in the jar or something.  But little by little I will get through it.  I should say that Sam loves licorice.  He loves Good & Plenty, the candy that isn't even good.  It's so bad they probably torture terrorists with it at Club Gitmo.  So while I do not care for the flavor, others in my family do.  I didn't even mention the anise aspect of it though.  Also I did not tell them that this recipe is like Chinese food, because Nathan and Emma wouldn't have liked it if they thought that.

Honey Cashew Five-Spice Pork
8-10 oz boneless pork chops, cut into 1/2" strips (I used 1 lb pork tenderloin)
3/4 tsp 5-spice powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsalted cashews (it didn't say to toast them but I did because I love the flavor of toasted nuts)
Hot cooked rice

Sprinkle pork pieces with 5-spice powder and salt.  Stir together honey and soy sauce; set aside.  Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pork and cook until browned on all sides and no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes (mine took longer because I cut the tenderloin into medallion-type shapes instead of strips.  I knew it would take longer so I only used medium heat so the outsides wouldn't burn).  (At this point I drained the skillet, even though it doesn't say to.)  Add cashews; drizzle with soy sauce mixture, stirring to coat; immediately remove from heat.  Serve over rice.

I'm just realizing as I type this out that I doubled the amount of meat but not the amount of anything else.  That's okay though, there was still plenty of sauce.  It might have been nice to have a bit more for the rice, but just for the meat itself it was fine.  We had this with the last of the green beans that Steve's work friend gave us that I had frozen this summer.  Everybody liked this.  They all thought it smelled and tasted great.  Seriously all I could taste was the licorice flavor.  Maybe they should have called this one "Good & Plenty Pork."

Corn Chowder (Dairy & Gluten Free)

My sister-in-law has been a vegetarian for like 20 years.  Occasionally she emails recipes to me that she thinks my picky children will like, especially now that I am trying to cook more meatless meals, for health and cost reasons.  This corn chowder is dairy-free, and she says the grated potatoes in it make the broth thicken instead of the traditional ways you thicken chowder (a milk/flour mixture).  This recipe does have creamed corn, but I just googled it (so I am 100% certain) and it said that depending on the brand, if it specifies corn starch vs modified food starch, it is gluten free.  Mine did (I bought Libby's).  I also found a recipe for homemade creamed corn, but I did not print it.  But if you are so inclined, you can make your own, apparently.  We are definitely not gluten free or dairy free here at our house but it's fun to try new things, and you never know when your gluten-free neighbor or a family from church will need a meal...to undo the gluten-free-ness of the meal tonight, we had this with freshly baked whole wheat bread & butter.

Corn Chowder (Dairy & Gluten Free)
1 tbsp oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 peeled carrots, diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 1/2 cups broth (I used homemade vegetable stock)
2 peeled grated potatoes (I don't have a fancy mandoline slicer from PC so I just used a cheese grater...it still worked)
2 cans creamed corn (she didn't specify size so I bought regular sized cans)
1 bell pepper, finely chopped (I used red pepper)

Saute onion, celery, and carrots in oil until soft.  Add broth and boil.  Transfer to slow cooker.  Stir in potato, salt, and pepper.  Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Add corn and bell pepper and cover and cook for 30 more minutes on high.

On the way home from karate I prepped the children for this vegetarian meal.  I said it was from Auntie Dawn who is very good at cooking without meat, etc.  This led to a long discussion of the various reasons people choose to be vegetarians (economic, ethical, or health concerns...or I have a friend who has none of those reasons, she just doesn't like meat and thinks it's gross...also a viable opinion).  The very first thing Nathan said when he sat down at the table was "where's the chicken?"  I said, "remember, I told you there was no meat in this soup?"  He protested, "but Mom, that is my favorite part of soup!"  He did eat a few bites but was not impressed.  Sam suggested a helpful hint of adding ham next time.  So they totally missed the point.  I thought it was good, and it paired nicely with the bread (I like dipping bread in my soup...I think I wouldn't do it if the President was over for dinner or something, but I do like to do it)(also I wouldn't make soup if the President was coming for dinner).  The texture was definitely different than a traditional chowder.  Steve didn't believe me when I said it was chowder.  It doesn't have that creamy color to it.  But I think it would be a good stand-in if you couldn't have traditional chowder for whatever reason.  So I'm feeling pretty good about this healthy (except for possibly the sodium content) meal, even if my carnivore family was less than impressed.