Caramelized Apple Stuffed Chicken Breast with Fontina and Cranberries

This wonderful recipe comes courtesy of Food Network with only a few of my own modifications. The chicken was perfectly moist thanks to the delicious marinade, and the stuffing combined the nuttiness of fontina cheese, the tang of dried cranberries, and the sweetness of caramelized apples. A perfect combination! The recipe below yields 8 servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. This is a great dish for dinner parties as the chicken breasts can be grilled and stuffed and then refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance.
2. Try to find chicken breasts that are thicker in the middle, giving you plenty of room for your stuffing.
3. I would recommend some sort of accompanying sauce. In the pictures below I made a cranberry wine sauce using 3 cups white wine, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1 Tbs dijon mustard, brought to a boil then simmered for several hours.

INGREDIENTS
Marinade
4 Tbs red wine vinegar
6 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dry mustard
4 tsp honey
5/6 cup olive oil

Chicken and Stuffing
8 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 medium Fuji apples
1 Tbs unsalted butter
4 oz fontina cheese, shredded
4 oz dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Marinade
1. Place the red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, the mustards and honey in a food processor.

















2. Turn it on and drizzle in the olive oil until fully incorporated / emulsified.

















3. Marinade the chicken breasts overnight in this mixture.

















Prep
1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Remove chicken breasts from the marinade and transfer to a plate.
3. Season them with salt and pepper.
4. Mark the chicken breasts by grilling them only long enough to make grill marks and then rotating them about 45 degrees to make crosshatch marks. Do this on one side only. The chicken breasts should still be completely raw inside.





























5. Hold breasts in the refrigerator until ready to stuff.

Stuffing
1. Peel, core, and very roughly chop the apples.
2. Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium high heat and add the apples.
3. Cook the apples for roughly 5 to 10 minutes or until they are deeply browned.

















4. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.
5. Add the fontina and cranberries and mix.

















6. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Chicken
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut a slit in the thicker side of the chicken breast about 1 inch wide, creating a pocket almost as large as the breast itself.

















3. Stuff the breasts with the apple stuffing mix, cramming in as much as possible without ripping the breast.
















4. At this point the breasts are ready to bake and can either be held in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours or baked right away.
5. When ready to bake, place on a baking sheet and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until an instant read thermometer registers 155 degrees in the thickest part of the breast.

Chocolate Lava Cake with Lemon Caramel

I was first introduced to lava cakes several years ago at a work party. Lava cakes are simply a cake that doesn't cook all the way through. The outsides are done and when cut open, out flows a delicious chocolate center, like lava! Since that party I have tried and failed to find a recipe that worked well. I've tried all sorts of ingredients but I have never been able to find a consistency and taste that I really liked until now. Last week I attended a work event in Seattle at the Blue Ribbon Cooking School and the dessert we chose was lava cakes. The recipe we used was very simple but tasted great, especially when we added a wonderful lemon flavored caramel sauce. The recipes below yield 6 large or 12 small servings, depending on the size of your ramekins. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. You may have to adjust the timing of the cakes cooking depending on your oven. They are done when the outside rim is firm but the middle is still wobbly. It took me several attempts to know just when to remove them.
2. If you are having trouble with the cakes sticking to the bottom of your ramekin, try using vegetable spray in addition to the butter, or cut a round out of parchment paper and place that at the bottom before you butter it.

INGREDIENTS
Cakes
3/4 cup sugar
8 eggs
8 oz chocolate
8 oz butter
1 Tbs vanilla

Lemon Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS
Cakes
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Grease ramekins with butter, then set aside.
3. In metal bowl, whisk sugar and eggs vigorously, 3-5 minutes until sugar is suspended in egg mixture.





























4. Over a double broiler, melt chocolate and butter over low heat.





















5. Remove from heat and continue stirring until lukewarm.















6. Slowly mix chocolate mixture into egg mixture, whisking continuously.















7. Pour into ramekins, filling them 1/2 way, then place in oven.















8. Cook for 12-14 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and allow the cake to separate slightly from the side of the ramekin, then with a knife, gently go around the side.















10. Invert onto plate then garnish with caramel sauce.

Lemon Caramel Sauce

1. In medium saucepan, combine sugar and lemon juice over medium heat.

2. Stir constantly until mixture reaches a light brown color.

3. Reduce heat to low and slowly add heavy cream, stirring constantly.

Buttermilk Blue Cheese Wedge

I am a huge blue cheese fan and this is my favorite salad as it combines the great taste of blue cheese with crisp iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, bacon pieces, sliced red onion, all in a homemade buttermilk blue dressing. My kids don't like blue cheese but devour this salad every time. Maybe I should tell them what those chunks are. The recipe below yields 6 servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. The dressing can be made a few days in advance. When refrigerating, cover with plastic wrap and push down onto the surface of the dressing in the bowl to prevent it from crusting.
2. The buttermilk adds a great texture and flavor to this dressing but is not required. Add it in small amounts until the desired taste and consistency is reached.
3. You can use any kind of blue cheese. The most commonly found varieties in the store are Blue cheese (French, usually used in desserts, mild), Gorgonzola (Italian, used in cooking, sandwiches or desserts, sweet), and Roquefort (used in desserts, sharp).

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 cup coarsely crumbled blue cheese
Buttermilk, to taste
1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 large head of iceberg lettuce, cut into 6 wedges, each with some core attached
1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced (optional)
4 Roma tomatoes, diced

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl.
















2. Add blue cheese and stir until well blended.
3. Add buttermilk until desired consistency is reached.


















4. Arrange lettuce on plates.
5. Spoon dressing over lettuce.
6. Add crumbled bacon.
7. Garnish with tomatoes and red onion if desired.

Tomato and Asparagus Risotto

This is one of our family's favorite risotto dishes, combining the tastes of fresh asparagus and tomato with some wonderful herbs and Parmesan cheese. I think making risotto scares too many people away, but the process really is quite simple and it's so versatile in it's different applications. Last summer I planted oregano, basil and parsley in our garden and they work great in this dish. The recipe below yields 5-6 servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. Give yourself about 30 minutes to make this.
2. The process goes much better when you've prepped and measured out your ingredients before hand.
3. Don't overcook the risotto or it will become too starchy. You'll want it soft but firm enough to keep it's shape.
4. When serving it, use a metal ring as pictured for a great presentation.

INGREDIENTS
¼ cup olive oil
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 lb fresh asparagus spears, stemmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
8 oz butter
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp chopped oregano
1 Tbsp chopped basil

DIRECTIONS
1. Hold the broth warm in a saucepan.

















2. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat.
3. Add garlic and cook 3 minutes or until soft, almost translucent.
4. Stir in rice and cook for 2 minutes.

















5. Add ½ cup of broth and stir until completely absorbed.

















6. Repeat until half of broth has been added. Stir the risotto frequently to prevent sticking.

















7. Add asparagus to the remaining broth and let it blanch for about 2 minutes.

















8. Remove asparagus from broth and add to the risotto mixture.

















9. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time until desired creaminess is reached.
10. Remove from heat and add butter, parmesan cheese and herbs.































11. Right before serving, add tomatoes.
















12. Transfer to large bowl and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.

Orange Peel Sorbet

This is one of the easiest yet most satisfying desserts that can also be used as a palette cleanser preceding a main course.The recipe combines a simple syrup with freshly squeezed oranges and orange peel. The recipe below yields 6 large servings or about 18 smaller servings. Enjoy!

HELPFUL HINTS
1. For an even richer sorbet, substitute the extra water with additional orange juice.
2. If you don't have time to juice fresh oranges, you can use store bought orange juice. The taste is not quite as fresh but it is still wonderful.
3. This can be made several days in advance and frozen. Just make sure you thaw it out slightly before serving or it will be too hard.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Juice from 5 oranges
Rind from one orange

DIRECTIONS
1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water until sugar is fully dissolved.
2. Bring to a boil without stirring, let boil for one minute, then remove from heat.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the juice of 5 large oranges with the orange peel from one orange.
4. Stir in the syrup mixture.

















5. Add enough water to bring total liquid to 4 1/2 cups.

















6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Pour into ice-cream maker and follow directions until sorbet reaches desired consistency.