Twentieth Post (Huzzah!) ~ Cordon Bleu Medallions: A Comfortable Take on a Classy Favorite

Mmm... chicken stuffed with savory ham and flavorful cheese... Cordon Bleu has been one of my favorite ways to eat chicken since I was a child. It also provided me with my first experience in learning that food could have different names depending on what region you were in. When I was five years old, I felt quite puzzled when I was presented with "Chicken Charleston" in a Baltimore restaurant after having asked Mommy if we could share Cordon Bleu... How confusing... How yummy!

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But in any case, now you can buy wonderful pre-made chicken Cordon Bleu (or whatever you choose to call it) in most grocery stores. I had one in my freezer for some time, but after thawing it tonight, I just didn't feel like waiting for the whole chicken breast to cook. So I took this short cut and my dinner went from fridge to table in under 15 minutes.

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Here's what you'll need:

~ Chicken Cordon Bleu (available pre-made in most grocery stores)

~ Seasoned bread crumbs

~ Olive oil

~ A side (I enjoyed last night's cauliflower so much I decided to go for a reprise tonight)

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Start some olive oil heating in a stick-free pan. Slice the Cordon Bleu into strips so that you've got nice round pieces of chicken with the cheese and ham in the center. Roll them around in some bread crumbs so that all sides are coated generously. Place them in your pan and let them turn golden on each side. Watch that the cheese doesn't burn!

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Prepare your side and arrange the whole thing on a plate with some optional shredded parm and oregano for a tasty garnish. I served tonight's meal with the Bordeaux from Chateau Briot that I discussed in last night's post. In contrast to the gamey, sweet duck from last night, this meal was zesty and salty. Therefore, the citrussy tones of the Bordeaux were wonderfully refreshing. A far better pairing!

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Voila! Dinner is served!

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Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Nineteenth Post: Duck with Spiced Apricot and Wine Glaze

Duck is my favorite fowl. Hands down. Many people don't care for its gamey taste, but to me, it's heaven.

I've never made duck before, and was unsure how to even go about purchasing it (or does one simply wait patiently by a lake with a bag of Wonder Bread?) so I was pleasantly surprised when I found prepackaged duck breast filets by Maple Leaf Farms in the meat case at (wait for it) Wegmans. I wasn't sure how good it would be... I had been planning to surprise my mom by cooking dinner for her this weekend (Surprise!) and I thought this might be a nice treat... if it was good. But what if it was terrible? Only one way to find out.

I was also unsure about sauce. I was out of time this week for a special shopping trip, so I decided to see what I could put together with what I had on hand. My mom makes a fabulous orange glaze for pork tenderloins (recipe to come in a future post) and I decided to adapt that to my needs and available food supply.

Here's what you'll need for tonight's (successful) experimental dinner:

~ boneless duck breast

~ apricot jam

~ terragon

~ cinnamon

~ ginger

~ onion

~ red or white (or both) wine

~ vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

I made cauliflower for the side (frozen, pre-cut, easy) and added a little fresh cut basil and chive for extra flavor.

Start the wine simmering in a sauce pan. I had some leftover Norton Cabernet that was, at this point, practically vinegar itself, so I used that. (As I was cooking the sauce, I added some Vesuvio white.) Spoon in a generous couple tablespoons of apricot jam. Break the jam apart a bit. Add some vinegar, terragon, cinnamon and ginger. Finely mince some onion and add it. Let simmer some as you prep the duck.

::PAUSE::

As I said, I've never cooked duck. I used to wonder how they can stick around as the weather grows colder, but now I know. Ducks are no slim birds. There was a rather unpleasant layer of fat under the meat itself. It was thicker than I'm accustomed to seeing, but it didn't matter to me because this was DUCK and I wanted to cook and eat it. I set aside my squeamishness and sliced it away with a knife. This was not an easy proposition, and I had to turn the sauce off part way through as it took longer than I expected. Finally, it was trimmed, and I sliced it into strips in placed it into a Corningware dish. Foolishly, I had thought the duck might stick while baking, so I had added some olive oil to the dish. This is probably an unneccessary step.

::UNPAUSE::

So now that you've encouraged the duck to part company with all that ... er ... padding ... Pour the sauce over the duck in the dish. Pop it into the toaster oven and bake on 350 until the duck is done to the level you like it.

In the mean time, cook your veggies. When it's all done, put it on a plate. I chose to use a separate dish for the juice so it wouldn't run into the veggies and I could dip the meat into it.

Now... what wine to serve?

This posed a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, I had a 2007 Bordeaux from Chateau Briot. It smelled like slicing into a fresh grapefruit - very citrusy and light. I had, on the other hand, the wonderfully earthy Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio. I couldn't decide, so I poured a part of a glass of each. I honestly couldn't decide which was better even as I ate the meal, but in the end, the Bordeaux was a little too tart for the sweet glaze, and the Lacryma Christi provided enough roundness of body to compliment the duck.

All in all, it was a successful meal, and now I have a fool-proof recipe to prepare on Friday night!

Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Eighteenth Post ~ Mediterranean Veggie Pizza

Since 33.3% of my loyal readers are vegetarians (Hi Chris!) I thought I'd post this quick and easy vegetarian meal. Made a little bigger, it could serve well as a dinner.

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Here's what you'll need:

~Pita bread (I chose pocket-less)

~Hummus (my favorite is babaganoush, but I have a hard time finding it. I got 40 Spices)

~Veggies

~Olive oil

~Salt/pepper

~Crumbled feta or other goat variety

~Chive

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Sautee the veggies in a skillet with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. I used pre-sliced baby bella mushrooms and some green peppers. As you're letting them sizzle, spread some hummus onto the pita. Eat a little while you're at it - you know you want to.

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Now, snip one chive into the veggies. Stir it around. Then, scatter the veggies on top of the pita and hummus and sprinkle generously with cheese. Pop it into your toaster oven until the cheese is nice and melty.

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Easy, peasy, one-two-threesey! If I were serving this for a dinner, I'd pair it with a Shiraz or Syrah. It would give a nice balance to the spiciness.

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Yours in the love of good food and wine,

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Seventeenth Post ~ Herbed Pork with Green Beans: Faster than a Lousy Microwave Dinner!

Tonight's dinner was incredibly fast and very tasty. Here's what you'll need:

~Pork tenderloins (I chose Wegmans - they were sliced so thin it was practically like pork sushi... I would have liked them a little thicker)
~ Spices (more on that later)
~ Salt/Pepper to taste

~Green beans

I used a spice combination that I'm quite fond of for using as a herb-crusting on any meat. I combined:

~Oregano
~Rosemary
~Paprika
~Salt
~Pepper
~Thyme

I crushed them all together in a small bowl then sprinkled it and patted it into the meat. This pork was so thin that it was cooked literally in minutes; in fact, I think I overcooked it a bit. I didn't add any oil to the pan as I didn't want this meal to be too heavy.

I sauteed the green beans in a pan with a little oil and a tiny amount of water to create some steam.

I served tonight's dinner with a wonderful Italian wine: Lacryma Christi Mastroberardino. It's from the vineyards of Mount Vesuvius, which, being a geek of all things Roman, made me positively shiver with excitement. It is dry but with a grassy, earthy taste. Its pairs wonderfully with the spices in the pork, giving the whole meal a well-balanced, light feeling.

Ahh - a perfect meal! Quick to prepare, wonderfully savory, and nicely paired with a wine positively steeped in history!

Yours in the love of good food and wine (especially when you don't have to fuss after lecturing for over three hours)

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.