Chicken Tenderloins with Cilantro Pesto

This was a fun one. You take the classic pesto and twist it into a completely different cuisine, and it's amazing. I still have some of the pesto in my fridge and I use it on different things—mix it with cream cheese and spread on a wrap or sandwich, smear it across my eggs in the morning—you name it, it's delightful! The recipe says to grill, but since we haven't really launched ourselves back into grilling in the new house, I pan fried. You could also broil. Easy stuff.

Chicken Tenderloins with Cilantro Pesto

adapted from Favorite Family Dinners

• About 2 pounds chicken tenderloins or breasts
• 1 1/2 cups lightly packed fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup walnuts
• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp water (you could olive oil here, but I lightened it a touch with water)
• 3 Tbsp lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Salt and pepper

Pound and/or cut pieces of chicken to desired size; dry completely and set aside. For pesto, combine cilantro, walnuts, oil, water, lime juice, garlic and salt in a blender or food processor. Cover and process until smooth.

Season chicken with salt and pepper, then rub pesto light all over. Cook over medium heat until no longer pink, turning once, and lightly re-coating with pesto half way through. We had tons of pesto left, so we cooked up some pasta and mixed it through and also served the chicken with extra pesto on top. It takes like 15 minutes total and it's light, refreshing, and oh so flavorful!

Saturday morning breaksfast

I remember many a wonderful Saturday morning breakfasts. Thanks mom. A fun breakfast for everyone is doughnuts. Who doesn't love these? The problem? Who can eat these deep fried gooey marvels? I may have discovered the solution this morning. A solution you say? Yes, you may now, with a little effort, be able to eat some doughnuts. I found this at tasteofhome.com.

No-Fry Doughnuts

2T yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup shortening (toying with the idea of using applesauce, I think it would taste good)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour
1/4 cup melted butter

Glaze:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
5 tsp water
2 tsp vanilla

In mixer or large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add milk, and shortening; stir for 1 minute. ( I found it didn't mix really well, so I just kept on going.) Add sugar, eggs, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 2 cups flour; beat on low speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (do not knead). Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll out to 1/2" thickness, (don't roll too thin, the thicker ones were better). Cut with any 2"ish circular cutter; place 2" apart on greased baking sheets. Brush with butter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 35o for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, for glaze, melt butter in saucepan. Add the sugar, water and vanilla; cook over low heat until smooth ( do not boil). Keep warm. Dip warm doughnuts, one at a time into glaze, and turn to coat. Drain on a wire rack with wax paper underneath. I also brushed some of mine with butter again and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar instead of the glaze. They were both wonderful. Chloe said she liked them better than store bought. I'm pretty sure she was referring to yucky walmart ones, not super yummy krispie kreme ones.

I've started making fun new things for breakfast every morning. We learned the joy of eating together as a family for breakfast while at James and Liz's house. This was something I made last week. The only complaint was that they couldn't have more. I found this in my wonderful new ood Housekeeping cookbook.

Easy Danish Pastries

2 Tb yeast
1 tsp plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine, cut up
4 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 Tb heavy or whipping cream
1 cup plus 2 Tb jam or Danish filling (below)

In medium owl, stir yeast and 1 tsp sugar into 1/2 cup warm water; let stand 5 minutes, until foamy. In large bowl, mix flour, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. With pastry blender (I used my fingers), cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk 3 eggs and 1/2 cup cream into yeast mixture; stir into flour mixture until moistened. Cover; refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 large cookie sheets. Divide dough in half. On floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll half of dough into 12" square. Cut into nine 4" squares. Place 1 Tb jam or filling in center of each square. Fold in one corner 2 inches to cover jam; fold opposite corner to edge. Arrange on cookie sheets and repeat with remaining dough and filling.
In cup, beat remaining egg with 1 Tb water; brush over pastries. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden, switching cookie sheets on oven racks halfway through baking.

Transfer pastries to cooling racks set over waxed paper; cool. In small bowl, mix confectioner's sugar with remaining 2 Tb cream (I had to use a little more) to make thick glaze. Drizzle over pastries.


Danish filling

Almond: In bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat 1 tube or can (8oz) almond paste, 4 Tb margarine or butter softened, 1 large egg, and 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel until smooth.

Cheese: In bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat 1 package (8oz) cream cheese softened, 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, and 1 large egg yolk until smooth.

Not a good picture, but yummy anyway.

Ham & Sun-dried tomato alfredo

I found this recipe in my taste of home magazine. Everyone loved it and it was very simple. I replaced the ham with pepperoni, because I don't like prepackaged cubed ham.

Ham & Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

8 oz. uncooked linguine
1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes ( found these at walmart by the canned tomatoes)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cubed fully cooked ham

Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet coated with cooking spray, saute tomatoes for 1 minute. Reduce heat; stir in cream and cheese. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Simmer, uncovered for 5-7 minutes or until thickened. Drain linguine; stir into sauce mixture. Add ham; heat through.

Quick note

First, a thank you again to Jodi for more great new recipes, and also for the Gnocchi that is so tried and true. We had it again last night and it was amazing.

Second, I found something I love on my summer salad. My lunches have been pretty much the same every day—a couple of cups of spinach topped with chopped deli ham, diced cantaloupe and cottage cheese. I love it with the salty and the sweet and the crisp; just heaven. It's also filling with a nice combination of vegetable, fruit, dairy, and protein-rich meat. Well, yesterday I added something that put it over the top into AMAZING! 1-2 Tbsp strawberry jam. That's it. I kind of mix it on the plate with the cottage cheese to help it disperse evenly, and it's pure heaven. I just used my easy chunky strawberry freezer jam and it's perfect. May your summer salads be delightful!

An Hors D'œuvre For Your Tasting Pleasure

This is a great hors d'œuvree recipe that is also really easy. I made it for everyone (Justin, Michelle & Bryce & kids, Mom & Dad & Marquie) on Sunday and everyone seemed to really like it (I don't like it because I don't like mushrooms). Michelle and Mom are talking about trying to make it into a casserole with one of Michelle's gigantic zucchinis, so I guess they'll have to let you know how that turns out.

Stuffed Zucchini

• 3 small zucchini, with ends removed, cut in half, lengthwise
• 3/4 cup stove top stuffing mix
• 1/3 cup mushrooms, drained, chopped
• 1 Tbs. melted butter
• 3/8 tsp. salt
• dash pepper
• 6 Tbs. Shredded cheddar cheese

Add zucchini to boiling water and boil 5 minutes. Remove zucchini from the water and cool under running cold water. Using a melon ball tool, remove the center portion of the zucchini to be used later in the stuffing. (Leave at least 1/4" of flesh on the peeling.)

Combine croutons, mushrooms, margarine, seasonings. Chop the reserved center of the zucchini and add to crouton mixture, stir to mix. Fill the outside part of the zucchini with the mushroom mixture. Top with cheese; then broil until lightly-browned. Cut into bite-sized pieces if desired.

Basic Waldorf Salad

Cooking class again...You might have had this salad before, Michelle just loved it when I made it for her (and Justin when I made it for him).

Basic Waldorf Salad

Makes 6 servings

• 2 cups diced apple (about 2 apples - leave the peel on)
• 1/2 cup 1-inch julienne celery sticks (about 1 celery rib)
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1/2 pint (1 cup) whipping cream, whipped

Combine apple, celery, marshmallow, nuts, and raisins. Set a handful of these ingredients aside to garnish the top when finished mixing. Blend together mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, and dash salt. Fold whipped cream and mayonnaise mixture into apple mixture. Top with ingredients held aside to use as garnish. Chill and serve.