Gruyere Chicken & Rice

I love chicken - it tastes just like cats.
~Anonymous

Not too fancy tonight, but a little bit of the right cheese can dress up a chicken breast quite nicely!

The Recipe

Gruyere Baked Chicken
Ingredients:
Boneless skinless chicken breasts (1/serving)
Shredded gruyere cheese
Lea & Perrins White Wine sauce
Salt to taste
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375
Rinse and pat chicken breasts dry
Splash generously with white wine sauce
Salt to taste
Sprinkle the cheese on top of each breast
Place chicken breasts in an oven safe dish and bake for 40 - 50 minutes

I just cooked up (in the microwave) some regular white rice to go with this.

Served with a salad of mixed baby lettuce and cherry tomatoes.

Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Grilled cheese is probably the best thing to happen to sliced white bread.
~Hsiao-Ching Chou

Simple, quick - and everyone likes it! Because when I cop out on cooking, I do it right! ;-)

The Recipes:

Grilled Cheese:
Butter 2 slices of bread / serving
Place 1 slice butter side down on hot griddle
Cover slice with cheese (Purists insist on American or Cheddar)
Place 2nd slice butter side up on top
Grill on both sides until bread is golden brown and cheese is all melty

Tomato Soup:

Open can of Campbell's Tomato soup

Pour in medium sauce pan
Add 1 can of milk or water
Heat over medium until steaming hot

There are some recipes for gourmet style Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese sandwiches. Most of them are probably extremely tasty, too. But, I prefer this basic and traditional recipe, which is what everyone grew up eating, and really wants when they crave Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese sandwiches.

Hot Browns

In the 1920's, The Brown Hotel drew over 1,200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. In the wee hours of the morning, the guests would grow tired of dancing and retire to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Diners were growing rapidly bored with the traditional ham and eggs, so Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests' palates. His unique creation was an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. .. The Hot Brown was born!
~The History of The Brown Hotel's "Hot Brown"

I had never heard of a Hot Brown until recently. In fact, had I only heard of it, I probably never would have thought it was anything good. "Hot Brown?" What an unappetizing name! I saw a show about it on Food Network the other night, and ever since, I've been thinking "I have got to try that!" Well, tonight was the night! Here is my version of the Kentucky Hot Brown:

Ingredients:
3-4 # turkey breast
12 slices Texas toast (prepared as french toast - see below for method)
~
Sauce
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper (to taste)
12 slices cooked bacon
15 cherry tomatoes (or tomato slices if fresh good ones are available)
Preparation:
Cook the turkey breast (salt and pepper and cook for apprx 20 minutes / pound at 325 degrees)
Let rest for 15 minutes or so before slices into 1/2" thick slices
~
Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat
Stir in the flour and whisk for 1 minute
Add the cream and milk
Bring to a boil and whisk constantly until sauce thickens (3-5 minutes)
Remove from heat
Add 3/4 of the cheddar and parmesan cheeses
Add nutmeg
~
In oven safe dishes, layer the ingredients
Bread slices
Turkey slices
Cover with the sauce
Sprinkle remaining cheese on the top
Put a few cherry tomatoes on each plate
Broil until bubbly and slightly browned (2-3 minutes)
Remove from oven, place bacons strips on top


To make the french toast:
Whisk 5 eggs and 1/2 cup milk (salt to taste). Dip the bread into the mixture, coating on each side. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and broil until golden brown. Flip and broil the other side until golden brown.

Ratings:
*** Very filling.
****This is really good!
****I like Browns!
****Delicious! Who would have thought?

My notes: As with any first time recipe, it was a bit hectic in the preparation. (And the kitchen was a total mess at the end!) Next time, I will make the sauce while the turkey rests, and cook the french toast while I slice the turkey. I did think it was delicious, and will definitely be making it again. Soon!

The Brown Hotel Hot Brown Recipe can be found here

Wine Tastes Better If It Costs More - Even If It's the Same?

Food thoughts...

An interesting article about wine, that makes wine snobbery all the more amusing. Just knowing that you are drinking expensive wine apparently makes it taste better - even if it isn't really expensive wine.

Study: $90 wine tastes better than the same wine at $10

In a study that could make marketing managers and salespeople rub their hands with glee, scientists have used brain-scanning technology to shed new light on the old adage, "You get what you pay for."

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology and Stanford's business school have directly seen that the sensation of pleasantness that people experience when tasting wine is linked directly to its price. And that's true even when, unbeknownst to the test subjects, it's exactly the same Cabernet Sauvignon with a dramatically different price tag.

Specifically, the researchers found that with the higher priced wines, more blood and oxygen is sent to a part of the brain called the medial orbitofrontal cortex, whose activity reflects pleasure. Brain scanning using a method called functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) showed evidence for the researchers' hypothesis that "changes in the price of a product can influence neural computations associated with experienced pleasantness," they said.

Read the entire article here.

98 Buck Chuck?

Roast Beef & Veggies

The feeling of friendship is like that of being comfortably filled with roast beef; love, like being enlivened with champagne.
~Samuel Johnson

Classic Sunday menu - roast beef and pan roasted potatoes. This is a very basic recipe - I just put the roast in a pan, slice an onion over it, add some potatoes, carrots, and any other root vegetables I have in the 'fridge. I spice it, salt and pepper, worchestershire sauce, add 1/2 cup water or so, cover and cook at 350 for about 2 hours (28 minutes/pound).

Fajitas Steak & Chicken

[When asked, "What's the best Mexican food in France?"]
-You know what? It's at my house... Otherwise, you can't find good Mexican food in France. No Mexican food and no donuts in Paris. Not that I'm a big donut fan. Anyway, there's other stuff there that's just as bad for you.
~Johnny Depp

A Johnny Depp food quote! I can't believe I've managed to find a way to put a picture of Johnny Depp on my recipe blog!

YUMMY!

*sigh* *swoon*

The Recipes

Steak & Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients:
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in strips
1 1/2# beef, cut in strips
Fajita marinade

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
  
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic
  
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Sliced green peppers
Sliced sweet onion
Flour tortillas
Preparation:
Mix the marinade. Let the steak and chicken marinate for a few hours at least. Place meat on cookie sheets and broil for 8-11 minutes on each side. Sauté the pepper and onions in butter until soft and slightly browned. Warm the tortillas in the oven and use to wrap the fajita meat with any combination of the following:

Guacamole (recipe follows)
Pico de Gallo (recipe here)
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese

Guacamole

Ingredients:
1 avocado, chopped in small pieces 1 roma tomato, seeded and cut in small pieces 1 tbsp red onion, finely chopped 2 tsp fresh lime juice 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Pinch white pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together

Also served with black beans (recipe here) and tortilla chips with con queso dip.

I have these really cool cast iron plates that I heat up in the oven while the meat is broiling, and use for serving. There are 2 plates, one for the chicken, one for the beef. They stay hot for quite awhile and keep the meat warm. The cast iron plates have wood platters that they sit on so they can be handled.