At Home with Kristi

9 days to go.

Bra

Got it (finally) from Bare Necessities online and it fits and works under the dress, so that is done. Other than the fact that Ann’s Bra Shop can’t seem to credit me back correctly for the one I returned to them.

So all of my DIY projects are done.

Cake and Cupcakes

I picked up the candy flowers for the cupcakes. SUPER cute!

I am picking up the cupcakes and cake on Friday and will put these on them then.

Centerpieces

DONE! (unless I have to add an extra one because of some last minute RSVP’s that change our table count)

Ring bearer Pillow

Done.

Flower Girl Baskets

Done.

Garter

Got one.

Memorial Candle

Done.

Guestbook Card Basket

Done.

Card Box

Done.

Cake Topper

Done.

(no picture because its still a secret!)

Wedding Ceremony Online

We are going to attempt to broadcast our wedding ceremony live online via uStream. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mattandkristiswedding
Watch us finally make it legal from the comfort of your own home!
(times are in Central Time)

Other

I still have quite a few items on my to-do list but it is shrinking fairly quickly.  I made calls yesterday and today to confirm orders and reservations, I still have a few calls to make there.  Tuesday is my last day of work before the wedding then I have 3 full days of running around getting stuff done before the big day!

I have had this recipe floating around in my head for a couple weeks now and finally got around to making it today

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1 ounce pistachio nuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 ounces freshly grated parmesean cheese
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 4 ounce marinated artichoke hearts
• 6 ounces cooked chicken breast
• dash Kosher salt
• 1 package mini Phyllo shells

Procedure

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Grate the cheese

Put the basil in the food processor and give it a spin

Add in the garlic and nuts and about half the cheese

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil (while the food processor is running)

Add the artichokes and salt

Process until nice and creamy

Mmmmm….

Get your chicken ready.  I used the Tyson Grilled and Ready diced chicken I had in the freezer, any kind of chicken breast will do though

Take out about half of the pesto mixture and put it in a bowl

Leave the rest of the Pesto in the food processor and add the chicken.  Pulse until the chicken is chopped up. Next time I will leave mine a bit courser than this

Remove from the food processor and put in the bowl with the rest of the pesto and mix well

Fill the Phyllo tart shells with the mixture and sprinkle with a bit of the remaining cheese

Arrange on a baking sheet

Bake for 12-13 minutes then turn to broil for 1 minute

Enjoy!

Nutritionals per 2 mini tarts (approximate)

Printable Recipe

Cut 3/4 to 1 lb of chicken into small pieces

Place 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper in a ziplock bag, then place the chicken in the bag and shake to coat

Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large pot.  Once hot add the chicken and flour mix and stir occasionally until brown the chicken

Once the chicken has browned, add 1 cup of chicken broth

Cut one large russet potato into medium large chunks

Add the potatoes to the pot

Next add in about 2/3 of a package (about 5 oz)  of dried cheese tortellini

Add the tortellini to the pot along with 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic  and salt to taste.

Simmer for at least an hour, the longer the better, I think it would also be good in a crock pot.

I served mine with some fresh baked bread.

A few days ago Matthew asked me what we were having for dinner. “Chicken Picatta” I said.

“What’s that?”

“Chicken in white wine and lemon sauce”

Matthew gives me a skeptical look.

“It will be good, you’ll like it.”

“It doesn’t  sound very good” he said, looking kind of sad.

“Trust me, you’ll like it”

“Ok” he said, still looking sad.

So I…..

Mixed 1/3 of a cup of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and  1/2 tsp garlic powder in a bowl

Pounded some chicken breasts out flat

Dredged the chicken in the flour mixture

Melted 1tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan

Put the chicken in the pan

Waited a few minutes and flipped it over

Waited until it was nice and golden and removed it to a plate

and proceeded to make the sauce

You are supposed to use “rinsed capers”.  For those of you who have never worked with capers, they are tiny, not easy to rinse. Here is how I did it.

I then added the capers, about 3 tbsp worth, to the juice of one lemon, 1/2 cup of white wine and 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

Now, I am going to deviate for a moment and tell you what I SHOULD have done, not what I DID.

Remember the pan you cooked your chicken in?  Look at all the yummy butter and chicken bits left in it.

Mmmmm….

Okay, stop drooling and take about a tablespoon (maybe two depending on how much oil/butter is left in the pan) and make a roux.  I can’ t show you this, because I didnt do it, and my sauce did not get thick so I had to add the flour in after and do many tiring things to get the lumps out.  So do as I say, not as I do.  Once you have the flour incorporated into the oil in a roux, add the liquids (and capers).

And you’ll get a sauce that looks much nicer than this one

Now I returned the chicken to the pan for a few minutes to heat back up and get all saucy!

Finally I plated it up with a bit of pasta with the sauce over it, some crusty bread that I toasted a bit and a Caesar salad.

Then we sat down to eat.

A few minutes later Matthew looked over at me and says ‘This is good.”

“I told you so” may have slipped out.  I am only human after all.

Get the pdf of this recipe

Back in the days when we first moved to St. Louis (late 90’s) we used to eat at Houlihan’s a lot.  They had this dish that Matthew got, he thinks it was called Tuscan Lemon Chicken.  It was a breaded chicken breast and a lemony alfredo sauce.  They don’t have that particular dish anymore so he requested that I try to replicate it.  I had never made alfredo sauce before and I did learn a few things.

First, I made the chicken from this recipe.   Then I started two sauces, the lemon garlic sauce from the same recipe as the chicken and the alfredo sauce.

The alfredo sauce ingredients

• 1 pint half & half
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese

The procedure

1. Heat half and half and butter over medium-low heat and whisk to combine once the butter has melted
2. raise the heat to medium-high and whisk in the cheese

That is basically how you make alfredo sauce, now I make it into lemon garlic alfredo

1. Transfer the alfredo sauce to a tall sided container
2. Use and immersion blender to make it nice and smooth
3. Incorporate the lemon garlic sauce into the alfredo sauce in about for increments, blending well between each one

Have I mentioned that I now refer to my immersion blender as my “sauce saver”?

Return the now finished sauce to the pan.

Ladle the sauce over cooked noodles (I used linguine)

Throw the chicken on top

What I learned

1. use heavy cream instead of half and half so the heat can go higher to melt the cheese faster and make a smoother sauce

2. put the noodles in the sauce so you don’t end up with “clump o’noodles”

3.  Add a little lemon zest to the chicken breading

Ugh, I’m a messy cook!

Matthew said it tasted almost exactly like the old Houlihan’s dish, so I guess Mission Accomplished!

I saw Chicken Spedini on a restaurant menu recently and have been wanting it since. Tonight I decided to try making it for the first time.

First, pound out some chicken breast fillets flat.

Breadcrumb Mix

• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp grated parmesean/romano cheese
• italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp margarine
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Spread the crumb mixture over the flattened chicken breasts

Roll up the chicken around the breadcrumbs (jelly roll style)

Slice each roll into 3 or 4 pieces (depending on the size), and thread 3 or 4 slices on a skewer.  Then sprinkle with some of the remaining crumb mixture

Put the chicken in the oven at 375 for about 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile put water for pasta on to boil and start the sauce

Sauce

• 2 tbsp margarine
• 2 tsp garlic
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• salt
• pepper

Mix everything together in a small sauce pan and stir while the butter melts.   I then transfered it to a bowl and used the immersion blender to make it smooth and a bit more homogoneous.

Plate the chicken and pasta, drizzle sauce over both.

Get the pdf of this recipe