Chicken Ala Beth....

I don't really know what to call this, as I just kind of made it up as I went along. It wasn't the greatest thing I've made...but it wasn't bad either. I got the thumbs up from Jake. I'm not really sure on measurements, so I'll write what I put in it and guesstimate as I go along.

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half (to make 2 thinner pieces)
dill
flour
lemon pepper
2 lemons
mushrooms
onion
white wine
egg
garlic
butter (i use i cant believe its not butter spray--0 calories)
vegetable oil

Ok, so I had to defrost the chicken, so while that was going on I chopped the mushrooms, onions and garlic then set them aside.

Once the chicken was defrosted, I cut them in half to make 6 thin pieces of chicken.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, dill, and lemon pepper. Scramble 1-2 eggs in a separate bowl. Take each piece of chicken and put it in the egg, then the flour mixture, then back in egg and back in flour mixture.

In a deep skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. After dipping the chicken in the egg/flour, brown each side it in the skillet. You may want to add some vegetable oil. I did this b/c my butter kept drying up fast. I ended up cooking the chicken all the way and then taking it out of the skillet and setting it aside.

In the same skillet, add the wine. After all was said and done, I probably had about 2 cups in there. Then I added the juice of 2 lemons. I let this simmer for a while

In a separate skillet, I sauteed the mushrooms, onions and garlic in some butter. Once they were sauteed to my liking, I added them to the wine mixture.

Once everything was added together, I put the chicken back in the skillet. I let it simmer for about 1/2 hour.

My problem was that every time I tasted it, it was either too lemony or too winey. I settled with a tad bit too winey. I made brown rice with it and drizzled some of the wine sauce over the rice. All in all it wasn't bad....but like I said, not one of my best.

Dijon-Tarragon Chicken

I needed help coming up with what to make for dinner tonight, so I asked my "email clan". Grace sent me this recipe and said she was making it tonight...so I sent it to Jake and he approved. I have never used tarragon before so I wasn't sure what to expect. (ok, I used it once, but it wasn't fresh and I didn't use a lot). Upon opening the package of fresh tarragon, I wasn't sure that I was really going to like this. It had kind of a funky smell. I continued on with it anyway. This dish is really good, however, I don't think I'm a huge fan of tarragon, so maybe I will use dill next time. I am listing the recipe how I did it. I tripled the stuff in the "gravy" because Jake and I like extra to put on our rice or potatoes....or whatever we're having with dinner. So, here ya go!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon butter
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cup light cream
• 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• flour (to coat chicken)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter and heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Mix together flour, salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour mixture, and place in the skillet. Brown on both sides. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and continue cooking 15 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Set aside and keep warm.
2. Put minced garlic in the pan and sautee a bit. Stir cream into the pan, scraping up brown bits. Mix in mustard and tarragon. Cook and stir 5 minutes, or until thickened. Return chicken to skillet to coat with sauce. Drizzle chicken with remaining sauce to serve.

Tonight I made fresh string beans and brown rice to go with the chicken. The extra sauce went great on the rice.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

So I had made these once before to bring to a family function. My cousins husband goes on to tell me how these are his favorite cookies...so I'm like, oh man, I hope I didn't ruin them! Well....I did. I don't know what I did because I had followed the recipe to the T. Anyways, I've tried again with a different recipe and they came out awesome! Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. I like to use a number 50 size scoop. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Cheesy garlicy chicken

Tonights concoction came from allrecipes.com (surprise, surprise). As usual, I changed the recipe around a little. Jake really liked this dish. I was slightly disappointed with it. The cheeses seemed to seep out of it (as you can see in the picture), instead of staying inside the chicken. At any rate, I will make this again. And here is what I did:

• oil, for greasing pan
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 tub of garlic and herb cream cheese spread
  
• 1 block of cheddar cheese; cut into 1/2 inch slices
  
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put a little oil (i used olive oil) on the bottom of the baking pan you will be using.
   
2. Butterfly each breast, cutting almost but not completely through. Smear in a layer of the cream cheese and place a slice of the cheddar in, the close the chicken up.
   
3. Pour milk into a bowl. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs and Romano cheese. Dip each piece of chicken in the milk, then coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Place in a single layer in the pre-oiled baking pan.
   
4. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice and garlic, and drizzle evenly over chicken.
   
5. Bake until chicken is done.

In error, I cooked the chicken and THEN put the butter mixture on afterwards....I thought it was fine that way. I also made mashed potatoes and put the butter mixture on those. mmm.

Shrimp Scampi

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I did, however, tweak it a little and will post to how I made it.

What you need:
1/2 cup butter
1 lb cooked shrimp (de-veined/de-shelled)
8 cloves garlic- minced (more or less depending on your taste)
3/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
pinch of red pepper flakes
Whatever pasta you enjoy (I used linguine)

Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add in the shrimp and the garlic. Heat this for about 5 minutes, then add the wine and chicken broth. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add in a dash of red pepper flakes and you're done! I put it over pasta as I liked. I don't mix the whole batch into pasta because some people may like more or less sauce.

Enjoy!