Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu with White Wine and Lemon Cream Sauce

Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu with White Wine and lemon Cream Sauce

for chicken:
2-4 thawed Chicken Breasts
honey
Dijon Mustard
salt and pepper
thinly sliced honey ham
sliced Swiss Cheese

Butterfly chicken breasts by slicing longways but not completely through (see video). Open up chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a small dollop of honey on each side of the breasts and spread with a knife. Do the same with the Dijon mustard. Place a small slice of Swiss cheese and a small slice of ham on each side of the breast and close breast by folding over. Place a toothpick to hold breast closed while cooking.

Grill over high heat (400 degrees) for 3-4 minutes a side or until completely cooked.

for white wine and lemon Cream Sauce
3 spoonfuls of white wine
1 inch of butter
the juice of one lemon
1 spoonful grated lemon peel (lemon zest)
1 spoonful finely chopped onion

Combine in pan and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium low heat until butter is melted, onions are softened and the combination starts to thicken slightly.

Add 1 cup heavy cream while stirring to combine. Continue to simmer for 3-4 minutes. don't let it boil.

Pour over chicken.

© 2011 Cooking for Dads

Cook well, it's worth it.

Rob Barrett
Cooking for Dads

How to cook an Easter Ham with Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

It couldn't be easier, have a great Easter everybody.

Cook well,
Rob Barrett
Cooking for Dads

Refreshing Limeade and Limeade Pops

How to Make Bread Bowls, Bread Sticks and a Buttery Loaf

for the written version click here

Top Ten Kitchen Gadgets from the 2011 International Home and Housewares Show

http://www.cookingfordads.net

Here are the top ten gadgets and products from this year's IHS in Chicago. I'll post the links to the products or if you know them post them in the comments.
It was a fun show and way too hard to pick just ten, so I included some more at the end. Enjoy, subscribe, comment and enjoy.

Microwave potato chip maker - http://www.mastrad.us (not available for a couple months)

Solar Grill - http://www.idcook.com/index.php

Retractable peeler - http://www.chefn.com

Quick Popsicle maker - http://www.zokuhome.com/

ISI soda maker - http://www.isinorthamerica.com/

Packit freezer bags - http://www.packit.com/

The Cookie Dipr - http://thedipr.com/

OXO hand mixer - http://www.oxo.com

Bodum grill - http://www.bodumusa.com

Stanley outdoor cooking set - http://www.stanley-pmi.com/

extras

Nordicware grill - http://www.nordicware.com/

Lekue Decorator - http://www.lekue.es/index.php

Roscan food storage - http://www.roscan.net/

DrawerDecor - http://www.drawerdecor.com/

Bartule - http://www.Bartule.com

Sensio CBLT Machine - http://www.sensioinc.com/

Gyro Bowl - https://www.buygyrobowl.com/

Lapper trays - https://www.imslappertrays.com/flare/next?rtag=lappertrays&

cook well,
Rob Barrett
Cooking for Dads

Top 10 tips for grilling after a long winters solstice

1. Clean the grates, take them inside to the kitchen and give them a good cleaning. You can also put them in the oven and use the cleaning cycle. Start the season fresh.

2. Oil the grates. Take a paper towel and apply a liberal dose of oil to the grates before grilling. The cleaning probably removed some of the natural lubrication.

3. Buy a new brush, Your old one is probably really grody. New brushes are $3 at Rainbow.

4. Check your hoses. Turn the gas on at the tank first and listen for any leakage before opening up the burners. If you hear gas escaping but haven't opened up the burners, turn off the tank and replace your hoses.

5. Buy a meat thermometer. Make a deliberate effort to not over cook you rmeat this summer. Meat thermometers are $29 at the Kitchen Store in the Eden Prairie mall and really help take the guess work out of grilling meat. This especially helps with thicker cuts of meat. Chicken is the most likely to be over cooked. Remove chicken when the thickest part is at 165 degrees.

6. Whenever possible, try to use only fresh meat. Frozen steaks never get their texture back due to cellular damage from the freezing process. Buy steaks the day you need them and avoid freezing them. If you must freeze them be sure to squeeze out any air before placing the bags in the freezer.

7. But grown up salt - coarse kosher salt. The taste is much cleaner than iodized salt and do you really need more iodine?

8. Get a good pepper grinder. Most meats need nothing more than kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Try one of the dual slat and pepper grinders from Chef'n.

9. Get some firewire. The flexible grilling utensils are great for marinating meat in.

http://www.firewiregrilling.com/

10.Learn at least one new recipe a month. Here's my favorite.

Rob's Flank Steak Marinade

1 - 1.5 lbs flank steak

1/2 C soy sauce (2/3 C)

1/2 C canola or vegetable oil

4 spoonsfuls molasses

2 spoonfuls fresh ginger

2 spoonfuls mustard

1 spoonful sugar

6 garlic cloves, chopped

Mix together all the ingredients. Marinate flank steak for up to 24 hours but at least 1 hour. Grill over high heat for 3 minutes each side. Let rest and then cut across the grain and on an angle.

© 2008 Cooking for Dads

Cook well, It's worth it.

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

Crispy Rice Tortillas, Gluten Free

These have a great crunch and texture as well as a nice roasted flavor.

How to Make Cream of Mushroom Soup

This was for a Chef Challenge on a local TV Station. i didn't win. :-)

How to peel a pomegranate

Burger King vs. McDonald's vs. Subway - Breakfast Sandwich Show Down

There's a war a brewin' and it's not in the middle east.

It's in the USA and it's over your breakfast buck. Recently BK has touted stealing the recipe for the Sausage McMuffin with Egg from McD's, saying it's not original but it's a buck. (McD's has price matched although that is not reflected on the menu.) Subway has entered the breakfast sandwich fray as well with both muffin and flat bread breakfast sandwiches.

So who's winning? Who will be king of the hill for your fast food breakfast buck.

Recently our esteemed panel of judges headed out in my jeep for a Muffin Sandwich throw down. We ordered sausage, egg and cheese version at each place 2 sandwiches, one for eating hot and fresh at the drive in window and another for dissecting at home. While it was a close call, there were significant differences.

Winner - BK Breakfast Muffin sandwich. Best over all taste and best sausage. $1.00 Nutritional info coming.

Close second - Sausage McMuffin with Egg. Slightly buttery aftertaste with strange egg texture pushed it in to second. $1.00 (currently) 450 calories, 27 g fat.

Last place - Subway Egg Muffin Sandwich with Sausage. Not a lot to like and the most expensive. $2.45 nutritional info coming

The differences between the firs two were in the sausage and egg. Everyone liked the sausage in the BK sandwich better and while the egg in the McMuffin tasted more like an egg, there is always a unnatural rubberiness to those McDonald's egg circles. The muffins were very similar with McDonald's doing the best job of toasting it. They get a small amount of brown right around the edge. It gives it a nice crunch.

The Subway sandwich was much more greasy and had much less taste. To be honest it would have fared better if we had added the veggies but that wouldn't have been fair. The egg part was the least flavorful of the three. Unlike their other sandwiches, they don't make the bread fresh on premises.

The egg parts are all from different origins. While they all claim to use real eggs, the McDonald's and Subway sandwiches both get the egg part delivered by truck twice a week. The BK people cook up the egg fresh on premises and we thought that came through, although they use an egg mixture they get from corporate.

So enjoy that BK sandwich while it lasts. Actually make one at home.

Tuna Nachos, Need I Say More

Sometimes I get strange ideas.

Normally, my wife just shakes her head but I've had enough lucky hits that she's started to just say,"Go ahead, you never know."

So I had this idea for Tuna Nachos and also Tuna Pizza. I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen. (see previous 46 posts)

First I made some normal nachos for my eldest daughter who doesn't like seafood, and also in case the tuna ones are gross.

Pile o chips.

Melt some cheese under the broiler with the plate on the middle rack. Careful, it's hot.

Add left over sloopy joe meat or any kind of meat or chili. Put back under broiler for about a minute to heat up the meat.

Remove and add vegetables and salsa. Yum.

I recently found these Frontera chips that I really like. They are great for nachos, just a little thicker than normal chips.

Now do the same thing with Tuna.

Pile 'o Nachos

Add just a little cheese, include some fresh mozzarella, melt under broiler for a minute or so.

Now add sliced tuna (salt and pepper) and Tzatziki sauce. (Greek sauce from Costco)

Place back under broiler until tuna just starts to brown (about 30 seconds).

You want the under sides still raw if possible.

Add some pomegranate seeds serve. Yum.

We also did a tuna pizza that wasn't as successful.

Pizza dough with olive oil, green onions, fresh mozarella cheese, cook for 6 minutes or until just browned. Add tuna and Tzatziki sauce and place under the broiler until the tuna just turns, about 30 sec. Add some Pomegranate seeds.

Serve hot. It was fine, I experimented with the dough a little and that wasn't the best, but the tuna part and the sauce were good.

Definitely try the nachos if you're game.

Cook well.

Rob Barrett

www.cookingfordads.net

Fast and Easy Christmas Appetizer recipes

I was recently asked to come up with some fast and easy Christmas appetizers for a TV appearance. These are really delicious and couldn’t be easier. Best of all they can be made ahead and don’t need to be served hot. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Cucumber, Pomegranate and Bacon Canape

Thinly sliced Cucumber

thin spread of low fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese

cover with Pomegranate seeds

Sprinkle with bacon bits.

serve chilled.

Raspberry Pecan Canape

Rice Cracker

thin spread of low fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese

a dab of Raspberry Jelly

one pecan.

Serve and enjoy

Kiwi and Raspberry Canape

Thinly sliced Kiwi

a dab of sour cream

one raspberry

serve and enjoy.

Whatever you make, have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Years.

Rob Barrett

www.cookingfordads.net

Imagine .. a world with no cooking, a raw food adventure.

Imagine there are no ovens.

Imagine no microwaves

Imagine no dairy or meat

Imagine.

We went to this place tonight. It was called Ecopolitan and is the only raw restaurant in Minneapolis. I was actually in the mood for a burger but we promised our friends we'd go with them. The menu was really different with lots of things in quotes. There was "pizza" with "cheese" and even "sausage." I was a little nervous.

We started out with the "Na-cho Cheese" plate that, of course had no cheese. It was "cheese" made out of pine nuts and served with dehydrated chips of nuts and dates. Believe it or not, it was really, really good.

Then I ordered the "Raw-violi" that was made from beet noodles and filled with cashew cheese with a ginger sauce. While not like pasta, it was incredibly flavourful and one really interesting and delicious dish.

The rest of the table got "pizzas". My favorite was the pineapple pizza but all three were great.

We ended the night with a pumpkin pie that had no pumpkin. Instead it was made from a cashew paste that really tasted like pumpkin.

I have no idea how they make that stuff and how it comes out tasting so good. There wasn't anything we didn't like. My wife said at the end, "This is the most exciting restaurant I've been to in years." I'm sure we'll be back.

Ecopolitan, 24th and Lyndale, Minneapolis

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

Super Easy Chicken Parmesan

There's a time for everything: a time to cook and a time to go out; a time to fry and a time to bake; a time to make something complex and time for a super easy one.

While there are many recipes for chicken parmesan, I think I've found the easiest possible one.  (Don't confuse easy with not tasting great.) You can look other recipes up on the web and choose the one that's won the most awards or, by the time you've found it, you you could be done cooking this one.

So here goes. give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breats

1 bottle pasta sauce

1 block parmesan cheese

1 egg scrambled

salt and pepper

olive oil

 

Directions:

Cut chicken breast in half and flatten to about 1/2 inch.

add salt and pepper

Beat one egg and pour into plate

grate parmesan cheese and place on separate plate.

dip in chicken in egg, and then in parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in pan on high heat

cook chicken 1 minute each side or until done.

Heat pasta sauce in microwave and spread on plate.

Place chicken on top and serve.

Cook well, 

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

Remembering

While there are many things I would like to forget, there are some days it's good to remember.

14 years ago today our second daughter, Ashley, died from multiple birth defects. She fought valiantly but in the end their combined affects were too much and she passed on, only spending a brief 12 hours on this earth. While her time was small her impact wasn't.  Her short visit has afforded us the opportunity to share, encourage, bond, grieve, teach, question, doubt, hope, grow, and somehow find ways to love each other and enjoy life more (although much of that took quite some time to develop).

One of the ways we mark these days is through some family rituals.  While they didn't start out that way, the things we did early on were serendipitously repeated and now have become mandatory customs of the Barrett family.

One of the most meaningful to me is lighting the Memorial Candle.

It's a custom with Hebraic roots where you light a candle and let it burn for 24 hours.  For me it symbolizes the presence of our daughter for that short time.  We even put it on a table in the hallway so it flickers throughout the night. I dread letting it go out when the wax is gone. That's the saddest part for me.

One of the other things we really enjoy is eating lunch at the grave site.

Every year we go to a certain Uptown Lund's Grocery Store and everyone gets to pick out what they want to eat.  We bring a blanket to sit on and enjoy a lunch with our third daughter.  October weather can be uncooperative but we always soldier through.  Lund's used to carry puppy chow and that became an important part of the meal.  In recent years they've stopped making it so we have to make it at home and bring it. (recipe below) The meal wouldn't be the same without it.

Years ago we planted an apple tree in the backyard as a memorial.  Every year around this time we enjoy apples from our Ashley tree.  We also have a wall where we've posted some pictures and memories.

As I sit here and watch our Memorial Candle start to fade and sputter, I'm glad the kids are so attached to these events.  They take great comfort in them. We may have let them slide if they didn't insist that we go to the same grocery store every year, do our meal regardless of the weather and always get puppy chow.

Not for 12 hours but for eternity.

Rob Barrett

Cooking for Dads

Memorial Puppy Chow Mix.

1 C chocolate chips

1/2 C peanut butter

1/4 C butter

Melt that together over medium heat, then turn off burner and add one spoonful of vanilla. Stir.

Stir in 6 cups of Rice Chex until coated.  

Add 1 1/2 C powdered sugar and toss to coat.

Apple Cider Flat Bread.

Every once in a while I try something new for the sake of trying something new.  Here's a fun, fall bread that everyone will like - very moist and yet crunchy like a cracker on the bottom.  Let me know what you think.

Apple Cider Flat Bread

Take 1 1/2 cup Apple Cider or Apple Juice, just slightly warmed.

add 1 spoonful yeast,  stir

 

In large bowl combine:

3 c flour

1 spoonful sugar

1/2 sp salt

add 1" melted butter to cider and yeast mixture, stir

add juice mixture to flour mixture and stir for 1 minute until completely combined.

Cover and let rise for 3 hours

Cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Grab a handful of dough and form into a crude round flat loaf about 1/2" high.

drizzle loaves with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt, sesame seeds,  parmesan cheese and let rise for 30 more minutes. 

bake at 450 for 10 minutes or until just brown, cut in 3rds and serve.

©2009 Cooking for Dads

Cook well, it's worth it.

Rob Barrett

www.cookingfordads.net