Chicken butternut squash risotto with crispy chicken skin

Ingredients

2 bone on chicken breast with skin
1 butternut squash peeled and cubed
2 med onions (1 quartered, 1 diced)
2 C aborrio rice
5 asparagus stalks blanched and chopped
1 C white wine
1 C grated parmesan
5-6 C roasted chicken stock heated
1 clove garlic crushed and chopped
Salt n pepper
Garlic seasoning
Olive oil

Oil chicken and garlic seasoning and salt n pepper. Roast at 400 degrees, once cooked thru cool and shred. Do the same with the squash and quartered onion and cool

In a large saute pan sweat the chopped onion in oil. Add garlic cook for another minute. Add rice and toast in pan for about a minute. Deglase with white wine and let evaporate. Add in heated chicken stock 1/3 at a time letting it absorb before adding the next 1/3. Repeat until mostly absorbed. Add parmesan shredded chicken. Asparagus and butternut squash and heat thru. Add a little more stock if needed and salt and pepper to taste.

Smoked Gouda stuffed Chicken with Lime Honey Apple Slaw

Smoked Gouda Stuffed Chicken with Lime Honey Apple Slaw

 

 Ingredient List

4 - medium chicken breast

4 - 1oz slices of smoked Gouda or your favorite cheese
garlic powder
Cajun seasoning (or omit if you don't like spicy)
Italian herb seasoning
salt & pepper

for the apple slaw
2 granny smith apple (Julienne)
1/2 head savoy cabbage (shredded with a knife)
thinly shaved red onion (best done on a mandolin)

for the slaw dressing
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon honey
Salt & Pepper to taste

First make the slaw, very easy and quick, make the slaw dressing by combining all ingredients in a bowl except the oil. slowly drizzle in the oil while stirring with a wire whisk until mixed in and season with salt and pepper to taste, set aside

If you have a mandolin, core the apple and cut in half. Julienne on  the madoline or use a knife. and this is what it will look like.

chill until ready to plate

Next for the chicken:
you will want to to cut a pocket in the chicken to make room for the cheese as pictured below but make sure not to cut all the way through the flesh. It's easiest to put one hand on the chicken and then insert the knife starting at the top of the breast. insert 3/4 into the breast along the side of the breast and then lightly cut to the other side...

this will leave a pocket that is about 4 inches into the meat by 1.5"

Next cut the cheese about 1/4" thick and 1"x3" long and wide and insert a piece into each breast

 

make sure the cheese is not sticking out but totally enclosed in the meat. Next season each breast by  drizzling with a little olive oil and dusting with the garlic powder, Italian herbs, salt & pepper and Cajun seasoning.

In a medium high non stick skillet, add 2 Tbs of olive oil and add the breast to brown on both sides, do in batches if needed so not to crowd the pan. Brown on both sides and place on a foil lined cookie sheet and place in a 375 oven. Its best to use an oven thermometer and bake until you reach 165 degrees. take out and cover with a sheet of foil and let rest for 5 minutes. 

Now for the plating - any sides work so for a week night I went very easy.  Bob Evans already made sour cream and chive mashed potatoes and a bag of already cut broccoli steamed in the microwave.. I added extra fresh cut chives for a garnish.  and the sauce is just some of the pan drippings over the chicken for a bit more flavor!

This all took about 40 minutes to make and isn't hard at all. If you have questions ask with a comment

To plate:

put the mash in the 1 o'clock position and the broccoli in the 12 o'clock position. cut the chicken breast in half  on the byas and stack on each other like below and top with the slaw.

Short Ribs - Winters end celebration!

Today we are expecting the last snow of the winter (hopefully)! So, in celebration that spring will arrive a week late I decided to do braised short ribs for a nice Sunday night comfort food dinner! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do fixing it!

What you will need:

1 pack of 4 nice thick short ribs
1 qt container of beef broth
1 btl of good red wine, (somthing you would drink) preferably a Cabernet Note: never buy cooking wine in the ilse. salty and disgusting. I like J Lohr seven oaks cabernet, You will use half the bottle and drink the rest while cooking of course!
2 medium onions quartered
2 large carrots chopped
1 stalk of celery large chop
1 large head of garlic
1 sm can of tomato paste
2 Tbs Italian herbs dried
1 bundle of fresh thyme

You can use an enamelled pot like the ones in the pictures or use a good stainless steel pot that will fit in the oven and is oven safe.

Heat your pot to medium high and add 2 tbl of olive oil. while that is heating up salt and pepper your ribs and I also sprinkled some garlic powder on the ribs too. Brown each side of the ribs until nice and brown.

Remove the ribs from the pot and place if onions, carrots, celery and herbs and season with salt and pepper . Cut the head of garlic in half and add to the pot and cook while stiring about 3 to 5 minutes.

Next add the 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste and stir until it coats all the veggies.

Next deglaze the pot with about half the bottle of red wine and pour yourself a glass. You deserve it at this point!

Cook down for about 2 minutes then place the ribs back to the pot rib side up and the juices that have accumulated from resting.

Now pour the beef stock over the ribs and fill until you reach just below the rib on top.

Cover and bring back to a slow simmer, then place in the oven at 325 degrees and braise for 4 hours!

this is what you will see when you take it out of the oven

skim some of the sauce and strain through a small seive then put in a small sauce pan to reduce. Add 2 Tbs of butter and reduce to make a nice sauce.

this will be slightly thick but not gravy consistancy

I plated this with a Broccoflower mash - recipe to follow.

Satisfying and comforting!

Its really an easy recipe to follow. and it makes it easy for clean up! If you don't want a cauloflower mash just use a simple mashed potato like Bob Evans or make your own. 

Sunday Herb Roasted Chicken

 

Sunday Herb Roasted Chicken

Yes, we love slow oven roasted chicken and I do it several ways and over 2013 you will see several ways to cook it. As for today it was a simple herb crusted whole chicken. Here are the ingredients that you will need.

1 - 4 to 5lb Organic hormone/antibiotic free chicken
1 - fresh poultry herb bunch (rosemary, thyme, sage)
2 TBSP of unsalted butter (melted in microwave for 35 seconds)
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp each granulated garlic and granulated onion

 



Chop herbs to give you about 2 Tbsp worth and add it to the melted butter. Add the granulated garlic and onion and salt to the melted butter and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. You should be left with a still saucy butter mix but almost gel consistancy.

Run the handle of a wooden spoon under the skin of the chicken to seperate the skin from the meat.

Then take the butter mixture and run underneathe the skin and over the skin. This will make a nice herb crust on the outside and the meat with absorb a lot of flavor from the mix as well. Salt the cavity well and truss the bird with kitchen string for even cooking. use an oven thermometer and place in between the thigh and breast.
 

 Preheat the oven to 450 degrees then place the bird in a roaster pan with a cut up large onion and 1 cup of chicken stock. I also took a part of the onion and and some stems of rosemary, thyme and sage and stuffed the cavity of the bird.

Roast the bird at 450 for 30 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350. Roast until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees for the thigh and about 175 for the breast. Pull the bird and let sit on the counter with a foil tent for 15 to 20 minutes. This will make the bird nice and juicy. Carve and enjoy!

I baked a sweet potato added a 1/2 TBSP unsalted butter and 1/2 tbsp of maple agave syrup a pinch of salt and pepper and mashed it up with no skin. We split it and had about 3 oz of mash each. Which is about a 1/2 cup. we also took 1 piece of bacon from breakfast chopped it up and added it as a garnish to the sweet potato. only 22 calories added.
Total calories for the dish with 5oz of chicken was only 370 calories, with a glass of red wine it was 492. added a small salad for another 150 and you have a great flavorful and filling meal which leaves room for a little snack later! We are using the left overs for white bean chicken chili for tomorrow.

Eating right doesn't have to be bland food or nasty frozen dinners. You can do this yourself and make wonderful flavorful dishes. Yes I use butter, cream, salt and plenty of fresh produce etc and you can have incredible tasting dishing that are restaurant worthy! Try it out you will like it.

Chef Dave's Table: Healthy start equipment

Chef Dave's Table: Healthy start equipment

Healthy start equipment

 First lets start with a chat about equipment to help you in your eating and buying habits for 2013! I purchased 2 pieces of equipment to help me in my diet and buying for groceries.  First was a digital ounce and pound scale.  It's great for measuring how much to put on a plate for a portion control and only cost less than $20.  Well worth the  cost.  Second was this $85 vacuum sealer so we can buy in bulk and/or freeze extra left overs for another day. I bought a $10 package of skinless chicken breast which yealed 6lbs of meat or 7 large breast pieces.  The second picture is a vacuumed packed chicken breasts and a frozen non vacuumed packed that was put in freezer bag and frozen for about a month.  Which would you rather eat.  The vacuumed packed will last 2yrs in the freezer if needed. 

 

I encourage you to make a small investment, these two items cost me just over a hundred bucks but well worth the savings in thrown away food.  When I cleaned out our freezer I threw away a good hundred bucks worth of steak, pork, chicken and seafood due to freezer burn.

 

The scale really helps with good portion control so you actually know what you put in your mouth. The only way to better health, losing weight is watching exactly how much you eat and portion control is part of it.  I also recommend a good calorie counting app that you can get on all most any smart phone!  My wife Kate and I use FitnessPal. Its great for not just counting calories but tracks weight, fitness workouts and gives you a calorie limit daily which will vary on the amount of weight you want to loose. Try it, once you get into a habit it works.

 

A Healthy New Year!

Every year we all make new years resolutions to be come healthier, exercise, eat better and drink less! Not sure if I want to drink less since wine is good for the heart but I do agree with exercise and eating better.
You don't have to give up on flavor, starve yourself or eat celery all day to loose weight or stay fit.  It just takes a little will power to get through the day and a little planning!
I personally have gained about 30lbs over the last 2 1/2 years and I am comitting to get back in shape eat healthy while not giving up in flavor or the good feeling of being content after a meal.
So in the middle of opening a few more restaurants this year, working some long 15+ hour days I'm going to be posting some good tasty healthy recipes, drinks, smoothies and yes even some exercise information. While I'm no expert at all and neither does my body show it...yet...but I hope to get back to a little healthy state ! 
I hope you join me on this adventure whether you are in shape or not but just want to enjoy life with good tasting food and a better way of life!
This picture is a stuffed pork tenderloin I made for New Years day. The dish was under 500 calories, lean and didn't skimp on flavor so I will be posting recipes like this throughout the year plus great lunch, breakfasts and snacks too!