October 6, 2009

• Buon Appetito-Popeye’s Favorite Chicken

   I have to cook more here as there isn’t much inexpensive or  fast food. Also we use our dinner table as a place to build relationships and share Jesus.  You can see this by the number of pictures where we’re eating!  So I have been using old recipes and creating new ones because the ingredients are slightly different here. Anna, the newest member of the Italian team, joined me in the kitchen for some cooking fun.  I thought I’ld share my newest favorite recipe.     So here are the ingredients I used:

  •  4 chicken breasts,
  • 1 pint of mascarpone cheese,
  • 1/2 cup pecorino cheese, a Roman favorite,( parmesan or romano will work)
  • 1 bag spinach ( about 3 cups loosely packed),
  • 1 lemon,  
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of mixed Italian seasoning without salt, ( The cheese has plenty!)  or blend 1 tablespoon dry basil, 1 teaspoon oregano and powdered garlic.  (Yes, I use fresh herbs but not everyone has this on their terrazzo so I’ve adjusted the ingredients)
  • little olive oil,
  • 12 grape tomatoes. 

  First cut the chicken breasts in half to make thin slices, dust them with the dried herbs and pepper.  Then pound them with a meat hammer so they cook evenly and don’t dry out.  Brown the chicken in a pan with a little olive oil.  Layer 2 cups of spinach in the bottom of the pan. Squeeze half the lemon over the spinach.  Dust with garlic powder.  Blend the cheeses and the rest of the spinach in a food processor. Spread it on the cooked chicken and lay this side on the spinach.  You should have enough  to put a thin coat on the top of the chicken as well.  Cut the tomatoes in half, and roll in a little olive oil and salt.  Place them on top of the dish.  It is the perfect red and green for Christmas!  Then bake at 325degrees for about 25 minutes or until its done.  I covered mine for the first half of cooking and then finished it uncovered.  You can serve with rice of pasta to soak up the delicious flavors.  I like intense flavors so I squeeze some of the remaining fresh lemon on mine before eating but this is definitely an individual thing.   This feeds 6 – 8 people depending on the people and the size of the chicken. 

  • 5:44 am
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