Sauteed Chicken Breasts w/ Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

How is everyone's week going? 

I think it's gone by so fast - can't believe it's already Thursday!  We've got the weekend off and Andy and I are in a charity mud volleyball tournament on Saturday so that should be interesting!  Will definitely try to remember to post pictures because I'm sure it'll be messy out there!  You guys doing anything exciting this weekend?

I made a stop at our Whole Foods Farmer's Market the other day and picked up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes and red bell peppers.  I knew I wanted to make a savory sauce with them both!  So I picked up some chicken breasts and the rest is history!  The sauce comes together fairly quickly, so this is definitely a great choice for a weeknight meal!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
salt and pepper, to taste
flour, for dredging
1/2 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup tomato concasse (this is a great video on how to do this)
1 red bell pepper, roasted, seeded, and diced
5 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 green onion, sliced
shredded parmesan cheese, for garnish

Preheat oven to 200 F.

In a large saute pan under medium high heat, add olive oil.  Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dredge in the flour.  Add chicken to the hot oil and brown both sides, about 3-5 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to a plate in the oven to keep warm.

Add onion and garlic to the saute pan and saute for about 2 minutes.  Deglaze the pan with white wine and then add chicken stock, tomatoes, and bell peppers.  Bring mixture to a simmer, then reduce by half.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

In a separate small saute pan, melt the butter and add mushrooms.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Warm the heavy cream in the microwave slightly (about 15-20 seconds) and add to tomato and red pepper mixture.  Simmer until mixture begins to thicken.  Return the chicken breasts to the pan (as well as any drippings from the plate) and simmer until chicken is white throughout, about 3-5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve chicken over top rice and garnish with the mushrooms, sauce, green onions, and parmesan cheese.

It's colorful, it's delicious - it should be your next meal!  It's definitely a tasty addition to the weekly rotation!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Mediterranean Sandwich

To be honest, this was supposed to be a hot dog. But after trying to brown the damn things, they fell apart. So I had to think on the fly and work with what I had. So I just broke apart the meat and just had it just ground up and it turned out to be just fantastic!

It's only 1 week into being engaged and I'm already stressed out with the planning. Go figure. I'm just one of those people that has to be organized, neat, and thought out. So I thought I'd do a max spending budget on things for the wedding this week and guess what? I'm already over my $10,000 budget. Looks like it's been bumped up to $15,000 and now spring of 2013 is the unofficial date. But... I do know that Glassworks here in Louisville will be the site of my choice. They're pretty popular so I figure I'll have to book that soon because last time someone mentioned about booking something there, they had like a 2 year wait. But anyway, check out the site... the actual ceremony will be on the roof (trust me, me and mother nature will have a talk to make sure it'll be a nice sunny day) and the reception on the 1st floor.

Anywho, on to the food...

Ingredients:

2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 lb. andouille sausage
1/2 lb. hot italian sausage
7 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, drained and diced
4 oz. goat cheese crumbles
salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 small zucchini, cut into thin slices lengthwise
1 tablespoon basil paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
small baguettes/buns
sriracha sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

If your sausage is in casing, cut them out of the casing and dump contents into food processor. I bought mine just ground up so I didn't have to fool with any casing. Then add red peppers and goat cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pulse a few times until everything is well combined.

In a large skillet, brown the sausage mixture under medium high heat for about 8-10 minutes, but not cooked all the way. Then bake in oven for 10 minutes.

While the sausage is in the oven, in a separate skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Add zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil paste, and remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. This is like a quick bruschetta that sets the sandwich off, in my opinion. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cut your baguettes in half and brush cut side with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toast in oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and start building your sandwich. Bottom baguette, sausage mixture, zucchini, tomato mixture, and top with top of baguette. Return to oven for about 5 minutes to crisp bread more.

Serve hot and with sriracha sauce!

This was absolutely delicious. The sriracha sauce adds a kick along with the spiciness of the sausage. Everything about this was just great! Enjoy!