Roasted Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Brie and Rosemary plus 2 Sides

This is what I made for me and my BFF's Christmas dinner. I think the recipe still needs perfecting (more Brie in bigger chunks, better bacon wrapping skills etc...) so you will see this again. It was super delicious but I think presentation-wise it could be improved. This meal was fast to make but had a big payout in the gourmet scale.

Ingredients

yields 4 portions

for the Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Brie and Rosemary

4 chicken breasts, pounded and fillet
6-8 pieces of thick cut smoked bacon
28g fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves chopped
1 small wheel Brie cheese
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
olive oil for drizzling

for the Sauteed Kale

5 leaves of kale, chopped and stems removed
1 tbsp red onion, fine sliced
1 clove garlic, fine sliced
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
dash of red chili flakes
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

for the Walnut Basil Kale Pesto and Linguine

35g fresh basil leaves
1 leaf of kale, chopped, stems removed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts
heaping 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
salt and pepper
3 garlic cloves, skin peeled
500 g linguine, cooked al dente

Instructions

Instructions for the Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Brie and Rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Gently pound chicken breasts with flat side of meat tenderiser, with plastic wrap on top of the chicken. This is just to ensure that each breast is a consistent thickness.
3. Fillet your chicken breasts.
4. Remove the rind from the Brie and scoop tbsp sizes of Brie out and place about 3 tbsp globs inside each fillet breast.
5. Sprinkle a bit of rosemary (reserve some) inside each breast. Evenly spread some minced garlic inside as well.
6. Fold the flap of the chicken over so the the Brie, rosemary and garlic are encased.
7. Drizzle chicken with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and more rosemary.
8. Wrap each breasts with 1-2 slices of bacon.
9. Place chicken breasts in a baking Pyrex that has been drizzled with olive oil.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is cooked through.

 Instructions for the Sauteed Kale

1. When you wash the kale don't dry it before you chop it. The water on the kale will help steam it.
2. Preheat a frying pan on medium heat.
3. Add all of the ingredients for the kale above to the frying pan.
4. Cover with a lid, and saute for about 10 - 15 minutes until kale is all wilted. It will need more time than you think.

 

Instructions for the Walnut Basil Kale Pesto and Linguine

1. Get out a food processor.
2. Put into the food processor the basil leaves, garlic, chopped kale leaf, garlic, walnuts, Parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper and buzz until all smooth. If the mixture is too dry add more olive oil.
3. Cook the linguine as per package directions until al dente.
4.  Drain the pasta. Add the pasta to a frying pan on medium heat with the pesto and toss until well coated. Cook for about 3 - 5 minutes.
5. Serve with your Brie and Rosemary Chicken Breasts and Sauteed Kale!

Note: This pasta/pesto recipe makes a lot - so I just portioned out how much pasta I wanted that night and fried it up with the pesto, then kept the left over pesto and pasta for leftovers.

My Guacamole

 

This is one of many versions of my guacamole. I LOVE avocados so I extra love my guac. This version is a bit spicy. Just add less peppers/chilis to make it mild. 

 

 

Ingredients

makes enough for a party

5-6 ripe avocados, pitted and skin removed  (keep the pits)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 red onion, minced

1 bunch of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

2 limes, juiced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 seranno peppers

1 hot red chili

 

Instructions

1. Halve the avocados, set the pits aside and scoop the flesh into a medium sized mixing bowl.

2. Add all of the ingredients above (just the juice of the lime!) and smash the mixture together with a potato masher or a fork until it is all smooth.

3. Add the pits back into the guacamole. This will keep it from browning. Thanks to my dear friend Lucia for teaching me that!

12/4/2012 Training

Tuesday - Horizontal Push/Pull + Row Sprints

A1. One Arm DB Rows @ 20X0, 4-6/arm x 5 sets, 1:30 min

6 reps 20#/ 6 reps 25/6 reps 27.5/6 reps 30/5 reps 35

A2. Bench Press @ 20X0, 4-6 reps x 5 sets, 1:30 min

6 reps 65#/6@70/4@75/4@75/4@75

B1. Ring Rows @ 20X0, 10-12 reps x 4 sets, 1:30 min

12/11/9/9

B2. Flat Bench DB Press @ 20X0, 8-10 reps x 4 sets, 1:30 min

10 reps 20/ 10@22.4/ 9@25 / 9@25

C. Row Sprint 1 minute ALL OUT x 3 sets, 3 min b/t sets

244m/238/241

Ring rows are difficult.

Schnitzel and Spaetzle!

This meal really brought us back to Germany, especially since we had it with weissbier. So simple, and yet so delicious!

Ingredients

yields 2 servings

For the Schnitzel
2 chicken breasts, pounded to 1" thickness
2 cups fine bread crumbs
2 eggs, whisked
1 tbsp milk or water
1 cup flour
~ 2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 lemon, wedged

Instructions

1. Pound your chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer (flat side) with plastic wrap covering the chicken to about 1" thickness, or even less if you can avoid tearing through the breast.
2. Set up your breading stations like so:

Put the bread crumbs and flour each into a wide bowl or pie plate. Whisk the eggs with the milk. Add the salt and pepper to the bread crumbs, stir well.

3. Put a frying plan on medium heat with a drizzel of olive oil or fat of choice. The more oil the better, but if you're watching your girlish figure, you can be conservative and it still becomes crispy.

4. Bread all your thin chicken filets by covering the chicken completely in flour, then dip both sides in egg, then put it in the bread crumbs, pressing down hard so that the bread crumbs stick evenly.

5. Fry each side for about 6-8 minutes. You can add more oil when you flip to each side if desired. I also cook the chocken in batches, so I keep the oven on a low temperature and pop the chicken in the oven once done frying, covered with tinfoil, so that they stay warm while I fry the next batch.

6. Serve with lemon wedges and squeeze lemon juice over the Schnitzel before eating.

Ingredients

Yields 2-4 servings

For the Spaetzle

3 strips of thick cut smoked bacon

1 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp olive oil

pot of water for boiling

Instructions

1. First I would reccomend getting a spaetzle maker or höbel. It will make your life easier and more delicious. We used to make this with just dropping the dough into boiling water, which is fine, but I always burned myself and it was more like dumplings than noodles.

2. Mix up the flour, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

3. Boil a big pot of water.

4. The water is at a mad boil, pour half the batter mixture into the höbel, and slide back and forth until all the batter has sifted through. Repeat until there's no batter left.

5. The noodle are done when they float to the top. Once they are all floating, with a slotted spoon, scoop noodles out and put into a strainer with paper towel lined at the bottom.

6. Set noodles aside and slice your bacon into small slivers.

7. Fry your chopped bacon with olive oil in a frying pan that will fit all the spaetzle.

8. Once the bacon is halfway done cooking, add the spaetzle. Cook for about 7 minutes. Don't move it around too much - you want the noodles to get a bit crispy on the outside.

9. Eat with schnitzel!

 



12/3/2012 Training

Monday - Clean and Jerk intense + Snatch Battery + Front Squat moderate + Core

A. Squat Clean. Split Jerk, 1.2 x 4 sets, 3-4 min - 1 clean, 2 split jerks, start @ 75lb

75/80/85/90#

B. Above Knee Hang Power Snatch, 3 reps per minute for 10 minutes - start @ 55lb

55# for 3 min 60# for the rest

C. Front Squat @ 22X1, 5 moderate effort reps x 5 sets, 3 min - follow tempo

105/105/110/110/110

D. 30 Toes to Bar for time

2:11

I'm on a team for the World Health Club Games this Saturday so I also did the kettlebell long cycle which is:

Kettle Bell Long Cycle

• 5 Min clean and press
• Only 1 hand change permitted
• Rest only in rack position – not on shoulder or hanging between legs
• KB touching ground before 5 min will result in disqualification from the event
• Arm and legs must lockout at top every time.
• Kettle bell must return to rack position every time on the way down
• Push press and push jerk are permitted
• Total amount of proper repetitions wins event.
• Females must use 12kg, Males must use 20kg weight assignment may change pending FM feedback.

I got 34 reps. It was SO MUCH HARDER than I was expecting. My forearms have never been so pumped out. You should seriously try this. For a challenge ya know.

Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Brownies

 

I know I know, this is a terrible picture. That's because I took it, not Matt. I made these for my last day of pottery class potluck. They are pretty much amazing. I only used 1 chocolate bar for the middle, and I'm happy with that decision. Otherwise I think it would be too much chocolate for my liking. Too much chocolate!?! Is there such a thing!? I think so. 

http://punchfork.com/recipe/Dark-Chocolate-Candy-Cane-Brownies-My-Baking-Addiction

 

Chicken Noodle Soup, from scratch

It's really cold right now. Warm yourself up with a comforting bowl of a classic dish. Also, roasting a whole chicken and making soup with it makes like 4 meals for around $20 which is AWESOME!

Ingredients

1 Roast Chicken (approx. 2 lbs)
2 yellow onions, one sliced, one diced
5 ribs celery, sliced into half moons
5 carrots, sliced into medallions
4 bay leaves
~ 7 L water
6 cloves of garlic, 4 whole, 2 minced
2 tbsp Vegeta
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. You can either buy a roasted chicken from your grocery store which is wayyyyy easier, or you could break this recipe up into a 2 night meal plan like Matt and I did. We made this: http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipe-print.php?url=super-tasty-spanish-roast-chicken
2. Once your chicken is roasted, take the the majority of the meat off the carcass. Reserve about 2 cups of chicken meat to put in your soup later. You can eat the rest or use it for something else.
3. Now we make the broth! Put the entire chicken carcase into a BIG pot. Cover the carcass with water. Place on the stove top on high.
4. Slice a big yellow onion and place in water, along with 4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled. Add your vegeta, 2 bay leaves, all salt and pepper.
5. Once the water is boiling, reduce to medium high heat to keep the broth at a good boil.
6. Boil for 2 hours, adding water as you go so that the carcass is always covered with water.
7. If you have time you can start on the next process of making the soup, or you can discard the chicken bones, put the broth into jars, store overnight, and make the soup the next day.
8. To remove the chicken bones, put a large pot or big bowl into the sink, put a collender over it, and strain the broth and bones into it. Pick through the reserved chicken bones and remove all the good meat you want to eat. Add this meat to the meat you have reserved prior to boiling the bones.
9. Chop your carrots and celery (even include the leafy bits) into bite sized pieces. Fine dice a big yellow onion. Mince 2 cloves of garlic.
10. Put a big pot on the stove top on medium. Oil with about a tbsp of olive oil. Add all your veggies: carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
11. Add your broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Add 2 bay leaves. Reduce the medium low heat and add your reserved chicken meat.
12. If the soup looks too thick, add more water. Our broth was so rich that we added an additional 1L of water, and balanced it out with another tbsp of vegeta, salt and pepper.
13. Add any kind of mini noodle, or if you want to be super ambitious you can use homemade chopped spaghetti . Cook with the noodles for 3-5 minutes.
14. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve! It's best eaten with 3 cheese grilled cheese. Oh yeah.