Let’s cook!

Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon onion, minced

2 Tablespoon butter

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup cold butter, sliced

1 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

2-4 chicken breast, boneless and skinless

Extra virgin olive oil for brushing

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

8 oz Capricho de Cabra or goat cheese

Mince the garlic and onion and add to a skillet with 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  Cook until garlic and onions are tender–about 3-5 minutes.

Squeeze juice from one whole lemon (which is approximately 1/4 cup of lemon juice as a general rule of thumb) into a measuring cup and then add 1/2 cup white wine.  I used Chardonnay but just realized I forgot to add it to the ingredients picture, so imagine you saw it in the main picture.

Stir the wine and lemon guice into the skillet, increase the heat to medium high, and simmer to reduce the mixture by half.  Then add the cold butter one slice at a time.  I usually split the butter into to tablespoon servings to add them to the mixture.  Here’s what it looks like once you get most of the butter added:

Time to start the chicken now.  Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides, and put on the grill over high heat for about 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Time to finish the sauce.  Once you have combined all of the butter slices into the sauce, add the chopped sun dried tomatoes, basil, kosher salt and white pepper. 

Stir the ingredients together and remove from heat.  Set aside.

A few minutes before the chicken is finished grilling, place equal amounts of cheese on each breast and allow about 2 minutes for the cheese to melt slightly.

Now it’s time to finish the meal.  I decided to do my plating with mashed potatoes on the bottom, green beans on top of that, the chicken with cheese above that, and everything is topped off with the sun dried tomato sauce.

And the close up:

Thomas absolutely loved this dish and I would really encourage you to try it.  I love it anytime I am able to re-create a dish we have had in a restaurant at the house.  I hope you enjoy and I promise you won’t be disappointed.  The Cooking Husband will return with another recipe tomorrow, and be on the look out for the pictures of the meals from Vegas later this week.

Happy Cooking!

Filet Mignon with Merlot Reduction

1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic

2 finely diced shallots

1/2 bottle of Merlot (the rest for you while you cook)

1 cup beef broth

1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme

1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary

1 stick unsalted butter

2 filet mignon

salt and pepper

In a large sauce pan heat up the butter and saute the garlic and shallots until they are translucent.

Deglaze the pan with 1/2 bottle of wine.

Now add beef stock, thyme and rosemary.

Allow this mixture to reduce, which takes 20 – 30 minutes so lets work on the potatoes.

Lobster Boursin Mash Potatoes

1 package of already made mashed potatoes

2 bay leaves

2 lobster tails

3 ounces of boursin cheese

In a steamer pot, add water and bay leaves.

Once the water comes to a boil, add the lobster tails to the steamer and cover.

While the lobster tails are steaming, I put the heat on for the mash potatoes and this is a good time to turn on the grill.

Once the lobster is done remove from the pot and let them cool for a few minutes.

Once they have cooled down, remove the meat from the tails, chop and add to the pot of potatoes .

Now add the boursin cheese.

Stir the potatoes and cook on low.

Your Merlot reduction should be done so remove from heat and strain.

Now grill the steaks, and it’s time to make this meal complete with plating.

To plate, add a portion of mashed potatoes in the center of the serving plate. Top with the filet mignon, spoon the Merlot sauce over and around and garnish with chives.

So there you have it, a hard recipe turned easy. I really hope you try this!

Happy Cooking!

Pork Tenderloin

1 package of pork tenderloin, which typically contains two in each package

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 cloves of garlic, cracked

4 springs fresh rosemary leaves stripped and chopped

4 springs fresh thyme, leaves stripped and chopped

salt and black pepper

Prehat oven to 500.

Place tender loins on a foil covered cookie sheet that has a rim and coat with olive oil.

Cut small slits into the meat and disperse chunks of cracked garlic into the meat.

In a bowl combine/mix rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.

Rub the tenderloins with rub.

Place in the hot oven and let cook for 20 minutes. Time to make the mash potatoes.

Simple Mash Potatoes

1 container of pre-made mashed potatoes–Country Crock makes a pretty good one (told you this is simple)

4 cloves of garlic chopped

1 quarter of an onion chopped (I was out of white so I used a red one)

1 tablespoon of butter

3 tablespoons of sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

In a pot on medium heat add onion, garlic, butter, salt and pepper.

Cook until onion has softened and then add the container of mash potatoes.

Cook for 5 minutes and continue to stir. Add sour cream and continue to cook and stir.

Cook for another 2-3 minutes and make sure you keep stirring. Turn off the mash potatoes and let them rest.

Time to make the green beans.

Green Beans with Almonds (the hardest thing in this whole meal to prepare)

Just follow the directions on the box for cooking.  Jen typically will take and cut a slit in the steam pouch to get the water out of the bottom of the bag, and then dump the beans in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of butter, the almonds from the package and salt and pepper.  Mix and serve.

Time to remove the tenderloins from the oven and let them rest (remember cutting into the meat fresh from cooking is a no-no).

Almost done, time to finish this meal off with the Oregano Vinaigrette.

Oregano Vinaigrette

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/2 shallot

2 tablepoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

3/4 cup olive oil

In a bowl add, sherry vinegar, shallots, mustard, honey and oregano.

Whisk together and slowly add olive oil until emulsified.

Now that everything is done, time to assemble the plating. Here is how I did the plating for tonight’s dinner.

So the next time you get that call, hey what do you want for dinner just reply with, “Don’t worry I will take care of dinner tonight.” You will thank me for your next kitchen pass!

Happy Cooking!

Pork Tenderloin with a oregano vinaigrette
Simple mash potatoes
Green beans with almonds

Check back tonight for the recipe and pictures.