Let’s cook!

Baked Chicken with Lemon Spinach

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast

3 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoons finely minced fresh rosemary

3 teaspoons ground peppercorns

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 shallots, sliced

1/3 cup red wine

1/3 cup chicken broth

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 pound of baby spinach

1 lemon, zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush 1 tablespoon mustard on the chicken. Spring with peppercorns, rosemary and salt.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the chicken and cook until golden brown about 7 minutes on each side.

Transfer the chicken to a baking dish and put in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the shallots to the skillet you cooked the chicken in over medium heat.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the red wine. Using a wooden spoon scrape up the brown goodness from the pan.

Add the broth, bring to a boil and cook until slightly thickened.

Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of mustard.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Add spinach and season with salt. Cook until wilted and add lemon zest.

Time to plate!

Slice the chicken and drizzle the sauce.

Serve with the spinach.

Here is a close-up:

Happy Cooking!

Sauteed Spinach:

Two very large handfuls of  baby spinach leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves chopped

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Freshly squeezed lemon juice–1/2 lemon

In a very large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic over medium heat for about 1 minute, until about half is brown. Add all the spinach, the salt, and pepper to the pot, toss it with the garlic and oil, cover the pot, and cook it for 2 – 4 minutes.

Uncover the pot, turn the heat on high, and cook the spinach for another minute, stirring with a wooden spoon (I love cooking with wooden spoons!). Once the spinach is wilted, it is done. I let the spinach sit for about 5 minutes and I squeeze lemon and sprinkle kosher salt and I start on the shrimp.

Garlic & Herb Shrimp:

Ok I made a rookie mistake and made my herb/garlic mix before Jen (my photographer) took the pic. So here is the skinny:

20-25 small shrimp (no shell and no pooper vein – sorry but that is what I call it!)

2 cloves of garlic – minced very small

5 stems of fresh chives

2 tablespoons of fresh parshley chopped

1/4 cup of orange juice

1/2 of a lemon

Take a saute pan and turn on high heat. Add the shrimp and let the shrimp cook for about two minutes.

Now here is something I like about cooking, the shrimp started to cook really fast and I noticed the yummy flavor sorta sticking to the pan so what did I do? Yep I grabbed a bottle of white wine and added about 1/4 cup of white wine to the pan of shrimp, and had a small glass for myself too.  (Hey–I HAD to make sure it tasted good!) 

Stir the shrimp and don’t overcook.   I typically cook my shrimp for 8 minutes max (4 minutes per side) and I squeeze half of a lemon over top of the shrimp once it is cooked. Now, time to plate! Remember, this was not an expensive meal nor one that took forever to make, but with plating, you can make it look like a million bucks and like you spent all day slaving over the stove.

See how I stacked the spinach and made sure I added the garlic to the top?

Amazing how two stems of chives and a little sprig parsley dress up this simple dish. Here is a view of the total plating:

Now, we have conquered garlic and herb shrimp-simple, huh?  Stay tuned for the weekend meals–great appetizer recipes coming up on Saturday when we are hosting a party at our house.   Would love to hear your success stories with the recipes so far from this week.  Feel free to leave your remarks in the ‘Comments” section.

Happy Cooking!