Hit the road, Jack! ..

My brother is en route to California as. we. speak. Yes friends, it is true .. Brandon is moving to the West Coast. At a later date, we will discuss the current living situation of his two prized kitties. Slowly, but surely, this household is adapting to two cats who have never seen a dog .. and two dogs who have never interacted with a cat. This would be why God blessed me with an extreme amount of patience for animals and their behavior. Knox and Beau just traded places with each other as guard of the gate. All eyes are on the door of the room in which the kitties lie. Thankfully, 99% of the time (as in, when I'm not on the "kitty side" of the gate), the pups forget they exist.

My whole point in babbling on about brothers moving far, far away and animal chaos is this: Last Saturday, I cooked dinner for my family, a "going away dinner", of sorts.

I enjoy a good meal out. I have my favorite places and at those favorite places, I have my staple items. Don't dare stray from the staple items, as you will surely be disappointed. At Carrabba's, Chicken Bryan is my absolute favorite. Add a side of fettucini alfredo and I'm SET. I came across the recipe for this deliciousness a while back. My first attempt at recreating this meal was a huge success. This was equally true when I made this for my family. Leftovers were swooned over in the break room at work and for your viewing pleasure, as promised, here is the recipe.


Chicken Bryan

4 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
2 ounces of goat cheese (a log of cheese works best)
Lemon butter sauce (see recipe following)
10-12 pieces of sliced sundried tomatoes
1 Tablespoon chopped basil

*Please note that if not necessary, I never follow exact measurements. Frequently, I just use however much I feel like using at the time. I am my mother's child.*

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dab with olive oil. Grill chicken. Place one slice of goat cheese on top of chicken and continue to cook until warm. Add sundried tomatoes and basil to lemon butter sauce and saute over medium-low heat. Heat gently until hot, but do not overheat or the sauce will break. (Slow and steady wins the race.) When the goat cheese is warm, place the chicken on a plate and spoon sauce over the top.

Both times I have made this, I baked the chicken in a pan dribbled with olive oil, rather than grilling it. 350 for about 30 usually does the trick. I baked 6 chicken breasts the second go 'round, so it took a tad bit longer. Flip 'em halfway through. Just keep a close eye on them, overcooked chicken is one of my least favorite things. (This would be the reason I do not eat chicken leftovers.)

One slice of goat cheese is hardly enough in the world of Rachel, but, I'll let you be the judge of that. :) My portions of sundried tomatoes and basil were in no way measured, either.


Lemon Butter Sauce

1 teaspoon butter
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons finely chopped yellow onion
2 Tablespoons white wine
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
Salt
Pinch of white pepper
1 stick (1/4 pound) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Place butter, garlic and onion in a pot over medium-high heat and saute until garlic and onion are soft and transparent. Do not let garlic and onion burn. Add white wine, lemon juice, salt and white pepper, bring to a boil, then set heat to medium and let it reduce. After liquids have reduced and you have about 1/4 of what you started with, reduce heat to low and gradually add cold butter, beating with a wire whisk to allow butter to blend and melt into a creamy sauce.

Holy butter, right? (Just wait until the next recipe I share!) I would eat garlic with my cereal if the flavors appropriately mixed. Therefore, the amount of garlic I used for this recipe is probably double what is called for here. You should try that, too. Garlic is good for the heart. (Maybe? Ha!) I squished a lemon for its juice and used sea salt. Whether using white pepper or just going with good ol' black pepper makes a difference, I'm not sure. I went for the white pepper.

I broiled the goat cheese, again, to avoid overcooking the chicken and spooned the lemon butter sauce on each chicken breast individually.



Contrary to most of the year, the strawberries were delish last week. When I asked Brandon what his favorite dessert was (I just had a feeling Flintstone push pops didn't hit the spot anymore), he responded with strawberry shortcake. I whipped that up after dinner and the tartness of the strawberries, the sweetness of the heavy whipped cream and the warm shortcake made for a quiet house as we all enjoyed every bite.

I couldn't let Brandon get on the road without something to snack on. These cookies are absolutely delicious and I urge you to bake a batch.

Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a mixer, cream sugars, butter and shortening together until well mixed and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, and mix well. Stir flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to creamed butter mixture and mix until well combined. Stir in white chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased or a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set when you touch the tops. Cool slightly and remove from cookie sheet. Cool on a wire rack.

The best tip I learned when finding this recipe was to chill cookie dough before baking. The cookies tend to spread less and I'm a fan of thick cookies.

My tip would be this: Bake the cookies for 10 minutes and then cool the cookies for another 10 minutes on the cookie sheet. The cookies will come out looking as if they need more time, but bake just a touch more from the warm pan. This makes them very soft.

Add nuts, if you please. I don't do nuts in cookies. By the way, this will give you roughly 3 dozen cookies.

I almost forgot: Don't skimp on the chocolate. Go Ghirardelli. You won't regret it.

Oh, and B .. you may have hit the road, Jack, but you BETTER come back!