Spinach Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I had what I will call a brilliant idea, stuff chicken breasts with spinach and feta cheese.  Well I did do that but it didn't work like I thought it would.  I figured that when I pounded the chicken breasts flat that I could easily spread my feta spinach mixture on it and roll it up with no problem at all and that they would be perfect.  Well I did spread the mixture on the chicken breasts but it wasn't as easy and they were somewhat messy.  But in the end they turned out fantastic and were absolutely delicious.

Spinach, Feta Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts
3 chicken breasts, pounded flat (I flattened mine to about 1/2 inch)
Spinach Feta Cheese Mixture
Cooking twine
Flour, I use my gluten free flour mixture (I think it helps to make a crisper crust)
Egg Wash
Bread Crumbs
For the spinach mixture:
In a blender add about 1 cup of spinach, 1/4 cup feta cheese (I used fresh feta cheese from a local farm), blend until somewhat smooth, it may be a little chunky in places (but that is okay).  You may need to add just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.  You want a thick paste. Depending on your feta cheese you may want to add salt.  Add fresh ground pepper to taste.
Spread spinach mixture to each chicken breast.  Roll up as best you can and add cooking twine to hold the chicken breast together.  I used about 3 pieces of twine.  Place chicken breasts into a coating of flour, then egg and then bread crumbs.  Make sure that each coating has a coating all over.  Heat a skillet over the stove with olive oil and some butter or ghee (I used ghee instead of butter).  Add chicken breasts to a hot skillet.  Cook until browned on all sides, about 15 minutes total depending on the heat of your stove.

Fried Plantains
Have you ever wondered what those funny looking bananas are in the vegetable section of your grocery store?  Ever wondered what do I do with these.  There are many things that you can do with plantains.  My husband and I love them but just haven't had them in a while so I decided to pick some up the other day.  You want to make sure that they plantains are yellow to black when you buy it.  If it is still green you can let it sit as it will ripen (just like a banana).  I like mine leaning more toward black with yellow.  The blacker they are the sweeter.   To cook them I peel the outside off, slice the plantain into slices.  Take those slices and add to a warm skillet.  I add about 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and let it melt before adding the plantains.  Add plantains to skillet and cook, flipping several times until they reach a golden brown.

Along with our meal we had cooked asparagus.  I cooked the asparagus in boiling water for about 5 minutes at the most.

I served the meal with a 2010 Chardonnay from Savoy Lee Winery.

Cream of Onion Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

It finally turned a little cooler where I felt like I could make soup once again for dinner.  This recipe is actually from a Julia Child Cookbook.  A dear friend of mine gave me a 1966 edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking and a 1970 edition of Volume Two - Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  If you can believe this, this is actually the first recipe I have made from either book.  This recipe came from Volume Two.  The soup is wonderful and eating it was a pure slice of heaven.

3 to 4 cups of sliced onions (I used 3 medium to large sized yellow onions)
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups hot water
2 cups chicken broth (I make my own, here is the recipe)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
1/3 cup white rice (not instant)
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste (in the recipe it calls for white pepper, I prefer to use fresh ground pepper and don't mind if I see the pepper in my soup)

Cook onions in the butter until tender but not browned.  (I covered the pot while the onions were cooking which helped them to cook).  Add curry and cook 1 minute, then add flour and cook 2 minutes without browning.  Remove from heat, stir in the hot water, then add chicken broth and wine.  Bring to a simmer and sprinkle in the rice; add bay leaf, and season to taste.  Simmer 30 minutes then puree.  It didn't state in the recipe to remove the bay leaf before pureeing but I removed it.  I don't have an immersion blender so I had to ladle my soup into a blender, blend the soup and add it back into the pot.

2 to 3 cups of milk (I ended up using almost 3 cups)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
4 tablespoons soft butter
3 tablespoons minced parsley

Bring soup to a simmer.  Thin out to desired consistency with milk, stir in the cream, and carefully correct seasoning.  (I use a homemade broth that doesn't have any salt in it, if you use commercial broth be careful how much salt you use)  Reheat again to simmer just before serving; remove from heat and stir in the butter, then the parsley.

We also had grilled cheese sandwiches to go along with the soup.  Take bread and lightly butter the inside of the bread.  Add cheese  slices (we used cheddar and a smoked gouda).  Spread butter on the outside slice of bread and place buttered side down on a hot skillet, butter the other side.  Flip when ready and cook.

The meal was served with a 2008 Chateau Morrisette Chardonnay.

This post is linked on Sunday Night Soup Night - Easy Natural Food.