Ricotta Stuffed Chicken with Twice-Baked Potatoes

I won't lie. I love potatoes. I like them mashed, fried, baked, broiled, baked...pretty much anyway. These carb-laden devils are one of my weaknesses (though, I have many). Sometimes I think that if this country were heading into a depression I might be perfectly satisfied with just eating potatoes and cereal. This post actually has 2 recipes. One for chicken and one for potatoes. And while the chicken dish was definitely very good, it pretty much involved no effort on my part. Most of my time was spent working on the potatoes. A lot of work for a side dish, but the end result was definitely worth it.

Ricotta Stuffed Chicken
(recipe adapted from Once Upon a Plate)

2-3 large chicken breasts with skin and bones
8 oz ricotta cheese
2-3 Tbs dried parsley

Twice-Baked Potatoes
(my own recipe)

3-4 large baked potatoes
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
1 package pancetta
2 cups grated sharp chedder cheese

First things first, the potatoes are going to take about 45-60 min to cook so wash them, wrap them in foil, and place them in the oven at 400°. If you have someone at home who can get them in ahead of time, do it. If not, just sit and relax for about 30 minutes.

Cook the pancetta in a pan at med-hi heat. Pancetta is similar to bacon, but it cooks a lot cleaner (less oil) and has a unique flavor to it. It's a little difficult to tell when it's done, so just realize that it'll cook slightly faster than bacon. Once cooked, set aside for later.

In a bowl mix the ricotta cheese and parsley. Wash chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Stick finger under the skin to slightly loosen it from the meat. Try to keep the skin attached to the muscle along the edges of the chicken breast. Take a spoon and start scooping the ricotta mixture between the chicken breast and skin. You can get the mixture to the end of the chicken breast by massaging it downward from the outside (kind of like the what you would do to get the toothpaste to the end of the tube). Once you get a fairly even generous layer of cheese in there, brush the outside of the chicken breast with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a pan bone side down and bake uncovered at 350° for about 25-30 min until juices run clear and the top of the chicken is slightly browned. At this point, I lowered the temp of my stove and continued baking the potatoes while the chicken cooked. (Note: raw chicken looks awful in photographs, so I don't have any pictures of the process.)

Crumble the pancetta. In a bowl mix yogurt, 1 cup of the grated shredded cheese, and 1-2 handfuls of the pancetta. Take the potatoes out of the oven and check them. I unwrapped the potatoes and, at first, cut a slit in them to check them. Later I found out this was a waste. Just unwrap them and cut them straight in half. Poke with a fork to see if the innards are soft. If not, fold back together with the tin foil and put back in the oven until they are done. Once done, let cool for about 5-10 minutes (enough to be able to handle them). Take a fork and start scraping out the inside of the potato leaving the skin as in tack as possible (I wasn't very good at this). Put all the scraped potato into the bowl and mix thoroughly into the mixture. I try to mash any big chunks, but you don't have to get it perfect. Scoop the mixture back into the potato shells. Be generous. Top with the remaining cheese and pancetta and throw back into the oven for 10-15 minutes. I kept my potatoes in the foil, but folded down the sides for this stage. This helps keep the potato sides together, but also acts to prevent any melting cheese from getting on your oven racks.

Take out the chicken and potatoes and serve as is. Yuuuummmmy!

A couple notes on this recipe: 1) Most people use sour cream for the twice-baked potatoes. I only had yogurt on hand and honestly...it was great. I don't see any reason to add the extra calories of sour cream. 2) I had leftovers the next day for lunch. I honestly think the potato was even better reheated than it was the day before (but that could have been the fact that I was at work and never have anything really great for lunch at work).

Validation of Goodness: I got the chicken breasts at the Reading Terminal Market and they were HUGE! I only ate half of mine and saved the other half for the next day. I gave Jon the larger one and at the end of the night he had eaten all of his and was picking at the rest of mine!

If you try this one (or any of my recipes) out let me know what you think!

I am officially caught up on posts, for now. We'll see what creations I decide to try next week.

Early Thanksgiving w/ Mash Potatoes and Green Beans

In an effort to try something other than beef and chicken for dinner, I decided to buy a turkey for tonight's dinner. I was hoping for a little small turkey, but I completely forgot about the Thanksgiving holiday and the enormous 16 lb turkeys that go with it! That's a little too much for only 2 people. Then I found a Turkey London Broil. (I had no idea they had london broils in anything but beef). If you've never seen a Turkey London Broil, imagine a giant chicken breast. So, I bought it and when I got home I stopped and realized that I had no idea how to cook a london broil. I had originally planned on roasting it, but that wouldn't quite work. After doing a little research, I came up with my own recipe using some of my favorite ingredients: garlic, red wine, and onions.

Result: The turkey broil was great! The meat was juicy and flavorful and no bones to deal with.

Turkey with Mashed Red Potatoes and Fresh Green Beans

Turkey Marinade:
wine
garlic powder
onion powder
pepper and salt

I didn't measure anything. Just put all the ingredients into a plastic bag with the turkey london broil and marinaded for about 30 minutes in the fridge. While marinating, get the potatoes and green beans started. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Put the london broil and marinade in a roasting pan and cover with tin foil. Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle. After cooked, let sit for 5 minutes and then slice for serving.

Mashed Red Potatoes

While the turkey marinates, wash and cut 4-5 small red potatoes into approximately one inch squares. Put in a pot of boiling water (with salt) on the stove. Move onto the green beans while potatoes boil. Once green beans are simmering, check potatoes with a fork to make sure they are mashable. Drain water from the pot. I often use a plate for this to save dishes (ahem...small kitchen, remember). I place the bottom of the plate toward the inside of the pot, hold the center of the plate in place with my hand and slowly tip the pan with my other hand. Be careful not to let the steam or water burn your hand. Once drained, add 1 Tbsp of butter and start smashing! I find that smashing the potatoes before you add milk really helps achieve a smooth consistency for the potatoes. Once mashed, add milk and keep smashing until it's as thick or thin as you like your potatoes. Add another Tbsp of butter and some salt to taste.

Fresh Green Beans

I stopped by the Reading Terminal Market on my way home from work earlier this week and did all my veggie shopping. Nothing beats fresh local vegetables. The green beans looked amazing, so I decided to get a bunch and work them into one of my dinners. The recipe below is from my mom. I have no idea if she got it from somewhere else. This is by far my favorite way to eat green beans...thanks mom!

2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion (chopped)
2 Vegetable bouillon cubes
2 cups water

Wash the green beans and snap off the ends. In a saute pan on medium high heat melt the butter. Once melted add onions and saute until soft and translucent. Add green beans and saute until the color becomes that wonderful bright green color (about 5 min). Add 2 cups water to the saute pan. Once the water begins to boil, break up the bouillon cubes and add to the pan. Stir around to dissolve the bouillon cube. Reduce the heat to simmer and cover the pan. Check and stir the beans every 10 minutes or so. I like me beans a little soft, but by no means mushy. Take a bite after 20 minutes to see if they are to your liking. The beauty of this dish is that the broth serves as the "gravy" for the turkey and mashed potatoes.

Jonny's Corner
Seconds? Yes
Response: Horrible! (In reference to the base running of the Phillies game). What? Oh, good meal.