Sauteed Chicken in Mustard-Cream Sauce

***Here's a second yummy recipe from the Everday Food: Great Food Fast Martha Stewart cookbook. It was quick and easy to make, and the cream sauce was just right.***

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 ounces each)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine, or chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh)

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; saute until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a plate; keep warm.

Pour wine into hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in cream, mustard, and tarragon. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Pour any accumulated chicken juices into sauce. Right before serving, drizzle cream sauce over chicken.

Source: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast by Martha Stewart Living magazine

Chicken with Cranberry Sauce

***Wow...this was good! I recently got the Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook by Martha Stewart Living magazine. I have to say that I really love this cookbook. When it comes to cookbooks, I am a photo kind of girl. I like a lot of pretty, color photographs to go along with the recipes. This book doesn't disappoint. There's a beautiful photo for every single recipe...and there's 250 recipes! They are arranged in the book by season, which is really nice. And to top it all off, all the recipes are pretty simple and most of them can be prepared in about 30 minutes. It has quickly become one of my favorite cookbooks.

This recipe caught my eye. It seemed like an interesting combination...chicken and cranberries. I couldn't find fresh cranberries, so I had to use dried cranberries from a bag. However, they worked good too! This dish was a little sweet and savory all in one. It went especially well with the mashed sweet potatoes posted below...like I said in that post, it almost felt like Thanksgiving!***

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 bone-in chicken breasts (8 ounces each)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup cranberries (I had to use dried cranberries...they were just as yummy!)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Rub evenly under chicken skin. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; roast skin side up until skin is golden brown and meat is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt remaining tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add sage and remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme; cook 1 minute. Add broth; simmer until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 10 to 15 minutes. Strain mixture; return to saucepan.

Add cranberries and sugar; boil until berries burst, 5 to 8 minutes. Whisk in cornstarch mixture; return to a boil. Cook until slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat (sauce will thicken as it stands). Season with salt and pepper. To serve, spoon sauce over chicken.

Source: Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook by Martha Stewart Living magazine

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

***I must have been in a holiday sort of mood the other night, because I made sweet potato puree and chicken with a cranberry sauce....it almost felt like Thanksgiving...hah. Anyway, this is one of my favorite ways to prepare sweet potatoes. I found THIS recipe over at 101 Cookbooks, and used it as inspiration...I did change it up a little bit.

And did you know that the sweet potato ranks #1 in nutrition?? I found the following info @ http://www.foodreference.com/:

"The reasons the sweet potato took first place? Dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. The sweet potato received a score of 184; the vegetable ranked in second place was more than 100 points behind with a score of 83. The numbers for the nutritional sweet potato speak for themselves: almost twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal. All these benefits with only about 130 to 160 calories!"

How cool is that??***

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, cleaned and left damp

1/2 - 3/4 cup milk or heavy cream

2 Tbsp. butter or margarine

Salt & Pepper

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup light brown sugar (add more or less to your liking)

1 Tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Pierce each potato 2 - 3 times with a fork. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until tender to a fork tip, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool until warm enough to handle, 10 to 15 minutes. Peel and discard the skin. Place the peeled potatoes into a medium sized bowl and mash with a potato masher.

Meanwhile, pour the milk (or cream) into a 2-quart pot, add the vanilla and brown sugar; stir and heat over medium heat just until hot. Remove from heat. Slowly pour the mixture over the potatoes (in small increments), stir, and add the butter and cinnamon. Keep adding the milk mixture until you achieve the desired consistency.

Stir well. Enjoy!

Cornflake-Coated Pork Chops

***This is an incredibly easy dinner idea. I found this in the new "Southern Living" Homestyle Cookbook. The prep was quick and the results were very good!***

Ingredients:
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons milk

5 cups cornflake cereal, crushed (about 2 cups crushed)

6 boneless pork chops (about 3/4-inch thick)

2 teaspoons lemon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 large lemon, halved

Garnish: halved lemon slices

Directions:

1. Stir together eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Place cornflake crumbs in a separate shallow dish. Sprinkle pork evenly with lemon pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Dip pork chops in egg mixture, and dredge in cornflake crumbs. Place chops on a lightly greased rack on a baking sheet.

2. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until done. Squeeze lemon juice evenly over chops, and garnish, if desired.

Source: "Southern Living" Homestyle Cookbook

Broiled Mahi Mahi with Parsleyed Tomatoes

***I recently got a great cookbook called "Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook." I highly recommend it...it's wonderful. One of the first recipes that I've tried in the book is this broiled mahi mahi dish. I was very pleased with the results. As I've mentioned before, Brad and I love Greek-style food, and this is certainly in that category. It's packed with flavor...from the tomato/onion mixture on bottom, to the tender fish and cheese sprinkled on top...you'll definitely enjoy this one!***



Ingredients:
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
6 (6- to 8-ounce) mahi-mahi fillets
1 (4-ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
Garnish: lemon slices

Directions:
Sauté sliced onions in hot olive oil over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until tender. Add chopped tomatoes, next 4 ingredients, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Set onion-and-tomato mixture aside. Place fish in a single layer on a lightly greased rack in an aluminum foil-lined broiler pan; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Broil 5 inches from heat 8 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.

Spoon onion-and-tomato mixture evenly onto a platter; top with fish fillets. Sprinkle evenly with crumbled feta cheese, and garnish, if desired.


Source: "Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook"