Appreciation Chicken & Cookies

As previously noted, I had big dinner plans on Wednesday night. Honestly, I've had dinner plans every night this week barring Monday which was just a recovery day. Hence why I've been a little absent. I'll include my Club Lucky review in my weekend post alongside an overdue rave about Venus. Trust me, the Italian and the Greek theme tie together REMARKABLY well.

In the meantime, I owed the Epicurious Alchemist some serious dinner for watching our friend HoneyCat while I was in Boston. Plus he and L are two of my favorite dinnertime companions as there is 1) lots of wine and 2) laughing fits.

According to EA, it was learning how to make Brie Cups that got him hooked on cooking. I did not have any of the cups on hand but had made extra topping at Easter that I pulled out of the fridge and poured on top of a round of brie with the top sliced off. Baked it in foil for about 10 min at 350 and served with a toasted french baguette- ta-damn.


Then the inspired dish of the evening...Gruyère, Spinach, and Prosciutto-Stuffed Chicken Breast with Caramelized Shallot Sauce from Cooking Light via We Are Not Martha. This was a much easier dish than it sounds like. Mostly because I skipped part of the work in buying pre-flattened chicken instead of pounding out my own. Dominick's sells them scallopini ready so they're perfect for rolling up ingredients. I also used whole wheat flour for dredging because, why not?

The only area I could have done better at was the sauce. Mine turned out much thinner than Susie's and I'm still looking at why that might have been. Tasted great but too soupy. I THINK I got impatient and didn't let it reduce enough. Word to the wise about THAT virtue.
You know there will be veggies when you come for dinner chez TKTC. I have a handful of friends who don't even LIKE veggies (poor souls) and I have been known to sneak them in Jessica Seinfeld-style*. Tonight's bit of health crunch was Roasted Broccolini with Balsamic Vinegar brought to you by a new favorite website- FoodFit.com! I've been getting their e-newsletters for a couple weeks now and I have to say, I'm impressed. It's also how I found my new Amazon delivery. This was EASY, FAST, TASTY and a nice counterpoint to gruyere & prosciutto.

*TKTC Note: Well, that's not necessarily true. Hiding cooked carrots and acorn squash under brown sugar butter glaze isn't exactly "trickery." Moving on.

Order Up! Served with basic, mashed baby Yukons.

EA, becoming quite the baker, and L, his trusty food critic, provided "The Chewy" for dessert. We warmed them in the oven and served with Vanilla and Chocolate Oberweis ice cream. A classic and tied as my favorite cookie with 101Cookbooks' Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies.

EA was so happy to see his friend HoneyCat because his allergies don't shutter him on site of her anymore. However, after 2 hours of her squirming, Dave's eyes looked like little maraschino cherries and HC was hiding under my bed. Even lovers need a holiday.