Dinner with Friends!

So tonight we had Ashlee and Sean over for dinner and made pork chops, burgundy mushrooms and mac n' cheese!  For the mushrooms, I made the Pioneer Woman's recipe that I also made for Christmas dinner and let me just tell you that these are AMAZING.  Seriously.  Her recipe calls for the cook time to be 9 hours, but like most of you, I don't really have 9 hours in a day to cook mushrooms.  So, I half the recipe and cook for around 4 hours.  TRY IT!  For the mac n' cheese I used Ina's recipe, but I didn't add the tomatoes to the mac.  Oh, and Marty made a maple glaze for the chops!

When we have guests over for dinner I don't usually take pics of our cooking because I'm too busy chatting and sipping on some vino, so I only have a few pics from tonight...a little sneak peek :)

Basically, you just add all of the ingredients for the mushrooms in one big pot and bring to a boil.  I mean, what isn't going to taste good with red wine and butter?!

Cover the mushrooms and let simmer for hours and hours...

Then uncover the mushrooms and let simmer for more hours....the color eventually turns into this awesome deep, rich red.  Sooooo good.

This is what the mac n' cheese looked like before we put it in the oven.  It was basically a delicious soup of pasta and cheese. 

Oh, and these little guys were anchovies that Marty and Ashlee were munching on with some cheese and olives before dinner :)

Chili Time!

Lately I have been trying out a few of the Pionner Woman's recipes...this was my first.  I loved her idea of putting masa in the chili.  It really did make it super delicious!  Plus, these Frito chili pies would be great for a fun little dinner party!

Mince up some garlic.

You will need some masa.

In a large pot, add ground sirloin and the garlic.  Cook until browned.

Rinse of some beans.  My favorite bean is black, so we made this chili with black beans and kidney beans.

The sirloin browning away.

When the beef is cooked, add tomato sauce, rotel, cumin, oregano, salt and chili powder.

Stir and cook for a bit and then add some warm water.

Dice up some red onion for some toppings.

More toppings...

This is the masa...put in a mixing bowl.

Add in the beans!

Add a little bit of water to the masa and stir.

Add the masa to the chili.

Buy individual bags of Fritos and cut open on the length side.

Yummm look at that chili!

More toppings....

yummy Fritos

Add the chili to the Frito bags.

Then add whatever toppings you want!

Yummmmmy

Marty's beer of choice that night.

Chicken, Mushrooms and More Mushrooms

This particular day we had been shopping at Williams-Sonoma and I bought some kitchen twine (amongst other goodies).  I know this is super cheesy, but I was so excited about the kitchen twine that I just had to cook something that night using it!  I found a recipe that was chicken rolled up with goat cheese and mushrooms and topped with a mushroom sauce.  We served it with asparagus and potato gratin.  Yum!

Put some baby bella mushrooms in a food processor (around 7-8 cleaned mushrooms).

Pulse into tiny bits.

Melt some butter in a small skillet.

Add the mushroom bits to the melted butter.

Add a little bit of onion and garlic to the mushrooms (I used just 1/4 C of onion and about 2 cloves of garlic).

Cook until all of the liquid is absorbed.  I know the color looks kind of iffy, but ignore that haha.  This mushroom mixture will be for the stuffing.  Set a side.

For the sauce, clean off and de-stem some beautiful and delicious shiitakes.  Because of this sauce, shiitakes are my current favorite mushroom! 

Slice the shiitakes.

To prepare the chicken, cover the breasts with plastic wrap and pound until thin.

Next, spread the goat cheese over one side of each chicken breast.

Saute the shiitakes in some butter and cook for a bit.

Next, add some chicken stock and white wine.

To the chicken, add the mushroom stuffing.

Then carefully roll up each chicken breast length-wise.

Just a pic of Marty rolling up more chicken :)

And now time for the kitchen twine!  Tie up each breast with 2 pieces of twine...

...like this!

In a non-stick pan, sear the chicken in some olive oil.

Yummy.

When the chicken is cooked, place on a cutting board and slice each breast until around 1 inch pieces.  Oh yeah, don't forget to take the twine off :)

Serve with the shiitake sauce and enjoy!

Recipe:

7-8 baby bella mushrooms, cleaned
3 TBSP unsalted butter
1/4 C onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 C fresh shittakes, cleaned
about 6 oz goat cheese, softened
1/4 C white wine
1/4 C chicken stock
4 chicken breasts
2 TBSP olive oil

Put the baby bella mushrooms in a food processor and pulse into tiny bits.  Melt 2 TBSP butter in a small saute pan and add the mushrooms and the onion and garlic.  Saute until the liquid has been absorbed, season with S&P and set aside.

Next, place the chicken on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap.  Flatten each breast until thin.  Then spread the goat cheese on one side of each chicken breast.  Next, put some of the mushroom mixture on each breast and roll each on up length wise and tie with kitchen twine.

In a medium size skillet, add the olive oil and add the shiitake mushrooms.  Let them cook for a few minutes.  Then add the white wine and chicken stock.  Let the liquid reduce then take the pan off the heat.  Add the remaining 1 TBSP of butter into the pan.  Stir until the sauce is nice and glossy.  Set aside.

Heat a non-stick pan of medium high heat with olive oil.  Add the chicken breasts and saute until golden brown and cooked on all sides, turning of course!  When the chicken is done, remove the twine and serve with the sauce on top.  Garnish with parsley if you want.

Enjoy!

Great party dip!

This SWISS & BACON dip is an easy go-to appetizer I like to take to holiday get togethers and parties.  Its super easy to make and deeeelicious.  I first found this Rachael Ray recipe years ago and changed a few things.  I add onions and do not add any nuts.  I'm sure both ways are yummy!  I apologize that I forgot to take a pic of the end result, as I was in a hurry and running out the door!  But trust me, make this and you will find out yourself!  Serve with toast points or crackers.

Dice up some bacon into small pieces.

Soften a block of cream cheese.

You will need some swiss cheese of course!

Brown the bacon bits.

While the bacon is browning, dice up some onion (I use about 1/2-1 C).

When the bacon is browned, set aside on a plate covered with a paper towel.  Bacon is so pretty.

You will also need some mayo.

In a mixing bowl, add the cheese, cream cheese, mayo, onion and some dijon mustard.

Mix all together with the bacon to get this creamy, cheesy goodness.

Add the mixture to a small baking dish.  You will then put in an oven and bake until bubbly and golden brown and then serve!