Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I know I was on a roll with my Provencal dinner, but until I actually prepare the whole meal for the recipients of my donation of a meal for six, I will defer from posting the recipes.  The most heartwarming response from all of my blogging buddies on the clafoutis has me reeling.  You are all wonderful people.  Susan of Schnitzel and the Trout alerted me to a recipe for clafoutis that she prepared from Barbara’s blog Moveable Feast.  Barbara then commented to let me know about the recipe.  The beauty of it is that it can be prepared ahead of time.  Racheld of Lawn Tea gave me great tips on assembling the clafoutis in the winner’s home when I deliver the dinner.  I will be preparing Barbara and Susan’s recipe soon to see how I do.  All of you are very supportive.  Thank you.

Now on to Big Bang Chicken.  Doesn’t that name grab you?  I do not know the origin of the name.  Maybe it came about because you get a “big bang” for your buck with this.  It is a great company dish for very little money.  The recipe was in The Fresh Market & Friends Cookbook;  A 25th anniversay publication.  The Fresh Market now has more than 70 stores in 15 States.

To give you some background, a couple of weeks ago I went to The Fresh Market in Hendersonville.  The Fresh Market and I have a long history.  The very first Fresh Market was started in Greensboro, NC where David and I lived for many years.  The year was 1982 and this innovative food store had just opened.  Imagine my delight in walking into a grocery store illuminated by soft lights with classical music playing in the background and artfully arranged vegetables and flowers filling my eyes.  There were bins of specialty grains and a whole section for gourmet jelly beans.  The smell of coffee was in the air and samples were available for sipping.  The deli displayed wondrous plump rotisserie chickens and the bakery looked like something out of a Paris Patisserie.  I was in love.  A weekly visit to The Fresh Market became a routine.

When we moved to the North Carolina Mountains I was happy to see that The Fresh Market had preceded us to the area  I visit the Hendersonville location at least once a month.  I saw their cookbook on my last visit and knew that I had to have it.  Many of the recipes in it are from people from Greensboro and each of the recipes underwent a thorough vetting to determine it’s goodness before being  included.

This chicken casserole is very easy to assemble and has a special kick of flavor from the marinated artichoke hearts and the sherry and fresh herbs.  Served with rice, crusty bread and a salad, you can’t go wrong.

BIG BANG CHICKEN

3 tablespoons olive oil
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
all-purpose flour
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium green bell pepper, sliced
2 (6 ounce) jars marinated artichoke hearts, with juices
2 (15 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, with juices
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup sherry
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Dridege chicken in flour then place in pan and brown for 10 minutes.  Add Garlic and bell pepper and cook until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Add artichoke hearts, stewed tomatoes and mushrooms; remove from heat and place in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Cover and bake 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, add sherry, fresh herbs and spices then bake an additional 30 minutes uncovered.

Printable recipe

Add the cooked stew to the casserole to which you have added a handful of white cheedar cheese and then sprinkle the top with another handful of white cheddar.  Place the second piece of pastry on the top and rustically seal and bunch the pastry together.  Give the pastry an egg wash and put it back in the oven to brown and puff.

Sara Foster has two markets in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina.  The area includes Duke University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and The Research Triangle Complex.  So much happens in this incubator of thought, science, software and medical research.  The people drawn to this part of North Carolina are highly educated, enviromentally aware and demanding about what they eat.  It was the perfect place for Sara Foster to open her food emporiums.  Sara worked for Martha Stewart in the early years of her career and long ago branched out into her own style.  She has written several cookbooks and is recognized for her approach to cooking which involves simple honest food prepared with local  and seasonal ingredients.  Her cookbooks inspire me.

Over the Easter holiday we traveled to the coastal area of North Carolina.  While skirting Chapel Hill I suggested to David that we stop at Foster’s Market for lunch.  OK this is something that you need to know about me.  I take any and every opportunity to experience an interesting meal.  Forget the fast food joints;  I want “an experience” of unique eats.  Why waste your time on mediocre meals?  So we got off of Interstate 40 and proceeded to Foster’s Market.  It is not far, but our GPS gets confused.  I hate my “Betty” sometimes.  I thing she is trying to land us in a dump or no man’s land.  Right before we arrived at  the restaurant on the left of Martin Luther King Blvd, Betty sent us to the right through a winding neighborhood and landed us back on the right street to turn back to the left for a few yards.  Evil Betty!  That’s why my next picture is crooked.  I was upset.

We had the soup and sandwich combination featuring pork and black bean soup with a ham and cheese panini.  I didn’t get a good picture of our food but this is what the market looks like on the inside.

In honor of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday, I made Sara Foster’s Southwestern Shepherd’s Pie with Chicken and Chili Mashed Potatoes.  It is in her Foster’s Market Cookbook.   If you are short on time you can use a rotisserie chicken.  There is a little heat to it, but not much.  It is an interesting take on shepherd’s pie and we loved it.  It was both homey and satisfying.

SOUTHWESTERN SHEPHERD’S PIE WITH CHICKEN AND CHILI MASHED POTATOES

3 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 red onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 cups shredded cooked, chicken
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 heaping teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Kernels from 2 ears fresh corn (1 cup fresh or frozen corn)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Mashed potatoes made from 6 large Russet potatoes
2 teaspoons chili powder
Fresh parsley and fresh thyme, to garnish, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the celery, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper and cook 3 minutes more, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic and jalapeno and cook 3 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour starts to brown slightly, about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken and wine and stir until the wine begins to evaporate, about 1 minute.  Slowly add the chicken broth, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon.  Reduce heat to low, bring the mixture to a low boil, and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens and is creamy.

Remove from the heat and add the parsley, thyme, red pepper flakes, and corn.  Season with salt and pepper and transfer the mixture to a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.

To make the chili mashed potatoes,  Mix basic mashed potatoes with 1 teaspoon of the chili powder in a bowl until well combined.

Spoon the chili mashed potatoes on top of the chicken and bake 20 to 30 minutes or until the potato peaks are slightly brown and the chicken mixture is bubbling around the sides of the dish.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the remaining chili powder and the parsley and thyme, if desired.  Serve immediately.

Printable recipe

While staying with my Brother and SIL in Michigan, Barb made this delicious chicken casserole.  It was one of those times when the family needed to be elsewhere for other obligations and Barb had the foresight to put together the main components of it so that we could pull it together when we needed to.  The chicken and the ham were assembled ahead of time and the cheese was added to it.  All we had to do later was to make the sauce and topping and put it in the oven. 

I have blogged about Chicken Cordon Bleu before.  Here is my favorite recipe for the real thing.  The only bad thing about the real thing is that it is not crowd friendly.  Sometimes you just don’t have time to roll and assemble individual chicken packages for lots of people.  We had lots of people on the evening in question and this was the perfect solution.  It has all of the good flavor of chicken cordon bleu but is easy to dish up for a crowd.  Everyone loved it from the kids to my picky Brother. (Sorry Bill, but you are kind of set in your ways about food.) 

So thanks Barb for the recipe.  The original recipe called for cheddar cheese and both Barb and I agreed that Swiss made more sense.  We had it with Cheddar the first time, but this time I used Swiss and the results were great.  There are some interesting ingredients in the recipe;  dill weed, dry mustard, nutmeg and walnuts, but they all work together to make a great casserole.  And if you have followed this blog for awhile you know that I have a problem with most chicken casseroles.  This one is a winner.

David and I will be traveling for the next few weeks.  He is leaving on Saturday on his two week motorcycle trip out West with stops at a few Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives when he can.  You can follow him on his blog on my sidebar.  I am spending a long weekend in Atlanta with one of the Biker Babes.  We hope to shop, eat good food, and take in the ambiance of Atlanta.  Let me know if you have any suggestions about where to go and things to do.  Then I will be going to Cary, NC to spend time with family.  But I will be blogging.  I have a new camera, so I am looking forward to improving my skills.  We will see.  Stay tuned.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU CASSEROLE

6 cups cubed, fully cooked chicken
3 cups cubed, fully cooked ham
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese ( Or cheddar if you prefer )

1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp to 1 Tbsp dill weed
1/8 tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Topping:
1 cup dry breadcrumbs
3 Tbls melted butter
1/4 to 1 tsp dill weed
1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 to 1/2 cup choppped walnuts

1.  In large bowl, combine chicken, ham and cheese.
2.  In saucepan, saute onions in butter until tender.  Add flour.  Stir to form a paste and cook for a few minutes.
3.  Over low heat, gradually add cream stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and  add dill, mustard and nutmeg and mix well.  Remove from heat.
4.  Butter a 9 X 13 inch casserole and add chicken mixture.  Top with cream mixture and mix gently. 
5.  In the large mixing bowl, toss together bread crumbs, butter and dill.  Stir in cheese and walnuts.  Sprinkle on top of casserole.
6  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown.