Chicken Breasts in Phyllo

Out of all the recipes that I have blogged about, Chicken Breasts in Phyllo was one that was more time consuming. It may have just been me, and the little distractions here and there. Or maybe even because it was my first time working with Phyllo dough. Once Phyllo thaws out it is a pretty delicate ingredient. But once it is baked, the lite flakiness is just so tasty.

There are two different mixtures you will have going into this recipe. One will be your combination of ingredients for your chicken. The other will be your melted butter to use on your Phyllo dough.

I did not use as much chicken that the recipe called for. I used about 7 small breasts and I actually cut those in half. I was not sure how they would fit into the Phyllo dough.

You will notice that if you use the amount of chicken that the recipe calls for, you will not have as much left over sauce that you will put on your chicken. I had a nice amount leftover that probably could have made about four more chicken breasts. Oh well,  now I know.

In this mixture that will soon be put onto your chicken breasts, there was an ingredient that I have never used and actually I do not even really know what type of taste it added. Terragon was the spice. I read up on this spice/herb. It can be used on some specific types of meat, chicken and fish being two and is used in lasagna dishes as well. Terragon and I have a lot in common, we like hot sunny spots, with not a lot of water. Sounds like a nice living environment hot, sunny not a lot of rain!!

You will set this mixture aside and get your phyllo dough out and ready to be stuffed.

When you unroll your phyllo dough, you will notice it may flake off a little. Just be gentle and roll it all out. You will melt your butter and lay out a sheet of phyllo dough, and brush the butter all over to cover the whole piece of dough. You will put another layer of phyllo dough on top and repeat with the butter.

I used unsalted butter, the only thing i noticed was that maybe I should have used salted butter because that was the one ingredient I felt that I did not have enough of, was salt!

Once your two layers of phyllo dough are buttered up you can now coat up your chicken with the delicious blend of ingredients that we mixed in the beginning.

You can transfer the chicken to the corner of the phyllo dough and coat the other side of the chicken with more of the mixture.

You will then begin to wrap the chicken in the phyllo dough as if it is a package. Try and seal all ends so the chicken is not exposed and the mixture will not sneak out.

You will do the same for each chicken breast. Once you have wrapped them all, they look a little like large egg rolls.

Now you can top each roll with some more melted butter and sprinkle with what us Italians love best, Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Now you can do one of two things. You can cover your baking sheet and place in the fridge until you are ready to bake or just bake away. I placed mine in the fridge until later in the evening.

In my last post I mentioned how I like to at least bake my chicken for 40 minutes to be safe. I took the chance on the last recipe by cooking for only 30 minutes.

Chicken Breasts in Phyllo only says you have to bake for 20-25 minutes. Ahhh! No way!

I just put raw chicken breasts into this Phyllo dough and 20-25 minutes is enough?

Yes! I removed my pan with 3 minutes left.

I cut it in half and sure enough it was cooked all the way through.

You will actually hear the sizzling of the butter on the bottom of the pan while in your oven. Keep an eye out just because everyones oven is different. You can prepare this dish and store in the fridge for the next day, just to save some time. Or if you prepare early in the day like I did and bake at night, it all works out!

Hope you enjoy

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

"A Stir in The Mist" is out and ready to be purchased.

Now as I blog about the recipes you can follow a long once you have your hands on your very own cookbook.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole is the recipe I will be experimenting today. There are very few ingredients for this recipe which makes it quick and easy and affordable, especially with all your holiday shopping.

To begin you will boil your chicken breasts the same way I did for the King Ranch Chicken in one of my previous blogs. I seasoned my chicken a little before boiling and just a little after, right before mixing all the remaining ingredients.

Once the chicken is boiled you can remove it from the water and you can now start to shred apart the chicken. I did it a little different, due to the fact of me being excited to taste this recipe.

 I rushed it and wanted to shred the chicken immediately after boiling so therefore I held each piece of chicken with a pair of tongs otherwise you will burn your fingers... OUCH.. I shredded the chicken apart with a fork. Or you can even use a sharp knife and chop the chicken up really small. Once you have your shredded boiled chicken you can mix it into your other ingredients.

This mixture will be your bottom layer. Once that is mixed all together and layed out in your casserole, or baking dish you can now add the crunchiness your family will love. Ritz Crackers, who would have ever thought of cooking with them. Guess I am still new in the cooking world.

I chose the Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers, just to make this recipe I guess a little healthier?

You will crush the crackers up in your hands and set a side. At this time in one large bowl you can add together the crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter.

My first thought on this recipe was that I do not like poppy seed bagels so I will probably not enjoy a chicken dish with poppy seeds baked in it. Well I was wrong. Once everything is combined I think the Ritz Crackers have more of an over powering taste than anything.

This cracker mixture now can be added to top the bottom layer off.

You will now bake this dish. I normally bake chicken for at least 40 minutes just to be safe. This recipe only requires 30 minutes. So I chanced it and it was juicy and at the same time the cracker mixture on top was nice and crunchy!

We hope you purchase "A Stir in The Mist" Taste and Traditions of Niagara Falls!!

You will love every recipe in this cookbook. You will also love the great artwork and the side bars that add a little more to each recipe. We have gotten amazing reviews so far and we hope you continue on spreading the word about this wonderful cookbook.

White Wine Cookies

With the holidays coming up, the stores will be busy and the carts will be full with all the baking ingredients for all the holiday cookies.

White Wine Cookies are in the dessert section of "A Stir in The Mist". You will love this recipe and want to share it with your company for the Holidays.

You can use any type of white wine for this recipe. They say if you do use homemade white wine it is the best. I just did not have the time this week to stomp grapes and make our own, next time....maybe...



Most ingredients for cookies call for margarine, butter or even eggs. This recipe is all dry ingredients except for the wine and oil.

This recipe was brought right from Sonnino, Italy in the early 1900s. It is usually made by “eye and feels,” but the recipe has been converted to modern measurements. As with most old world Italian recipes, a little practice will produce great results.

The "eye and feel" part of this recipe comes into play when you add your oil. Depending on how big of a batch you are looking to make you may need all the oil. I made this recipe by mixing my dry ingredients and as I mixed everything with my hands I added the oil a little at a time.

You will notice as you continue to mix the ingredients and add the oil you will start to create a dough consistency. You want it to be "doughy" (if that is even a word) just not too sticky and of course not to oily. You will not need all the oil that this recipe calls for. If you feel it getting too slippery and oily just add some more flour. You will know it is the right consistency when you can roll out the dough in your hands.

I rolled each one out about the length from my thumb to my pinky. You can really make them any shape you would like.  I twisted mine. I also did a few "S" shaped ones. (For Soffritti of course).

Once you have rolled them out and made them into the form you desire, you can then sprinkle or even dip one side of the cookie into sugar. This step again is your preference. you can roll the whole cookie into the sugar, dip the top half or even just one side.

Once your cookies are all in there desired shape and covered with sugar, you can now bake away. I used the exact temperature and baking time for these cookies. They seemed a little under baked once the timer went off, but they harden a little more once they are out of the oven like every other cookie. If you want to bump the time up a few minutes you can, or even keep an eye on them and as soon as the top starts to look golden I would remove from oven. Again when you bake these cookies you will use "eye and feel" and most importantly "taste". Practice makes perfect and I of all people have discovered this by baking more and more.

This is the final product. The cookies towards the bottom look a little darker than the rest. I sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on top just to test it out and see how that would taste. They both came out very tasty. This is a delicious cookie that your family will love.

Grilled Cheese Italiano

This recipe is a very special recipe. It is such a quick and easy recipe, you can add ingredients to it or just keep it the original way it is. 

Diane Quarantello, director of the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club , entered this recipe in a contest , “Adventures in Foods”  in 1971, at the age of 14 as a member of the International Center and Girl’s Club of Niagara Falls, New York. 
Her closing statement in this contest entry was,  “ I picked this sandwich because it is a more appealing variation of the grilled cheese.  Also, the ingredients of this sandwich are my favorite, especially the salami.”

The only twist that I put towards the "Grilled Cheese Italiano" was the bread. Now that we are here living in Ohio, in my previous blogs I mentioned how we do not have the delicious Italian bread that we once enjoyed in Niagara Falls!  So for a little change in taste, I stopped by Panera Bread and bought a loaf of there bread. Wow.. what a great choice.

You make this recipe the same exact way you would any sandwich, then to give it that added touch of "Italiano" you season it with some Oregano and a few other mouth watering seasonings.

You can grill this recipe the same way you would make a grilled cheese sandwich. I decided to use my panini press.  The bread that I was using, was thicker than most Italian breads, so the panini press was a great way to thin it out along with toasting it a little.

Wait until the bread is nice and golden brown this way it is toasted all the way through!

What better way to experience an Italian sandwich. I served chili along with this recipe. You can serve soup, salad or just throw a few potato chips on a plate and your lunch/dinner is served. Hope you enjoy and Thank You Diane for submitting this recipe and sharing it with Niagara Falls.

Caramel Apple Dip

Well it is that time of year to go pick some fresh apples. What better way to enjoy a nice crisp apple than with a tasty caramel dip.

If you love caramel with an apple, all you have to do is add two more ingredients and you will be able to enjoy this recipe.

This recipe is so easy to make. There is not a lot of preparing and there is no need to bake!

The only real work you have to do is chop up your toffee bar of choice. Mine was a Heath Bar. I used my hand chopper because I would have never been able to break this candy bar apart with my hands.

Once that is all chopped up and your ingredients are layered,  you can top everything off with the Heath Bar.

The recipe calls for Granny Smith apples. You can use an apple of your choice. Well I hope you enjoy and this is one recipe that you will love!

Rice Pilaf

When it comes to cooking and following the recipe. I sometimes look into a recipe to much. That is what usually can turn me away from making some recipes. Once I see an ingredient that I am not sure of or exactly where to find it in a grocery store, I usually will turn it away.

This Rice Pilaf dish at first was one of those recipes. The first ingredient that it calls for is Rosa Marina Pasta. At first I just assumed it would be next to all the other types of Barilla Pasta in the grocery store. Come to find out it was not. Then I went to, two other Italian specialty stores that carry strictly Italian ingredients. I even had an employee at the store searching the shelves for Rosa Marina. Well with the Internet today, "Google" should have been my first place to look. If it was not for Google, how could you ever get questions answered that you have no clue of.

So I "googled" Rosa marina pasta. Come to find out Rosamarina or Rosa marina pasta is basically identified as a synonym for orzo, which may also be called manestra.

Well now that is better. Orzo here I come.

Your first step in this recipe is going to get your the golden brown rice you will need in rice pilaf. You will brown the orzo in butter until it is brown. It is pretty neat to see the transformation.

 The Orzo starts off the same color as a normal long grain rice. Once it is done you will notice the big difference in color.

Now you can combine the rest of your ingredients. The recipe does call for white rice, I decided to use brown rice. It does not change much. The taste of the final recipe is just as good but healthier.

You will continue to stir and cook the rice and pasta together in the chicken broth. Until the chicken broth is totally absorbed and the rice is nice and tender. This recipe takes about 15-20 minutes to make. So if you are making a dish to go along with it, time it well, so your rice is nice and hot and ready to serve along with the other dish.

This is a great side dish to serve along with any type of dinner or lunch. It is easy and quick and it tastes even better heated up the next day. I hope you try this Rice Pilaf dish once your purchase your own cookbook!!

Remember November 20, 2010 and December 4, 2010

There will be a table set up at the Fashion Outlets Mall in Niagara Falls, NY from 10am-8pm selling "A Stir in The Mist" Taste and Traditions of Niagara Falls, NY!!

Peanutty Gems

 This is a Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club favorite. It is made for the Annual Auction by one of the Boys and Girls Club volunteers.

Peanutty Gems caught my eye because Marco and I both love Reese's and this cookie is a peanut butter cookie with half of the cookie dipped in melted chocolate.

There are a couple different peanut butter cookies in "A Stir in The Mist".

This one is nice because you can do it a couple different ways.

You can make large cookies (get up to 4 dozen), or you can make small cookies, like I have and I got close to 7 dozen. When you put the chocolate on you can cover the whole top, just like i did with the Howe's cookies, or to make them actual "Peanutty Gems" you will dip half of the cookie into the chocolate.

As you mix the first part of all your ingredients, you can get all your dry ingredients mixed up and ready to add together. The one thing I noticed while making cookies. There is always a lot of flour and like a teaspoon of baking soda. It is such a small amount of baking soda, how could it possibly effect anything? Is it that powerful? Just something that blows my mind as I stir all my dry ingredients together.

Remember to add the flour mixture nice and slowly, It will fly up and get you if you add to much at one time. (the flour all over my counter was my hint to add slowly).

The cookie dough will stiffen up towards the end of the flour mixture being added. Make sure you use all the flour.

The dough should be easy to work with, sticky but yet you are able to form little balls by rolling them in between your palms.

I chose to make little balls this way I would be able to make a large batch. It is entirely up to you.

Once you have made your balls and placed them on your cookie sheets, you will then take the bottom of a glass and lightly push down to flatten out just a little. You still want the cookie to be thick just not round.

You will notice that the cookie dough may crack a little. That is okay, it will happen.

These cookies do not expand to much more in size, so feel free to put as many as you can on the cookie sheet. Just as long as there is enough space in between to bake.

The recipe says to bake for 5 minutes on the bottom rack and then 5 min on the top rack. I did exactly what it said, and they came out nice and chewy.

Once the cookies are cooled down, you can go ahead and melt your chocolate. I only used a pound of the chocolate that the recipe calls for. Again my cookies may be smaller than most. So you may need the full 2 pounds of chocolate wafers.

If you melt the chocolate in the microwave as I did. Make sure you keep a close eye on it. The bottom may melt first and the top may look like the wafers are still whole. Still take the bowl out and stir it around. The chocolate is going to be soft and it will cream together once you mix it.

You do not want to burn the chocolate, so just heat it up a little bit at a time. Keep stirring.

I dipped half of the cookie into the chocolate. I only dropped one cookie totally into the chocolate, so I did well. I just left that one for Marco to taste!

Here is the final cookie!

These cookies are very easy to make. I got close to 7 dozen, so they are perfect if you are having company or would like to bring them somewhere to enjoy.

I hope you try this recipe once you purchase your own "A Stir in The Mist" cookbook.