One of my “stretch goals” for 2008 is to organize the six years’ worth of Cook of the Week recipes and recipes I’ve written about in my column, Speaking of Food, so that it takes me less time to find them when readers call or write asking for them.
Today, I’ve been working on recipes from 2006. This was apparently the year for pound cakes, apple dumplings, hamburger casseroles and sweet potato pies. It was also the year for Chicken-Spinach Rolls from Cindi Irwin, who was featured in August.
I made this dish once and then apparently lost or misfiled the recipe, because I went looking for it one day a few months ago and couldn’t find it. Thankfully, it has resurfaced
Chicken-Spinach Rolls
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups fresh baby spinach
4 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubed
4 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 ounces crumbled Feta cheese
2 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon dry ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, flattened to 1/8-inch thickness
Sauté onion in olive oil until tender. Add spinach and stir until wilted. Remove pan from heat and add remaining ingredients, except chicken. Spoon 1/4-cup of the mixture onto each chicken breast and roll up jelly-roll-style. Place seam-side down in a greased baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Do not overbake or chicken will be dry.
If using as an appetizer, place cooked chicken in refrigerator to chill. Slice into pinwheels and place on a serving tray. Serve at room temperature.
Note: For a rich dish that’s more moist, pour 1 1/2 cups whipping cream over the chicken before baking.
3 Comments
May 9, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Ginna–
I’m looking forward to seeing your blog develop. I would like to see a thread started where everyone could comment on what’s available at the Tupelo Farmers Market and recipes which include those available items. I have a pet peeve about recipes published say, in January, which call for fresh tomatoes. As if.
May 10, 2008 at 3:58 am
Eggs Cooter Brown – Not Eggs Lemuel Benedict
Southern version of a NYC classic
As the story goes, Lem Benedict (retired Wall Street stock broker) stumbled into the Waldorf with the hope of finding a cure for his hang-over and requested “buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a hooker of hollandaise”. The Waldorf brass were so impressed they added it to the menu changing the toast to an English muffin and the bacon to ham; And naming it Eggs Benedict.
Now about 30 years earlier, there was a war brewing. Cooter Brown lived on the Mason-Dixon line with family on both sides and he didn’t want to fight for either side. So fear of being drafted by one or the other, he decided to get drunk and stay drunk for the duration of the war. Neither side would want a useless drunk and he wouldn’t be drafted. I am sure he must have had several hang-overs and stumbled around alot, but I do doubt he ever wandered through the doors of the Waldorf in NYC.
So enjoy Eggs Cooter Brown
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2 slices of buttered toast
2 thick (1/2 inch) slices of fried bologna
2 eggs sunny side up
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup pepper jack cheese sauce
Layer on a plate as listed and enjoy this Southern version of a Yankee classic
May 12, 2008 at 2:43 pm
John, I’m planning many recipes from produce found at the Farmers’ Market. In fact, in July, we’ll have a whole Food&Dining section devoted to farmers’ market recipes.
Cindy, I must confess …. I love fried bologna, the blacker the better, but haven’t had it in years. And didn’t you recommend I go to Latham’s Hamburger Inn? That’s the Food& Dining feature for this week. Thanks for the tip. What a step back in time!