Kaytucky Chicken

I found this recipe a while back and have been waiting for an occasion to try it out.  This post brings you Kaytucky Chicken, a dish I believe was created by Kay (hence Kaytucky) over at Kayotic Kitchen.  Pretty much, a puff pastry wrapped chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese….sounds good.

The Recipe

Here is what you will need to make the recipe:

-4 chicken fillets
-4 frozen puff pastry sheets (I used the Pepperidge Farm sheets and used half a sheet per chicken)
-4 oz cream cheese (the firm kind)
-few rashes of bacon
-flat-leaf parsley
-1 spring onion
-1 large egg
-pepper
-salt

For the full recipe and instructions head over here.  I ended up making around 2.5 times the recipe since I was again making for my small group and there was quite a few of us.

Making the recipe

The night before I was going to cook the chicken, I mixed up the filler material knowing I was going to not have as much time the next night to cook. 

I used three stalks of the green onion and chopped them up.

Rather than getting bacon and having to cook it up, I ended up getting some fully cooked bacon pieces to save time.

I started mixing all the filling materials together to get ready to stuff my chickens.

The green onion and cream cheese

The parsley

 

Adding in the bacon to the mix

Ready to go!

The next night I got out the chicken breasts and got them cleaned and sliced.  Some of them were rather big and it would have been nice to have smaller pieces.  However; it would make it harder to stuff them.

Here they are all stuffed…..some may have a bit much in them but hard to tell.  Since the utensil would have touched the raw chicken, I didn't want to just use the cream cheese mixture for a bagel or such so I ended up dividing all the filling among all the chicken.

Let the puff pastry warm up so it is easier to roll out.  Place a small amount of flour on the surface you want to roll the puff pastry out on so keep it from sticking.  Use the rolling pin to expand one sheet so it will have enough space to wrap two chickens.  I placed the chicken upside down when placing on the puff pastry like in the recipe.  I was in a hurry and managed to forget to put the salt and pepper on the outside of the chicken before I finished wrapping it.

Use a brush to apply some egg before wrapping in the short direction.

Flip the wrapped chicken so it is seam side down on a cookie sheet.

Brush the entire top with the egg as well.

The Result

If you make enough that you need to use 2 sheets, make sure to rotate them top to bottom halfway through cooking.  Even after switching them later you can see that the pan on the left got darker than the one on the right.

I cracked one open and it seemed like there was a lot of liquid so I decided to check the temperature and it was fine.  I am thinking it may have been a symptom of too much of the cream cheese mixture but who knows.

Overall, they came out pretty well especially for a first time making the recipe.  Even though I love cream cheese, I do think some of them had a bit too much.  Also it seemed like some of the chicken got a bit dry.  We ended up splitting a lot of the chickens in half for a better portion size.  Even with splitting the chicken in half, it was very filling and we didn’t eat much else for dinner.

Guinea Pig Reviews

I am usually my biggest critic so for me, and as such it wasn’t my favorite thing I have made.  Good thing the reviews aren’t totally up to me!  Here are some comments from my lovely guinea pig panel. J

--I don’t usually like my food mixed and touching but this is really good.

--Its delicious.

There were also high praises from those that are not fans of bacon (although I tried not to add too much knowing that fact).

Would I Make This/Recommend It?

Perhaps, though I don’t think I would make as many as I did.  I wouldn’t try and stuff the chicken super full just to use up the rest of the cream cheese mixture.  It would be better off to use it for something else. Go ahead and try it for yourself!

Cake and Art

In addition to cooking things for dinner, I also dabble a bit in cake decorating.  One of my friends was having a birthday and she happens to be an artist.  In my attempt to come up with something new and exciting, I decided to replicate one of her paintings as her cake!

Here is a picture of her original painting on an artist palette. (Please no copying the picture--I can get you in touch with the artist if you would like though)

To pull this off, I was going to have to actually shape the cake like I have seen so many times on shows like Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes.  I was really excited to try it, but a bit nervous at the same time but I figured it was a fairly simple modification if I used a Wilton oval pan.

A few hours later and here is the masterpiece that transpired.

Not quite as exact a copy as I was hoping for, but overall I was quite pleased.  After all, about the only art I can pull off is stick people! My favorite parts are the shape and the tree.

Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Sorry for the long delay in posts.  Between things going on at work and a general laziness in the kitchen, I haven’t really made anything new.  With the new year comes a new chance to dust off the kitchen utensils and get to work.  Hopefully I will be updating a lot more frequently.  I already have a buildup of 2 other recipes that should be appearing shortly!

The Recipe

This week comes a new recipe that I have tried a couple times before and have really enjoyed.  Now introducing the Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  I know what you are thinking….apples and cheese together, I am not so sure about that.  Believe me, I was in the same boat but I was intrigued so I decided to give it a shot anyway.  Check out the recipe from Closet Cooking here.

Making the recipe

I was going to be making about 9 of these sandwiches I decided to peel and slice up the apples the night before.  I cut up 8 apples to be ready to caramelize and kept them from browning with a bit of lemon juice.

The apples can take a while to cook down so I started these and then started buttering the bread.  It really does help things mix together if you melt the butter and the brown sugar together before adding the apples.  This time I used dark brown sugar and it gave the apples a bit stronger flavor than regular brown sugar.

Melted Butter

With the brown sugar melted in

Apples right after I dumped them in

Apples all cooked down

This was also the perfect excuse to whip out my new Presto griddle.  I let the cheese start melting a bit and then added a bit of the apples on top.  Cook up like you would a normal grilled cheese.

The Result

My new griddle worked great at getting the sandwiches beautifully browned without burning them.  As far as taste, they were quite yummy as expected.  I think I finally got the balance of apples to cheese about right.

 

Guinea Pig Reviews

--Fab-u-loso

--This is delicious

A couple of the guys that were over weren’t sure what to think but they ended up liking it.  Overall, the sandwiches were a huge hit and all 6 of us enjoyed them.

Would I make this again/recommend it?

Absolutely.  I have already made it a couple other times since I first made it.

Caramelita Bars

The other week I was perusing the shelves at Sam’s Club and found a dessert that I just HAD to buy and try.  Introducing the Carmelita Bar….a combination of Oatmeal, chocolate chips, and caramel to make a cookie bar.  How can you pass up trying that??  So I decided to find out if they are really as good as the picture.

Making the Bars

The nice thing about this package is that all you need is half a stick of butter.  Let it soften in a bowl until it is nice and soft but don’t try and rush it by just melting it.

Then add the mix and mix it together with a fork until it is mixed well.  I noticed that it seemed pretty crumbly and dry but that is normal.

Only take half of the mixture and press it into the pan to make the bottom crust.  Even though it was really crumbly in the bowl, it firmed up nicely once I pressed it in the pan.

Next, knead the caramel packet a bit and then squeeze it out all over the bottom layer.  I was impressed with how much they actually give you with enough to pretty much make a full solid layer.

Take the other half and sprinkle it around on top of the caramel and then lightly pat it to smooth it.

The Result

I probably could have let the top brown a bit more on mine but the caramel was starting to bubble up through so I called it done.  These make for a fairly soft bar but did seem to stay together fairly well once they had cooled.  I was impressed with the quality of the caramel that was used (actually tasted like the caramel cubes you can get rather than more of the ice cream topping type).

Would I make this again/recommend it?

Overall, these bars were pretty good.  It almost seemed to have a bit too many chocolate chips for my taste, but still yummy.  There is also a bonus that they come in a 2-pack from Sam's if you want to make a 9x13 pan.

Fruit-Topped Triple Chocolate Pizza

The Recipe

In honor of Memorial Day, I thought I would make a patriotic themed dessert for a picnic with my friends. I found this variation on a traditional fruit pizza in my Pampered Chef All the Best cookbook(pg  124)  while the recipe called for just strawberries and oranges, I decided to change it up an use strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.  I was excited to finally try out my new stone I had gotten a while ago.

 

Making the Recipe

Rather than going through all the effort of rolling out the cookie dough and trying to get it in the shape you want, I have found a shortcut.  Simply to cut slices in the tube of cookie dough while it is still cold and stiff, and then arrange them on the pan and pat them together.  This lets you easily make whatever shape cookie you want.

While the cookie was baking, I began mixing up the cream cheese topping.  The baker’s chocolate melted up nice and mixed in nicely with the cream cheese.  Mixing in the cool whip took a bit longer with the chocolate but it still worked fine.

The cookie does expand quite a bit so make sure there is room on the baking dish to allow for it.

Let the cookie cool at least most of the way before putting the cream cheese/cool whip mixture on.  I was short on time and had started “frosting” it while it was still decently warm and the mixture tended to melt on the cookie and slide rather than spreading well.  I could have easily used more cookie as the mixture made a very thick layer.

While cleaning up the fruit to top the pizza, I found the giant strawberry that is in the middle and I couldn’t bear to cut it.  I ran out of time to do the chocolate glaze so I just finished decorating with the strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries and was good to go.

The Result

I think it came out really well and I love the design on the top.  That giant strawberry looks just delicious in the middle doesn’t it?  It was a nice touch with the added bits of chocolate were a nice touch.  Personally, I prefer the base to be made with sugar cookie instead but this was still good and it totally disappeared.

Would I make this again/recommend it?

Yes however it is not my favorite.  If I were to make it again, I might use sugar cookie like is the more traditional method instead.  Adding in the white chocolate added a bit of nice flavor that I might add in again though.  Over, you just can’t go wrong with combining cookie, cream cheese, and fruit!

Transforming my Countertop into a Masterpiece

It has been a while since I have had a chance to try anything new in the kitchen due to a mini renovation going on in there.  This past weekend I worked on redoing my countertops with a kit I found at Lowe’s which I will review today.

Countertop Transformations (http://modernmasterstransformations.com/) is an easy do-it-yourself method of redoing your countertops at a very affordable price.  The new countertop is applied directly over the existing one and comes in a variety of colors.  Provided your old countertops are in decent condition (not warping bad or peeling off), give yourself a weekend and you could be on your way to a new kitchen

While not everything comes with the kit, there is a great list right on the box of all the additional items you will need to purchase (paint rollers, brushes, etc)  Everything is laid out well in the box and even includes a DVD to show how to apply the new countertop.

Step 1: Measure your kitchen

Make sure to calculate the amount of countertop to be covered beforehand so you know if one kit will be enough.  My kitchen has about 2/3 of the countertop that the kit will cover so I was good to go.

Step 2: Prepare Countertop

Stated time needed: ~30-45min for 50 sq. ft

Actual time needed: ~A bit over an hour

Clean the countertop well to ensure that all grease is off.  Then sand the surface so that the adhesive base will stick better.  It was sometimes hard to see the scratches in my laminate but as long as you give it a bit of attention, it should be fine.  Once the countertop is sanded and wiped down, tape off all areas you don’t want to get messy.  I recommend getting Frog Tapefor areas that you want a sharp edge on.  It is a painters tape that has a sealer on the edges to keep material from bleeding through like some other painters tapes do.  I would also recommend taping a cloth in front of any cabinets so that the color speckles will just drop to the floor instead of getting inside everything.

Step 3-5: Apply Base Coat, Wetting Agent, and Decorative Chips

Stated time needed: ~1 hour, -, 20 minutes

Actual time needed: ~1 hour total

Overall this step wasn’t as bad I was imagining while reading the instructions.  The biggest deal is that you only have 20 minutes from the time you start applying this really thick paint until the time that you apply the colored chips to make sure they all stick well.  I broke my countertops into two sections so that I could apply the chips as I went.  As it states in the instructions “more is better” and I made sure the countertops were well coated with decorative chips.  It probably goes without saying, but be prepared to have a HUGE mess.  There were chips all over the floor and then proceeded to be tracked through a lot of the house.  They do clean up fairly easily though.

Step 6: Sand down the new Surface

Stated time needed: ~2hrs

Actual time needed: 2+ hrs

Once the chips and adhesive base have cured for 12 hours, I went through and salvaged as many of the chips as possible before sanding.  Any extras that are left over make great gifts for those artsy/crafty people in your life to have fun with.  It can be very easy to sand right through the base on the edges so be extra careful there.  I had to do a couple small repairs on areas that got missed/sanded too far but overall it was on track to turn out great!

Step 7: Apply Protective Top Coat

Stated time needed: ~1hr

Actual time needed: ~1hr

This is the step that turns a bunch of glued down tiny confetti into a countertop!  As opposed to the case adhesive, this coat is very thin and is prone to run on vertical surfaces so beware of that.  It is important to get this coat as even as possible since any major bumps or ridges will be more apparent than any of the other layers.  Once the top coat is on, it needs to sit for 48 hours before using lightly and then a full week before using it as normal.  I removed the tape and cleaned up the area the next day after letting the top coat sit overnight.  This way the coating wouldn’t be completely sealed and solid so I could actually get the painters tape out fairly easily.

Overall opinions

Once things fully cure and I have a chance to use my new countertop, I will be able to better give an opinion on how well it holds up but for right now it seems pretty nice and should work well for me.  I was tired of having the laminate lines along the edges which made the kitchen feel a bit old and outdated.  Now I have a beautiful countertop that matches my new color scheme for my kitchen.  While I still need to finish the lower cabinets, I am well on my way to my new kitchen!  It is possible to do the countertop renovation all on your own, but I would recommend having a second person to help every now and then.