You choose the filling, making this recipe your own.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
• ¼ – ½ cup bread crumbs
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 ½ cup filling*

Serve with rice and veggies

1. Place each chicken breast between two sheets of plastic , using a plastic zip top bag or two sheets of plastic wrap and pound flat and even using a meat mallet or heavy bottle.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Season breasts with salt and pepper. Combine crumbs and cheese on a shallow plate. Add any seasonings you want to the crumb mixture if you are feeling it.
3. Place 2-3 tbsp of filling in the center of each breast. Roll the breast up burrito style.  This can be difficult depending on how well your breasts flattened out (if you breastfed any children they are probably nice and flat. No? Just me? Darn, ok). If you have trouble actually rolling the chicken around the filling then feel free to simply fold the breasts over and use toothpicks to seal them. If you really want to deviate from the recipe, you can forgo flattening them at all and use a sharp knife to cut a pocket in the breast and stuff them that way.
4. Liberally brush the chicken roll with oil and roll it in the breadcrumbs. Use your hands to pat on the crumbs on any bare spots.
5. Oil a baking sheet and place chicken rolls seam side down. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
6. While chicken bakes, prepare rice and veggies. Also, clean up dishes and wipe down counters (ha ha ha hee hee hee ho ha).

*The best part of this recipe is it works for any filling you might want to try.  Some fillings we like are: diced deli ham and shredded Swiss, diced steamed broccoli and cheddar, cooked crumbled bacon and Monterrey jack (sometimes with chopped pickled jalapenos).   You could try fresh spinach and feta, herbed goat cheese, or prosciutto and mozzarella, but I haven’t yet.  Sounds delicious but I have to be realistic about what people around here will eat.

Following a Recipe

After years of learning and practicing, I still feel like a beginner in the kitchen. I wish I was one of those people who knows how foods should go together and can make up their own special recipes. I wish I could taste and tweak and try different things, but the truth is: I don’t have a clue. I need recipes. And if I have a recipe, I can fake it. I believe I can cook almost anything if I have a good recipe. Not everyone is like me though. I think recipes intimidate some people, or else they bore them. If you are like my oldest daughter, a recipe is simply another attempt by the universe to control you and inhibit your creativity.  Nevertheless, being able to follow a recipe is an invaluable tool, of the “teach a man to fish so he can eat for a lifetime” philosophy, and one that really will serve you all your life. I also think that if you have children, it is a lesson you need to teach them.  In fact, this started as a Cooking with Kids post until I thought back on all of the roommates and friends I’ve had who really couldn’t cook a thing-even if it came in a box with instructions.  It is not that they are incapable, they are just bored with the process.  If this is you, never fear!  Spending a few minutes preparing will save you the effort of having to pay too much attention later on.   It may seem the most simple of tasks, but really there are a few tricks that can make it easier for the rebels and the attention-span deprived.

One of fastest ways to failure when trying a new recipe is to not thoroughly read the recipe when choosing it. Hopefully this occurs days or hours in advance when you have plenty of time to determine if the recipe will work for you or not.

1. Start by checking the serving size, prep and cook times. Does the recipe make enough or do you need to double it? Do you have enough time to prep and cook the recipe? What time should you start? Keep in mind that prep times are notoriously subjective based on your kitchen skills. If you are a beginner or if you are trying a technique for the first time plan for the prep to take longer.
2. Next, thoroughly read through the ingredients. Do you recognize them all and have access to them? If you don’t, do you think you could locate it in the store? Do you know what you could substitute that wouldn’t drastically change the recipe? Do the ingredients require any prep? Sometimes the recipe will simply say, “add chicken.” The ingredient list is where you should note that it is “1 lb of cooked, chopped chicken breast.” Finally do you have the tools to weigh or measure the ingredients as indicated?
3. Next, carefully read through all of the steps. As you read each one, imagine doing it. Do you know how? Do you have the tools you need to complete it? Visualize yourself completing the recipe from start to finish. Try to imagine what the final product will look like. Is it what you expected? Try to take note if all of the listed ingredients are mentioned or if ingredients are mentioned that are not in the ingredient list.

Some typical recipe foul-ups from my kitchen:

• Pulling a grilled chicken recipe out at dinner time only to realize the entire recipe was actually for an overnight marinade.
• Opening the egg carton in the middle of mixing up cake batter and realizing there is only one egg in it.
• Attempting a lemon pie filling for the first time and realizing half way through that the pan I was using was not going to hold all of the ingredients.
• Getting started on a pizza dough recipe only to realize the flour was actually by weight, of course I didn’t have a kitchen scale and no idea how to convert it.
• The classic: not having the oven rack in the correct position.  Opening the hot oven with my knee while using both hands to securely hold a hot, tall pot but not being able to do anything with it because the oven rack is in the top position. 

Do you have any good tips or stories? 

Everybody knows how to make tacos: brown the meat, add the packet and water, serve. Awesome, good for you, go make tacos. Thank you.

If you want a good taco recipe that uses spices from the cabinet, or if you act crazy like me and make your own taco packets, keep reading.

Tacos

• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 – 1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey, combination, whatever)
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup water

1. This works easiest if you prepare your spice “packet” beforehand. Place all spices in a small bowl chili powder through garlic powder, if using.
2. Crumble meat into a hot skillet, add onion and garlic clove, if using. Cook until meat is browned and onions and garlic are soft.
3. Once meat and onions are cooked, pour off any excess fat. Add water and spices to the pan and lower heat to a simmer.
4. Simmer about 15 min or until sauce thickens.
5. While taco meat is simmering set out shredded cheese (or quick! shred the cheese!), lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream and either corn taco shells or four tortillas.

Taco bars are a good way to feed a crowd, setting out various toppings and letting kids and adults make their own. Or make Taco Night extra cool by spreading refried beans or queso over one side of a flour tortilla then wrapping it around the outside of a corn tortilla before you fill it with taco stuff. If you want to make a big jar of this mixture so you just have to scoop it out it’s about 2 generous tablespoons per 1 lb of meat.

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They’re not what they used to be

I cannot be trusted with fresh vegetables.  I have good intentions at the grocery store.  I fill my cart with baby squash, a rainbow of sweet peppers, delicate asparagus spears, and Brussels sprouts still attached to the stalk.  All the while, fantasizing about the delicious gourmet meals I will prepare immediately upon returning home.  And I will tell you, six weeks later when I am transferring the moldy, wilty, decaying evidence of my un-domestic-goddess-ness from the veggie bin to the trash can, I still tell myself, “next time, next time…”  I am finally, at least partially, at peace with this particular defect.  On top of all those fresh vegetables-the ones my mother would be so proud of me for buying-are bags and bags of frozen ones.   

Often, when someone mentions frozen vegetables the image that comes to mind is that old standby mixture of corn, green beans, and carrots.  It was grayish and mushy and sometimes had some really offensive Lima beans or peas in it.  These days, however, the freezer aisle is an international gateway: from stir-fry mixes with baby corn and snow peas to bundles of delicate haricot verts.  With today’s flash-freezing methods the textures, flavors, and nutritional content of these vegetables are comparable to or better than their fresh counterparts.  They are much more convenient too, with very little or more often no prep work required.  In addition, since most frozen vegetables have already been blanched they take hardly any time to cook.  You are basically just thawing and warming them.  Actually, you want to cook them as minimally as possible to keep the bright colors and firm texture.  So peruse the freezer aisle the next time you’re at the grocery store.  Grab some edamame or organic summer squash and don’t worry about it going bad before you have a chance to use it.