Saturday, February 16, 2013

Roasted Vegetable Sandwich

Today I was craving the roasted vegetable sandwich from Nordstrom's Sixth & Pine restaurant but I have sooooo much housework to do so I decided to try and recreate it at home. Hitting two birds with one stone Titan got his exercise for the day by jogging up to Liberty Heights Fresh for my sammy ingredients. I adore this store they always have the most amazing bread their rosemary focaccia is worth every carb but I digress. 
I was able to grab all of the goods and spy on my puppy through their windows. We then trotted back and my exhausted boy sacked out on his new bed while I made this yummy treat.


1 red onion
2 bell peppers
pesto
bread (I used Ciabatta)
1 garlic clove
1/4 C olive oil
1 teaspoon basil oil
1 teaspoon roasted garlic oil
3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Chop your veggies up and toss with a blend of the oils. Lay them all out on a foil lined baking sheet and place in the oven for ~25 minutes. 


Slice the loaf horizontally and place on another baking sheet in the oven to lightly toast.  I did a legit full crunch toast and just trust me you want it barely there, just a hint of crunch.  Your bread will be done before your veggies so pull it out and rub the garlic clove all over the loaf to infuse the bread with that garlicky goodness. I then slathered both sides with goat cheese followed by pesto.


 At this point the onions were soft so I knew the veggies were ready. Crank on the broiler and do NOT move! You want it charred but it does this SUPER quickly and you don't want your mushrooms to dehydrate. Load em up on your sammy and you are good to go.



Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Unfortunately I had to work Valentine's evening but when I got home my sweet hubby had an uber romantic evening planned. We started it off by making chocolate covered strawberries together.


We melted 3 squares of white chocolate with a Tablespoon of crisco to thin the chocolate for coating. If you had one of these handy dandy tiny tupperware containers that are useless for storing anything but happens to be perfect for dipping strawberries. It is important to lay the dipped on wax paper because if the chocolate hardens directly on the plate it will crack when you try to pick it up.

Leave a 1/4 C of the white chocolate in the pan throw in some dark chocolate chips and voila milk chocolate for drizzling purposes. Once melted together pour the chocolate into your average ziploc sandwich bag twist closed snip off the corner and drizzle away.


So Scrumptcious!!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Pan Seared Rosemary Chicken in Balsamic Reduction with Carmelized Onions and Mushrooms

 This dish is one of the most amazing things I have ever made. I have no words. 


2 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 large yellow onion
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 1/2 C of mushrooms (your choice)
1 C of Chicken Broth
6 T butter
1 C Heavy Cream
1/2 C Parmesan Cheese
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Melt 3 T of butter in a cast iron skillet and sear the chicken. Set chicken aside reduce heat to medium and add the last of the butter in the pan and caramelize the sliced onion. Add 1/2 C of chicken stock and deglaze the pan. Pour in the heavy cream, chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, and the sprigs of rosemary. Toss the mushrooms in (I quartered portabellos) and let simmer for ten minutes. Slowly add the cheese stirring constantly. When completely combined slice the chicken and add it back into the sauce. Simmer ten to fifteen minutes more until sauce is reduced. Plate and devour my friends.