Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients:

4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup diced low fat boiled ham

1/2 cup shredded low fat Swiss cheese

1/8 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons white wine

salt/pepper to taste

8 oz. plain low fat yogurt

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup crushed seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

Combine ham, Swiss cheese, garlic, wine, salt and pepper in a bowl to make a filling. Preheat oven to 350F. Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Cut a slit in the side of each breast to form a pocket.Stuff each pocket with 1/4 of filling. Press to close or secure with wooden picks. In a flat dish, combine yogurt and milk. Dip each breast in yogurt mixture; turn to coat well. Roll in bread crumbs and place in well-greased baking pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until done. Serve with pasta and zucchini.

 Recipe By The Gourmet Mom

Lisa Montalva

BUTTER CRUST FRUIT PIZZA

Ingredients:

Crust

3/4 C. sweet butter, softened

2/3 C. sugar

2 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 C. milk Glacé

1/4 C. sugar

3/4 C. reserved pineapple juice

1 T. cornstarch

Topping

20 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained (reserve juice)

11 oz. can Mandarin oranges, drained

2/3 C. flaked coconut

2/3 C. pecan halves

10 oz. pkg. frozen strawberries, drained thawed and drained

Directions:

Heat oven to 400ºF. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. gradually add flour and milk; mix until thoroughly combined. Press dough out onto 12-inch round pizza pan to form crust. Bake for 13 to 18 minutes or until light and golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Meanwhile, prepare glacé. In 1-quart saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch; blend well. Add juice; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 1 minute. Cool 10 minutes. Arrange pineapple chunks and oranges on cooled crust; sprinkle with coconut and nuts. Top with strawberries. Drizzle glacé over fruit. Cut into wedges to serve.

 Recipe By The Gourmet Mom

Lisa Montalva

Happy eating!!

The sun is finally shining outside and it makes me think of having a bbq. I haven’t seen my bbq since December when the first snow fell here on Long Island. The tank has been sitting in front of my house for 2 months and now I can see that as well. I will definitely go this week and get the tank filled. Nothing better than a nice steak or burger on the grill in the cold winter. Lots of change since December my daughter moved out and moved back in. So, I went from cooking what I wanted to now cooking what she wants. Her palette is very limited, so we made a pact that I am going to cook something very different and out of her comfort area that she will try. One of her favorites is Paella. It is my family version with the Vanessa twist and turn of what she wants and doesn’t want in it. I will add that to the recipe blog as it is delicious and simple. Looking forward to getting the next book published. This one will be all about chicken. Haven’t decided if having my books just have one type of food is a good idea for my customers, but I am guessing yes. I rather go to one place and say yes, I want chicken tonight and there are 300 plus recipes instead of another book that has only 25 recipes and have one chicken recipe. Joseph, my partner and recipe collaborator and Chrissie our Guru for everything we do; will be shooting a cooking show and you will be able to see them on Youtube shortly. We will keep you updated. Happy eating! I can’t wait to get to the ice cream cookbook. Give me the beach and a gallon of ice cream and that’s my heaven.