Mushroom Asiago Chicken

We were in Wisconsin recently and one must buy and bring home cheese!  I bought a nice wedge of asiago cheese and then proceeded to find a recipe in which to use said cheese.  And here it is!

Courtesy of The Midnight Baker Blog.

Mushroom Asiago Chicken

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (about 2 large)
• 2 cups mushrooms, cut in half
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 springs fresh thyme
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1/2 cup seasoned flour
• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4-1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
• seasoned flour:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Pound chicken breast with a meat mallet between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap until meat is uniform thickness; about 1/4-inch. Cut into serving-sized pieces (2 or 3 pieces per breast)

Heat the butter with *1* tbs of olive oil in deep, heavy skillet or saute pan over medium heat.

Dredge chicken in seasoned flour.  Add to hot oil/butter in skillet.  Saute until golden on each side, about 5 minutes per side.  Remove from pan.

Add remaining olive oil to hot skillet.  Saute mushrooms and garlic until mushrooms begin to brown.

Add white wine to skillet, scraping up all the browned bits that are at the bottom of the pan (this is called "deglazing"). Bruise the fresh thyme by twisting it between your fingers or hitting it with the dull side of a knife in a few places.  Add thyme to mushroom/wine mixture in pan.

Add the chicken back to the pan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove chicken from pan.  Add the cream and heat through. Add the asiago cheese (if you like it strongly flavored, use 1/2 cup; not as strongly flavored, use the 1/4 cup--asiago is a powerful cheese and you can even use less for just a whisper of flavor.  I like it strong so I used 1/2 cup).

Cook, stirring constantly over low heat until cheese melts. Continue cooking until sauce is reduced by about 1/2.  If you wish to skip the reduction step, you may thicken the sauce slightly with about 1 tbs instant flour or 1 tbs cornstarch mixed with 2 tbs water...however, the reduction will taste better.

Add chicken back to pan and heat through.

Garnish with sprigs of fresh thyme.  May be served over any pasta.

About 4 servings.

Here is how it looks courtesy of The Midnight Baker Blog!

Enjoy friends!!

Bierocks aka German Hamburgers (Bieroch)

Bierocks are a staple food item found mainly in towns with strong German heritage.  (I learned from my mother in law, how to make them.)  Bierocks are basically a meat/cabbage mixture filling inside a sweet roll dough. They are a great main dish, or in smaller sizes, an excellent appetizer. These reheat well, so make a large batch and freeze for later. There are recipes on the internet where cheese was added, or heaven forbid a frozen dough was used which the old German ladies would never do.  I made the filling last night and tonight I am finishing them by making the dough, filling them, and baking.

I have an earlier post from December 2011, which, much to my own amazement, included FROZEN bread dough.  So here's the real deal the way it's supposed to be done! My German grandmother would be proud.
This recipe makes a huge amount of dough.  I couldn't fit all of it in my stand mixer! You may want to make 1/2 of the recipe.

• DOUGH:
• 10 to 11 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 package (1/4-ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2-1/2 cups water
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 2 eggs
• FILLING:
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 2 pounds shredded cabbage, cooked and drained

Directions

1. For dough, in a large bowl, combine 4 cups of flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, heat water, milk and butter just until butter melts. Remove from heat and cool to 120°-130°. Combine with flour mixture; add eggs. Using an electric mixer, blend at low speed until moistened then beat at medium speed for 3 minutes. By hand, gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a firm dough.
3. Knead on a floured surface about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down; let rise again until almost doubled.
4. Meanwhile, for the filling, brown beef with onion, salt and pepper; drain. Mix together with cabbage; set aside. Divide the dough into fourths. Roll each piece into a 15-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Cut into 5-inch squares. Spoon 1/3 to 1/2 cup filling onto each square. Bring the four corners up over the filling; pinch together to seal. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Place on greased baking sheets.
5. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until brown. Yield: 24 servings

Look at these bad boys!  The dough turned out perfect, and they baked to perfection.  I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 unbleached flour for the dough..

Enjoy friends!

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Go out in the garden early and pick some nice big blossoms off the zucchini squash when the blossoms are fully open.  These are extremely perishable, and are best the day they are picked.

Get ready for some deliciousness.

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I've decided to stuff these with some yummy bleu cheese.  You can also make a cream cheese stuffing, or just use some other type of melty cheese.  (One recipe in my Border Cookbook calls for 4 oz. of goat cheese and 4 oz. of Monterey Jack cheese.)

Gently stuff each blossom with a little of the cheese mixture.  Wrap the blossom around the cheese.

I made a batter like you would use for tempura.  Flour and club soda, that's it.  Dip the stuffed blossom in the batter letting some of the excess drip off. 

They are easier to dip if the stem is attached.

Fill your pan with oil, heat the oil to 350 degrees.  Fry the blossoms for about 1 minute, until crisp and golden.

Drain the blossoms, serve warm.

Enjoy Friends!