Let's Get Grilling: Greek Chicken Breasts with Fresh Dill and Feta Cheese

Our weekend turned out very special because we got to make a dish from a favorite chef of mine, Phillis Carey.

Phillis used to teach at a local Gelson's supermarket in Calabasas.  I took one of her classes and fell in love with her cooking and her teaching style.  I remember the class was all about Chicken Breasts. Boy this lady is dynamo!  She made 4 dinner entrees (stuffed chicken, 2 sauteed chicken dishes with sauce, and a stir fry) and a dessert.  This was an illustration class so we got to sit back and watch and learn. MAN!  This chef can cook!  She whipped up the four dishes, and we ate every one, and the dessert in under 2 hours.  In addition to that she is like having your very own "Google". She is so full or tips and advise that I don't think I've learned more about cooking from any other chef.

That was the beginning of an indepth period of learning for me.  I took every class she offered and learned, studied, and cooked my way through her recipes, longing for more.  Then when the we had the recession and Gelson's closed their cooking school.  That's been quite a while now, and the last time I saw Phillis.

So about a month ago I happened to be itching for a class again and started looking at the Westlake Culinary Institute which also holds classes.  Low and behold I found that Phillis was teaching there now.  I felt like I had died and gone to heaven!  She was back...and I was going to be there!

Today's recipe is called Greek Chicken Breasts with Fresh Dill and Feta Cheese. This recipe was one of my favorites from the class so I was eager to try it first.  

Oh boy, the flavors are excellent!   Again Phillis has said that if you don't care for chicken, use pork chops, or even a steak. The marinade and cooking techniques stay the same except for the cooking time.  If you don't care for feta, change it to a different cheese such as blue cheese, queso fresca, or ricotta salata then change out the fresh dill to tarragon or thyme or even oregano.  All will work well.

Easily cooked on an indoor or outdoor grill this dish will please everyone at the dinner table.
Enjoy!



Greek Chicken Breasts with Fresh Dill and Feta Cheese

serves 8
source:  Phillis Carey

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup olive oil
3 T fresh lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard
3 T minced fresh dill
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
3/4 cup crumbled sheep's milk feta cheese

Trim the chicken and pound to an even 1/2 inch thickness.  Place chicken in a casserole dish.  Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, dill and pepper.  pour over the chicken, turning to coat.  Cover and refrigerate 1 to 3 hours.

Preheat grill.  Remove chicken from marinade and season well with salt.  Grill chicken breast side down first for 4 minutes.  Turn chicken over and top with feta cheese.  Grill chicken, with the top down, another 4 to 5 minutes or until cooked through and feta has softened a bit.  Serve.

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad

It's a summer of salads! Even though it's September and all the stores claim that it's fall already, it isn't here in Southern California.

Nope. It's 105, hot and humid. So I would say that still qualifies as summer, wouldn't you?

Even so, the stores still have a wonderful assortment of late summer vegetables that need to be put to good use.  So why not make a salad with some juicy summer tomatoes and some fresh herbs?  

I've been glancing through my Ina Garten cookbooks lately and picked up one titled "Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?".  She has the most perfect recipes that just always, always work. The flavors pop and I've never had a dish I didn't like from Ina. Don't you just love her?  So anyway, I found a wonderful salad she called "Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad" which was right up my alley.  I love the combination of tomatoes, cucumber, mint, garbanzo beans, feta etc....all wrapped up in a lemon vinaigrette.   This was what I decided to make and I'm sooooo glad I did!

This was fabulous.  Crunchy, sweet, salty, and tart all rolled into one dish.  Plus, this was really easy to make.  Great as a side dish with some grilled chicken, or as a lunch main dish. It holds up well so the leftovers are just as delicious.  A real winner!

Here's her recipe below.  

You can't beat a salad, in the summer, or any other time.

Enjoy!

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad


(Serves 4 to 6)
adapted from Ina Garten's : Copyright 2010, Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?

1 pound ripe tomatoes, seeded, cored, and ½-inch-diced 
1 hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and ½-inch-diced 
1 can or jar (12 to 16 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves 1/3 cup julienned fresh basil leaves 
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons) 
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves) 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
½ cup good olive oil 
8 ounces good feta cheese, ½-inch-diced 

Place the scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, parsley, mint, and basil in a large salad bowl and toss to combine. 

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the dressing over the salad, tossing gently to coat all the vegetables. Add the feta, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss gently. 

Brown Butter Banana Bread Coffee Cake

I think I've died and gone to HEAVEN!

Now you may be asking why?  The picture above is just a normal looking coffee cake.
Well it's not...

I've discovered brown butter.

Yes, that's right brown butter.

This stuff is straight from the GODS!  I've seen so many recipes floating around the blogesphere about brown butter this and brown butter that....cookies, cakes, ice cream...everything you can imagine and I thought "ehh" "doesn't sound all that special"  Boy was I wrong!

So I came across this simple coffee cake that uses brown butter...and bananas.  I decided to give it a try and see what all the hooplah is about.  Once I got that butter in the pan and stirred and stirred, something magical happened.  It foamed, then turned golden, then the foam went away and the butter became nutty and fragrant.  I just stuck my finger in it for a taste and about swooned! Seriously, I had NO IDEA this tasted so good.  Where the heck have I been that I've not been on the brown butter train!

The rest is history.  It's my new passion.  I'll be making brown butter this and that from now on. You'll get sick of me and brown butter...

Now this coffee cake is a nice moist cake with a crumb topping and bananas inside...but let me tell you, on it's own it's good, but with the brown butter it is fabulous.  Best coffee cake ever!

So if you do anything at all, make something with browned butter (preferably my coffee cake here!). This is so good it should be a bucket list item.  Go forth and brown butter!

Enjoy!



Banana Bread Coffee Cake

Ingredients

Cake:
¾ cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, browned and divided
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons reserved browned butter
1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°.  Spray a 10” pie plate with cooking spray.  Add 6 tablespoons of butter to a small frying pan. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously until it browns. It will foam up, and then turn brown.  The foam will diminish and the butter will become golden. Remove from heat. 

In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  To a large bowl, mix the sugar, 4 tablespoons of the browned butter, and egg.    Stir in the milk and mashed bananas.  Add the dry ingredients into wet and stir until just combined.  

To make the topping: stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, remaining 2 T. browned butter, and the pecans. Pour the cake batter in to the pan and top with the crumb topping. 

Bake for 25-28 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.


source:  Crazy for Crust blog