Lemon Butter Sauce

I know it's been a while. I found out I was pregnant in June and I was sick for several weeks. I'm doing better now and trying to catch up on all my blogs!
I have a few recipes from the last couple months. This recipe is actually from last night, but it was an easy one so I'm putting it up first. I told my friend about it yesterday and couldn't wait to make it for dinner! It is the best lemon butter sauce I've ever made! I keep trying new recipes because I liked a lemon butter sauce I had at Cheesecake Factory once. This recipe is the closest I've found! But I can't remember where I got it. Sorry.

Lemon Butter Sauce

1/4 cup Lemon juice
2 Tbsp. White wine
1/2 cup Heavy whipping cream
2 sticks Butter (room temp.)

Heat Lemon juice and wine over medium heat and reduce by one third. Add cream and simmer on low until thickened. Slowly add butter, 2-3 pats at a time, until incorporated. Once it's smooth again it's done, but I let mine simmer (stirring occasionally) for another 30 minutes or so - let all that alcohol cook out!
This makes about 2 cups of the sauce which is plenty enough for 4 people with about a ton of left overs! I'd say there are at least 20 servings. When I reheat mine I like to put a bit in a small cup and just dip my chicken in it. Actually, I'll pour it over my potatoes and whatever else is on my plate too!

Chicken and Cream Cheese Packets

Well, these pictures are not the best examples of this recipe, but I don't make it very often and I wanted to put the recipe on my blog now. To explain the pictures, I had some leftover crescent dough so I cut out shapes with some Christmas cookie cutters I had and then painted them. Yep painted them. I didn't have any food coloring and the only thing I did have were these icing markers. They're really hard to color with so I just made do. Other than all of you seeing this, it was just for my husband and me so I didn't care how bad they looked. I was having fun. As for the recipe, my mom used to make these when I still lived at home and over the years I've changed the recipe at least a half dozen times. So here's how I made them the other night...

Chicken and Cream Cheese Packets

2 cans Crescent rolls
1 can Cream of chicken soup
4oz. Cream cheese (1/2 block) (+ maybe a little more)
5-6 Tbsp. Sour cream, divided
2 13oz. cans Chicken (or equivalent)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to the crescent roll package directions. Soften cream cheese in a microwavable bowl. Add the chicken (drained), 2-3 Tbsp. of the sour cream, and 2-3 Tbsp. of the cream of chicken soup. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste, then set aside. Sometimes I need more cream cheese (if I don't use the sour cream or soup). Pinch together 2 crescent rolls to make a square/rectangle. You can do this to all the rolls at once or do them as you go. I don't like to mess up all my counter space so I usually do 2 at a time. Score your chicken mixture so you get an even amount in each packet. Put a really big spoonful (or 2) in the middle of each crescent square. You can do one of 2 things: bring the 4 points together in the middle to make another square, or bring one point over to its diagonal point to make a triangle. Then pinch the seams and turn the packet over (pretty side up) and place on a greased cookie sheet. When all of the packets are finished, bake according to crescent roll package directions. I usually have to add about 5 minutes. I almost doubled the cooking time when I made it with the Christmas shapes on top.
While the packets are in the oven, empty the remainder of the can of cream of chicken soup into a small saucepan. Heat over med-low until you're ready to eat, stirring occasionally. I also like to add a few Tbsp. of sour cream to this. When the packets are done and served, cover with the soup. Don't cover more than you want to eat or they'll be really soggy when you go to re-heat them the next day!

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Pesto Sauce

I know, this looks kinda nasty. My husband even told me he didn't want the green stuff on his chicken the first time I made this. (He didn't get a choice the second time.)
I found this recipe in my Rachael Ray: 30 minute Get Real Meals cookbook. She did some other things, but I'll tell you what I did. If you want her recipe I guess you gotta go buy the book!

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Breasts with Pesto Sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I always use tenderloins, 7-8)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (the plain old sprinkle kind for spaghetti is best)
Pesto (you can get this next to the spaghetti sauces at the grocery store) -I don't like to waste my pesto so I didn't pre-measure this. I just used a teaspoon to scoop some out when it came time.
Salt and pepper

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat with 2 Tbsp of evoo. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Dump the cheese onto a plate and press the chicken into the cheese, covering all the pieces in cheese on both sides. Add the chicken to the hot skillet, allowing it to cook for 6-7 minutes before moving it. Don't move the chicken around or lift it up to check it; the cheese is forming a crust and you don't want to mess that up. After 6-7 minutes, turn the chicken and cook for another 5-6 minutes. (I decreased my times by a minute or two since I was using tenderloins.) Top each chicken breast with a strip of pesto.

I served this with my favorite green beans. (I added a little butter this time too.)

Also, I fixed a little pasta. I filled a medium pot with half water and half chicken stock and boiled the pasta to the box directions. After draining the pasta, I added 1-2 Tbsp of butter, 1 Tbsp of pesto, and a half cup of Parmesan cheese. I mixed it all together and thought it needed some color so I chopped a few leaves of fresh basil and mixed that in too.

Mac and Cheese with Potatoes and Chicken

I'm back now. The other night I decided it was time to get back into trying new recipes for my blog. I had some left over Gruyere cheese from a fondue night and I wanted to use it before it went bad. I found a recipe for Mac and Cheese and I really like it. It's super quick and easy. (It's from Aida Mollenkamp on Food Network.) I also found a recipe for potatoes on The Pioneer Woman's website. And I used my favorite stove top chicken cooking style.
For the chicken, I just salt and pepper each side and sprinkle with a little fresh herbs. I use something different every time and sometimes a mixture. Pick your faves from Rosemary, Thyme, and Parsley. Heat a few tablespoons of EVOO over medium heat. When the chicken is just about done on both sides (about 5 minutes each side) I mix about a half cup each of white wine and chicken stock and pour that in the pan. I flip the chicken every so often until almost all the liquid is cooked out.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Here's a link to the Pioneer Woman's recipe. Crash Hot Potatoes I didn't have all the stuff and time for her recipe so I just used the idea and put it into what I had. Here's what I did:

2 cans new potatoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Rosemary

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drain the potatoes and spread out in an oven safe dish. Take a fork and mash the potatoes a little just to open them up. Drizzle a little EVOO over the potatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes.

Sage Butter Macaroni and Four Cheese

3 tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for baking dish
4 oz. finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1/4 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
1 pound macaroni
3 tbsp thinly sliced sage (didn't have any so used thyme and parsley)
6 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese
4 ounces shredded aged cheddar
4 ounces mascarpone cheese (didn't have so used cream cheese)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to broil and arrange rack in top. Butter a 9 by 9-inch baking dish and set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter and mix in a medium bowl with 1 cup of the Parmigiano and all the bread crumbs until thoroughly moistened; set aside.

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for half the time indicated on package.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. When it starts to foam, add sage and cook until crisp and butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside until pasta is ready. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta.

Return pasta to pot and place over low heat. Stir in sage butter, reserved pasta water, remaining 3 cups Parmigiano, Gruyere, Cheddar, mascarpone, and salt, and season with freshly ground black pepper. Stir constantly until cheeses are evenly melted and the pasta looks well coated. Turn pasta into baking dish and evenly top with bread crumb mixture. Place under broiler until mixture bubbles and top is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.