Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken, 

Alfredo Sauce, 

Grilled Asparagus, and 

Lemon, Garlic & Spinach Linguini and Angel Hair Pasta

Basically a Gourmet Meal – quick and easy – less than an hour of cook time

I made this meal for my husband tonight  - we have been married for 8 and a half years now.  He said, "This is the best meal you have ever made."  He loved it and he has very discriminating taste!

Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts – cleaned and trimmed

3 Tablespoons olive oil

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

3 Tablespoons Lemon Pepper Seasoning

1 ziploc gallon size freezer bag

Four hours before grilling, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon pepper seasoning in a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag.  Add the chicken and cover with the seasonings.  Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Remove from refrigerator, place on grill and grill chicken for approximately 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.

Grilled Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus – cut and trimmed

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Coarse sea salt, to taste

Steam asparagus for 7 – 10 minutes.  Remove from steamer.  Place on grill and brush the melted butter over the spears.  Shake the sea salt on the asparagus.  Cook for 7 –10 minutes or until they reach the desired tenderness.

Alfredo Sauce (recipe from the Roof Restaurant)

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon diced onion (I eliminated the onion)

½ teaspoon chopped garlic

1 cup heavy cream (I used 1 ¾ cup heavy cream)

1 cup whole milk (I used ¼ cup 2% milk)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used about a cup)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper (I used double that – season to taste)

1 – 2 tablespoons cornstarch (if needed)

In a small saucepan, melt butter and (sauté onions – if desired) and garlic for 3 minutes.  Add cream and milk.  Stir with a whisk and slowly add parmesan cheese once the cream and milk begin to bubble.  Keep stirring until cheese is melted.  Add salt and white pepper.  Makes 2 cups.

Lemon, Garlic & Spinach Linguini and Angel Hair Pastas– serves 4

Adapted From: http://www.inomthings.com/?p=1756

4 oz dry linguini

4 oz. dry cappellini  (angel hair pasta)

1/2 cup grated parmesan

4 tsp olive oil (or 2 tsp olive oil and 2 tsp. GARLIC OLIVE OIL)

4 cloves garlic

1 lemon - both the juice and the zest

4 tbsp pine nuts

10 - 12 basil leaves, chiffonaded

Coarse Black Pepper

First, start your garlic oil. Pour in olive oil and chopped up garlic into a small frying pan and let it cook over low, until the garlic starts to brown on edges. Immediately remove from heat and reserve.  

Zest the Lemon and then juice it.  set aside.

While that’s starting up, boil up the pastas in separate pans.

Chiffonade some basil leaves. Fresh is best.

Then you take some cheese…

And dump it into a large bowl, with the garlic oil, garlic chunks and all. Squeeze in lemon juice. Throw in the pastas and toss until well combined. Plate and crack some black pepper on it.

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

I wish I would have had the presence of mind to take pictures of this, but I had been cooking and cleaning all day and I completely forgot. Since today is Valentine’s Eve and I hope to go out to dinner tomorrow, I attempted to make a nice Valentine’s Eve dinner for my family. My husband’s favorite part of the meal was the Alfredo Sauce. He dipped everything in the sauce, asparagus, rolls, the chicken - well all except the fruit salad.

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu – adapted from page 62 of Recipes From the Roof

6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 skinless boneless chicken breasts

12 thin slices of ham

12 slices of Swiss cheese

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, beaten (I used olive oil)

2 cups bread crumbs (I food processed croutons to make bread crumbs)

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Alfredo Sauce

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon diced onion (I eliminated the onion)

½ teaspoon chopped garlic

1 cup heavy cream (I used 1 ¾ cup heavy cream)

1 cup whole milk (I used ¼ cup 2% milk)

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used about a cup)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon white pepper (I used double that – season to taste)

1 – 2 tablespoons cornstarch (if needed)

For the chicken cordon bleu: Pound each chicken breast with a meat mallet to about ¼ inch thick. Place 2 slices of ham and 2 slices of Swiss cheese on each flattened chicken breast and roll it up jelly roll style. Freeze rolled breasts until completely frozen.

Place the flour, eggs (olive oil), and bread crumbs into three separate shallow containers.

Dredge the frozen chicken breast in the flour; next dip it into the eggs (olive oil), and finally coat it in the bread crumbs. Make sure the entire chicken breast roll is covered evenly. Freeze again.

When ready to bake, brush melted butter on the frozen rolled chicken and bake at 350 degrees F. until the meat thermometer registers 165 degrees F, internally, about 30-45 minutes. It took about an hour to cook in my oven.

For the Alfredo Sauce: In a small saucepan, melt butter and (sauté onions – if desired) and garlic for 3 minutes. Add cream and milk. Stir with a whisk and slowly add parmesan cheese once the cream and milk begin to bubble. Keep stirring until cheese is melted. Add salt and white pepper. Makes 2 cups.

To serve, cut chicken into wheels for presentation and spoon Alfredo sauce on top.

Served with steamed asparagus, rice, fresh homemade rolls, and a fruit salad.

(We had this for Valentine’s Eve. The table was decked out in a vinyl heart tablecloth, with red heart shaped melamine salad plates, heart printed valentine melamine dinner plates, red heart silicone trivets, red silicone coasters and I covered my bread basket with valentine dish towels.)