This morning my lovely husband, Adam, had what he called on his twitter feed a #RandomBreakfastCraving for #tinypancakes – in other words, crepes.  He searched online and found a great Basic Crepe recipe at AllRecipes.com.  By the time I made it downstairs he had already fired off most of the crepes and was pulling out ingredients for the filling. 

I had some left over mascarpone cheese from the dish I made last night, The Pampered Chef® Creamy Broccoli & Sun-Dried Tomato Orzotto. We wanted to make the mascarpone sweeter so we added a tablespoon of red raspberry preserves to 2 ounces of the cheese. We then added a 1/2 a teaspoon of confectioner’s sugar and whipped it until it was smooth. As an additional filling we took a handful of blueberries, sprinkled a little caster sugar over them and another dollop of the red raspberry preserves and heated them in the microwave for 15 seconds. When they were warm, we smashed them slightly with the back of the fork. We filled a crepe with the mascarpone cream and the smashed blueberries, folded it up and then sifted confectioner’s sugar over the top. Delicious.

I am so blessed to have a husband that loves to cook as much as I do and who always tries to make me special treats as a surprise. Together we are willing to taste just about anything and I think that is what makes our food adventures so fun. The kitchen and dining table are our favorite places to be with each other. Holding hands, licking our lips and saying "Mmmm, that is fantastic". I thank God for him every day.

Ok, made up my own recipe last night and it was FANTASTIC if I do say so myself.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• Leftover spiral ham (sliced thinner) or 8 slices thin-sliced deli ham
• 4 slices of Provolone or Swiss (I used provolone b/c I didn’t have swiss)
• 1 cup flavored salad croutons (I used garlic flavored)
• Handful of almonds
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 beaten egg

Cheesy Marsala Mushroom Sauce:

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 8 oz. fresh sliced button mushrooms
• 1-2 tablespoons flour or corn starch
• 1/4 cup marsala wine
• 1 cup milk or half and half
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Pound the chicken flat with a mallet between two sheets of cellophane. Put croutons, almonds and parmesan cheese in a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Lay ham slices on top of each flattened chicken. Add a slice of cheese and roll up. Secure with toothpicks. Dredge in egg and roll in crumbs. Place all four chicken breasts on baking sheet coated with cooking spray seam side down. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until no longer pink.

With 10 minutes left on the chicken, heat the oil in a pan on medium high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms and saute until shallots soften (about 2 minutes). Add marsala wine and continue cooking until mushrooms begin to sweat. Add flour or corn starch and stir. Cook for one minute more then add milk a little at time stirring constantly. When combined, stir in  parmesan cheese. Lower heat to medium and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove chicken from oven, plate and pour mushroom sauce over chicken.

This was so good my kids liked it even without the mushroom sauce. You can also make it without the mushrooms, by just using the marsala and cheese. Joe said I could definitely make that again. Great way to use up the leftover Christmas ham! I also made a ham and cheese quiche and ham sandwiches. I still have half a bag of ham left and another whole bag in the freezer! I have ham coming out my ears! LOL

Love you,
Danielle Fenning
Cooking with Brandy’s Sweet Sister!

One of my co-workers gave me a recipe last week for French Tarragon Burgers.  The recipe is from Taste of Home which has fantastic recipes in their magazines and online.  I tried it out Wednesday night and loved it. I only made four burgers but I made the full amount of mayonnaise mixture so I still had a bunch left after dinner.  I didn’t want it to go to waste so I used it on some sandwiches that gave it some flavorful zing.  Definitely give it a try if you want to change up your typical burger tonight.