Asparagus and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Dinner with Sour Cream Banana Bread Dessert

So today we decided to pick another homemade recipe from Pillsbury: The Best Of Classic Cookbooks, and we picked out a delicious sounding dinner: herb cheese-stuffed chicken breasts. But we didn't have all the ingredients, which called for a trip to the grocery store. While in the vegetable aisle of Albertson's, Brian spotted some asparagus, something we both love but have never made ourselves, so we decided to buy some and try to take that on. I mean, we really had no idea how to prepare it, so after a quick call to Kirk Plummer (Brian's chef brother who cooks the dankest food), we got tips and an idea on how to best cook the asparagus. After paying for our goods, we left the grocery store with our bags...and the grocery cart. Hey, we're college kids with no cars, and there's no way we're walking home holding many heavy bags without some help; so we took the cart home with us. Not saying that I wasn't against this idea to begin with (happy Brian?)

We got some stares along the way home, but I guess we fit in with SLO's homeless 

community who drag along carts with them all the time.

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DISH lightly seasoned asparagus

INGREDIENTS

fresh asparagus

olive oil

salt and pepper

chili powder

HOW TO
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2) Cut off bottoms of fresh asparagus
3) Lay asparagus on baking sheet. Coat with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little bit of chili powder.
4) Cook until soft or semi-hard, however you prefer.

DANKNESS FACTOR 8/10
 

COMMENTS/TIPS

     Such an easy dish, but it comes out as such an amazingly delicious and flavorful side dish, all while using minimal ingredients. And you don't feel bad overeating these, which you will, because it's healthy and light. The texture was so good; slightly soft, slightly crunchy near the ends. Definitely will be making these again. Most props to Brian for making these and a big thanks to Kirk for telling us how to prepare this.
     The aspar-gas came out great, with a big thanks to my brother. When I made them, I used way too much olive oil and had to drain some out in the middle of the cooking process because you could hear it sizzling. Regardless, they were absolutely full of flavor and tender. Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables and I had the urge to buy them and make them. My brother recommended that I use chili flakes, but we didn't have any so I used chili powder instead.

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DISH herb cheese-stuffed chicken breasts

INGREDIENTS

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (1/2 a cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 (14.5 oz.) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained (we actually just used 2 medium tomatoes and diced them up and added some salt, pepper, and herbs)
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives (we used mushrooms instead)
4 teaspoons corn starch

HOW TO

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Using a sharp knife, cut a 3-inch slit in meaty side of each chicken breast to form pocket.
3) In medium bowl, combine feta cheese, parsley, oregano, and oil; mix well.
4) Gently spoon half of filling into each pocket. Place chicken in ungreased 13x9 baking dish.
5) In another medium bowl, combine tomatoes, olives (mushrooms in our case), and cornstarch; mix well. Pour over chicken.
6) Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until chicken in fork-tender and juices run clear.

DANKNESS FACTOR 7.5/10

COMMENTS/TIPS
     The idea of stuffing chicken was what made this recipe so initially appealing, and it turned out to be much easier than I thought it'd be. My one regret about this dish was not seasoning the chicken before placing the tomato/mushroom mixture on top: what was I thinking? But the feta cheese was delicious (my first time trying feta cheese by the way) along with the fresh parsley. The highlight was definitely the stuffing. It's a fairly easy dish to make and opens up ideas for making our own stuffing next time. It's also a pretty satisfying, healthy dish.
     It was aight; I think that it got better overnight. I love chicken, I love cheese, and I love tomatoes, but for some reason it was just mediocre to me. A little season or marinade on the chicken would have changed things. On the positive side, I do like the idea of stuffing chicken and baking it; usually I just saute or grill my chicken, so it was a nice change. 

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We kind of forked the hell out of our bread everytime we went to check if it was done...whoops.

DISH banana sour cream bread

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cups white sugar
1 egg
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 of 16 oz. container sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

HOW TO

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2) In a small bow, stir together 1 tablespoon white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Dust pan lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
3) In a large bowl, cream butter and 3/4 cups white sugar. Mix in egg, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda, and flour. Stir in nuts. (at this point, I also added a good amount of cinnamon to the mixture)
4) Pour mixture into pan, bake for an hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

DANKNESS FACTOR 8.5/10

COMMENTS/TIPS

     Very easy to make and it turned out to be one of the best banana breads I've had (and I've had plenty in my life). The sour cream gives it an interesting kick; definitely makes it more dense and thicker. After a while searching for the perfect banana bread recipe on allrecipes.com, I found this one, which seemed to get great ratings. Of course people recommended changing the portions of ingredients around, which I did. We ended up baking it for more than an hour. The taste was perfect; the addition of ground cinnamon into the mixture went perfectly with the portion of bananas called for. The texture was just the best; a bit mushy, dense, and thick.
     The banana bread came out so dank; I could eat that every day of my life. It had nice bits of banana and the texture was just perfect. I liked it warm out of the oven and cold out of the fridge equally. Great recipe. Can't wait to make it again.

Mushroom Alfredo Chicken

Sorry for the lack of delays; we got lazy and had a pasta dinner 2 nights in a row. Now back to the grub!

DISH cut up chicken breasts simmered and cooked in Alfredo sauce topped with mushrooms coated in basil, garlic powder, and pepper. 

DANKNESS FACTOR 6/10 

COMMENTS/TIPS

     Nothing special; just a simple, quick chicken dish. Tried something new with the Alfredo sauce, which ended up being pretty tasty. I also cooked some eggplant on the side, but half the eggplant went all soft and discolored because it froze from being in the back of the fridge (sucky fridge) and then melted. Sooo..(not pictured)

     There were certain bites that had some extra alfredo or mushroom on it and were super tasty, but most of the bites were plain chicken. Next time we'll probably add more alfredo and let it cook longer. Good idea, just not good execution.

Thai Yellow Turkey Curry

Well, today I walked into Brian's place and dinner was already cooked!

DISH thai yellow turkey curry

INGREDIENTS

cut turkey breasts
chopped onions
chopped cooked potatoes
Thai yellow curry sauce (Trader Joe's!)
water
olive oil
brown rice

HOW TO
1) Caramelize onions with olive oil in cooking pan under medium heat.
2) Cut potatoes in small bites, then microwave them for about 1 minute to soften; then place potatoes into pan with onions.
3) Then cut and add in turkey pieces to pan; let it half cook. Add in curry sauce and water (water will reduce while cooking)
4) Let everything cook and sit under medium heat for about 2 hours.
5) In another pot, cook the brown rice until desired texture is reached.
6) When everything is done, top curry on top of brown rice and you've got yourself a delicious curry dinner.

DANKNESS FACTOR 8.5/10

COMMENTS/TIPS

     The turkey was nice and tender along with the nice soft potatoes. We weren't sure whether Thai curry differed from Indian or Asian curry, but it was pretty similar, but slightly different from Asian curry: sweet, not a too overpowering curry taste, slightly spicy. I don't know about you, but I'm just a big fan of the simple curry and rice dinner. "It was just so tasty. It doesn't matter what it looks like" - Brian Plummer.
     So so so tasty. I've become a big fan of curry, and last time I didn't cook it long enough, but this time it came out great. I could eat this for days...


So after a year of trying, Brian's finally hooked on Jersey Shore! (he even suggested we put a Jshore video on this post) I downloaded it and we've been watching the episodes starting from the first season, and we've gotten to the beginning of season two OH YEAH.

 

Garlic and Herb Chicken

DISH boneless chicken breast cooked and simmered in garlic and herb sauce (a sauce mix heh) sprinkled with basil, and topped with sweet baby tomatoes, surrounded by a bed of lettuce and avocados.

DANKNESS FACTOR 7/10

COMMENTS/TIPS
     Though I am the biggest salt fan, I may have added a bit more than I liked; on the flip side, Brian loved it.
     It was a great way to make chicken; easy to eat, but there was a lot of salt. Didn't matter though, still uber tasty.

El Pollo Chino

DISH fat and small crunchy pieces of juicy Mandarin Orange Chicken (frozen section of Trader Joe's, or Trader Ming's cause that what it said on the bag) on top of fresh brown rice

DANKNESS FACTOR 7/10

COMMENTS/TIPS

     Chinese food is good all day, everyday.
     I love orange chicken. They were really easy to prepare and went well with just a bowl of rice. Some of the bits were really big, making it a little hard to eat but still super tasty. Trader Joe's frozen section is great because they don't use any preservatives. They make it fresh and you have up to 20 days to eat it, and I think they were only like 5 bucks so a good deal too!

Side note: Is there vinegar in orange chicken?