Nada . . . Zip . . . Nothing . . . Tasty Chicken though

Most mornings I am formulating exactly what I am going to write about as I walk down the stairs and turn on the kettle for my morning lemon and ginger tea. Todd always marvels that I never run out of things to say or write about. Sometimes it even amazes me. This morning however I got nada . . . zip . . . nothing . . . my brain is completely empty. It's probably a leftover from having been up all night on Tuesday night and doing absolutely nothing here yesterday. I was a total vegetable all day.

I slouched about on the sofa pretty much all day yesterday. I dozed now and then. I read a couple of cookbooks. I watched a bit of telly. I got rid of some more ants on the counter and another wasp that somehow managed to get into the house. (How do they do that? It is freaky!) Or should I say Todd managed to get rid of the wasp as I am too terrified of the little beasts.



I didn't even really cook yesterday, which is not like me normally. I did make some boxed macaroni and cheese for lunch and we had beans on toast for our supper. The diet took a flying leap out the window, but then it always does when I am tired and have no willpower to speak of.



I popped up to the big house early in the evening to check on the animals and put any stray dishes into the dish washer and turn it on. When I got back here to the cottage the fox was back in our garden and I managed to snap a few shots of him snuffling up the bits and bobs that Todd had put out for the birds. They didn't come out too badly I don't think. The light was good. They're not as clear as I would have liked but then I had to snap them in a hurry as he was really only just passing through!



And then I fell in love . . . with a movie! I had wanted to see the film "Enchanted" when it came to our local cinema but had never gotten the chance to but now that it is out on DVD we bought it and we sat down to watch it last night. It was totally delightful, as you would expect any film from Disney to be. It combined all my loves . . . animation, reality, music, fantasy, love . . . all into one! I think Todd had his misgivings when we first sat down to watch it and it started off like a cartoon, but even he had to agree that it was very entertaining and sweet and well . . . wonderful! It's like every woman's little girl fantasy come true. I mean, which one of us didn't dream of one day finding our Prince Charming when we were little girls???



It was really nice to see traditional animation in a film for a change instead of this computer animation they all seem to use today. There were fleeting ghosts tucked in throughout of Disney's previous animated films . . . the films of my childhood. It was just wonderful and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to sit down and lose themselves in a bit of entertaining niceness for an hour or so. (Patrick Dempsey ain't too hard on the eyes either!)



I can't really show you beans on toast this morning but I can show you the lovely chicken dish I prepared the night before to eat with our fennel salad. I was trying to replicate the tasty chicken that the catering chef had prepared for the taster night last week. I think I came pretty close with this. It was delicious!



*Chicken Stuffed with Goat's Cheese and Herbs*
Serves 4

If you don't like goat's cheese you can use cream cheese instead, but I happen to like the slight tang of the goats cheese. It goes very well with the herbs and helps to keep the chicken moist.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast portions (I like to use free range organic)
4 TBS soft goat's cheese
2 TBS snipped fresh chives
1 TBS finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 TBS finely chopped fresh basil
4 sun dried tomato halves, drained well, and finely chopped
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
salt and black pepper to taste
8 slices of pancetta
Tomato Vinegar(optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F.

Take your chicken breasts and wipe them dry. Taking a very sharp knife cut them in half through the centre almost all the way through, but leaving them joined all along one edge, so that you can open them up like a book. Sprinkle the inside of each with a bit of salt and black pepper.

Put the goat's cheese into a small bowl. Add the herbs, the garlic and the sundried tomatoes. Mix well. Divide the goat's cheese mixture evenly amongst the four breasts, mounding it up slightly in the centre and then fold the chicken meat over top to cover it completely. Wrap each breast in two slices of the pancetta to cover, and then place them onto a shallow baking tray, leaving a bit of room around each.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pancetta is nicely browned and the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes.

Serve each breast on a heated plate, cut through and fanned out and drizzled with a bit of tomato vinegar if desired. Delicious! A nice cheese risotto goes very well with this.




By the way the clear winner from this week's Make Me Bake was Warm Apple Cake with Brandy Butterscotch sauce! Todd's really looking forward to this one as he loves Apples!