Prosciutto and Swiss Roasted Chicken Thighs w. Mushrooms

If you are fond of the flavours of Chicken Cordon Bleu but are not feeling like Gordon Ramsey on an average weeknight this recipe combines Swiss cheese, prosciutto cotto and sauteed mushrooms with chicken and is spectacularly easy.

This method works best with chicken thighs. I like using bone-in, skin on thighs for an extra level of texture and flavour, but you can use boneless and skinless if you wish.

Place your thighs on a shallow roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Brush them with a little olive oil and then season them to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Place the chicken in an oven preheated to 450 degrees. Roast for 25 minutes on the middle rack.

Meanwhile, saute around 2 cups of sliced mushrooms seasoned with sea salt and black pepper to taste in some olive oil for around 5-7 minutes over medium-high heat. Set aside.

After 25 minutes remove the thighs from the oven keeping the oven hot.

Top each one with a slice of prosciutto cotto and then Swiss cheese cut to fit. You can use any ham you like but I like prosciutto cotto because it is lean and flavourful. Then top each with some of the sauteed mushrooms.

Put the chicken back in the hot oven and cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Remember, if you are concerned Health Canada recommends cooking chicken pieces to an internal temperature of 75 C. / 165 degrees F. at the thickest part.

Melted cheese and prosciutto with sauteed mushrooms over seasoned roast chicken in just a few easy steps.

Enjoy.

For another one pan cheesy chicken dish see: Crispy Pan Roasted Parmesan Chicken

Caribbean Goat, Michael's West Indian, Ukrainian Cookery & more -- The Top 5 Food Posts of 2015!

A few days ago we posted the Top Ten Blog Posts of 2015 on The Left Chapter. As any regular reader of this blog knows, The Left Chapter also has many food posts. This year, as with the political posts, many of them were also contributed by several different lefty foodies!



There have been posts about Beef Shank Potato Carrot Dutch Oven Casserole, Southern Style Chicken Wings Stove-top Deep Fried, Maria's Pork Schnitzel with Oma Philomena's Potato Salad, Zucchini Fundido, Spinach, Mushroom and Walnut Pie, Pesto pepper steak with sour cream & pickled peperoncini, Fiery Caribbean style peel-and-eat shrimp, and even, yes, a Sardine Sandwich with Sauteed Spinach, Garlic & Jalapeno!

I want to thank everyone who contributed recipes to the blog and to our readership for such a great launch and I look forward to what 2016 brings.

Here, without further ado, are the top five food posts for 2015:

1) Caribbean Style Goat with Potatoes in a Dutch Oven

2) Michael's West Indian Flavor: Perfect Oxtail in New Toronto

3) Ukrainian Cookery Recipes w. Borscht, Vareniki, Cabbage Rolls & more -- Vintage Cookbook

(This post actually led to the #9 post of the year Ukrainian "Scalloped Beef" Revisited)

4) Sauteed Seasoned Chicken Breasts in a Garlic Mushroom Sauce

5) BBQ Grilled Yellow Hot Peppers with Prosciutto & Cream Cheese

Thanks again for a great first year. See you in 2016.

Do you have a left point-of-view or opinion, a recipe or a story you want to share?

Send them to The Left Chapter via theleftchapter@outlook.com!

Chicken with prosciutto and olives

Today we are going to look at a simple dish that produces big and bold flavours -- seasoned chicken simmered in tomato sauce with prosciutto and olives.

First, take either chicken drumsticks or chicken thighs (both should bone-in and with the skin) and season them with Herbs de Provence, and salt and pepper to taste. If you do not have Herbs de Provence you can use an Italian seasoning blend or simply the salt and pepper.

For today's post I used drumsticks. The portions indicated are for between 10-15 drumsticks.

Brown the chicken in EVOO

Brown the drumsticks about 2-3 minutes a side in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in a large saucepan. You do not need or want to cook them through. When they are lightly golden and browned remove them from the pan and set aside.

Keep any of the juices or herbs left in the pan from the browning. Add some more EVOO and bring to a medium-high heat.

Saute garlic, olives and prosciutto 

Then add 3 cloves of minced garlic and between 1-2 cups of rustic style olives. I used a black and green pit-in Sicilian blend of olives. Reduce heat to medium and saute the garlic and olives for 2-3 minutes. Then add 3 large thin slices of prosciutto to the pan and saute it all together another 3-4 minutes at medium heat.

Once you have finished sauteing add two large cans (796 ml/28 oz.) of diced tomatoes with all the liquid, another tablespoon of Herbs de Provence and salt and pepper to taste to the pan, stirring everything together. Increase heat and as you bring it all to a boil start adding the chicken back in.


When you have brought it back to a boil reduce

heat, cover and simmer for 40-50 minutes (until thoroughly cooked which means, of course no pink or to an internal temperature of 165 degrees on a meat thermometer) taking the lid off for the last ten minutes. Serve the chicken with the sauce and olives and pieces of the prosciutto.



This is perfect on a bed of rice or noddles, with a baguette and some nicely chilled white wine or a table red.

If desired you can top with some more freshly ground pepper and some Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

See also: Clay Baked Chicken: Clay baking a whole chicken..."Roman" style

BBQ Grilled Yellow Hot Peppers with Prosciutto & Cream Cheese

BBQ Grilled Yellow Hot Peppers with Prosciutto & Cream Cheese

Yellow Peppers

Today we will be looking at a terrific BBQ side -- grilled stuffed Yellow Hot Peppers. While larger size jalapeños can also be used, yellow hot peppers are widely available and are a perfect size for this. Those who do not want it spicy, or as a substitute for the kids, can use Cubanelle Peppers which are very mild.

Prepare the grill as usual. (For tips of charcoal grilling you can visit our post on the topic.)
 
Cut off the top of the pepper. Set the tops aside. With a knife you want to gently remove all the seeds from inside the pepper. Try to get as many as possible. The seeds are very hot, and while one or two left inside will add kick, in any quantity they will make the dish basically impossible to eat, even for spicy food fanatics such as myself.

Until you are used to the "seeding" I strongly recommend wearing kitchen gloves while doing this. Touching the seeds with bare skin is very unpleasant and it leaves oils that, if you then touch your eyes or other body parts, will cause a truly awful burning sensation that one need only experience once to not make the same mistake again.

Prosciutto

After having seeded the peppers, take a slice of prosciutto and fit it to the inside of the pepper. Then take a cream cheese of your choosing, (for grocery store bought I like Western Dairy) and fill the pepper with it.




Put the top back on. If it will not stay on you can secure it with a toothpick. 

Put the peppers on the grill. I do them a few minutes a side around the edge of the grill -- so they are not directly over the charcoal --until the cream cheese begins to melt. Then I put them right over the red hot coals to char the peppers, turning constantly, for another minute or two a side or so. You want the pepper to char and its texture to change, but you do not want it to burn.


This nice summer treat can be served with just about any main or as an appetizer. As a vegetarian option, simply do not use the prosciutto. In this case I recommend using a cream cheese  with chives, or adding some chives or sliced green onion yourself.

Enjoy!

For some other BBQ related posts see: Argentinian Chimichurri grilling sauce, Beer Can Chicken with "French Fried" Asparagus on the BBQ! or A beginner's guide to charcoal grilling a steak...with Schwartz's Montreal Steak Spice & Grilled Salami