Playing with Food

So, I like to cook. However, for me, the fun is all in the discovery of new and interesting things to make; it has to be a very delicious dish (or extremely quick and easy) for me to repeat it very often. But in all my exploring of new things, I very rarely deviate very far from whatever receipe I've found.

Last Saturday I made out the meal plan for this week, like I always do. However, by the time I got to tonight, what I planned didn't sound good to me anymore. Normally when this happens, I just use a different recipe with stuff I have around the house.. not tonight. Tonight, I decided to get crazy and (*gasp!*) not use a recipe but just experiment and see what I could create. What sounded good to me tonight was stuffed chicken. So, I set about making some.

First, I pounded the chicken flat:

splat!

Made some stuff for stuffing it:

grated carrot, chopped up celery and shallot..

saute about 10mins with garlic and olive oil..

Threw on a few seasonings to make it extra tasty:

bread crumbs, Italian seasonings with some Parmesean cheese..

Put it all together:

threw in some cream cheese and basil, stir 'til melted, spread it on smashed chicken, rolled 'em up, secured with a toothpick..

(bake for 25-30mins at 350F) and voila!

Yu-huh-mmy!

It was a hit!