Picture View - Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken and Collard Greens - Home Cooked Recipe 30

This post has not one, but TWO recipes included in it.  The first recipe is for a chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese and then wrapped in bacon, and the second is for collard greens.  I'm going to note the additions I would make to the chicken.  This was the very first time I made collard greens, and I think they came out pretty tasty on my first try.

Chicken (Stuffed w/Cheese, Wrapped w/Bacon)

Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts

2 oz cream cheese

4 slices bacon (uncooked)

Salt and Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

Pound each chicken breast flat, until it's about 1/4 inch thick.  Lay out in baking dish (that's sprayed lightly with cooking spray).  Place 1 ounce of cream cheese down the middle of each breast.  Wrap chicken around cheese, secure with tooth pics.  Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each breast.  Season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, or until chicken is completely cooked and bacon in browned.

***The next time I make it I will add an ounce of shredded cheddar to the cream cheese and mix well before placing in the chicken.  Also, I would salt and pepper, and possible add some granulated garlic to the cheese mixture as well.  Another great addition would be to baste the chicken in BBQ sauce about halfway through the baking process.

Collard Greens

4 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces

1 small onion, diced

1 tbs granulated garlic

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs kosher salt

salt and pepper

dash of cayenne

5+ dashes of your favorite hot sauce, more if you like it spicier

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 a lemon

1 can chicken broth

Directions

Brown bacon, then add onions to the bacon and its drippings.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until onion is tender.  Add garlic, salt and pepper, sugar, cayenne, and hot sauce.  Cook for 1 minute, then add vinegar and simmer until the amount of liquid is halved.  Add collard greens and chicken broth, and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until collards have wilted and become a darker green.  Squeeze lemon juice into pan, stir and serve.

Enjoy!

Larkins Famous Subs - Restaurant Review 4

Half Of A Salami Sub At Larkin's Famous Subs And Catering

Phew!  It's been a busy past couple of months, and some of you have noticed that I haven't been posting on a weekly basis like I normally do.  I felt bad that I've neglected this site and have made a resolution to get back to my weekly posting routine.

This week we are going to talk about a restaurant, and next week I will give you guys a new recipe.  Actually two recipes, a main dish and a side dish.  So make sure your check back next week for that.
Today we are talking about a place in south Orlando, who's full title is Larkin's Famous Subs and Catering.  You can find them at 7728 Daetwyler Drive Orlando, FL 32812-4077, and reach them at  (407) 859-9634.  I could not find an actual website for them, but I did find a couple of videos on YouTube that you could check out if you wanted to see a little more about them ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hohE8_E4OhM ).

I first heard about the shop from my boyfriend's brother-in-law, who was eating there quite a bit, and raving about how good the sandwiches were.  I checked the shop out on Yelp and Urban Spoon and saw that the shop had pretty rave reviews online from other customers as well.

The Steak-O-Cheese

Salami with Provolone

It's a quaint tiny shop, with a nautical themed decor.  There are newspapers to read, and our table had a list of thought-provoking questions.  There is a big screen TV, which I believe was playing the news while we were eating.  There are some tables where you can sit down and enjoy your sandwich, or you can take your order to go.  Not only do they have sandwiches, but they have salads, and they offer daily specials such as Tuesday Tenderloin (a beef tenderloin sub) and the Beef Short Rib Special.
They are a little more expensive than your average sub shop, but the quality of ingredients are very high, and the sandwiches themselves are large.  You also get chips on the side, as well of your choice of pickles or peppers on the side (pepperoncinis).  Subs can be ordered in regular or junior, the regular being 8 inches long with a pound of meat.  Junior is 6 inches.  You can get the subs with mayo, mustard, italian dressing, tomato, lettuce, and onions included.  I also counted at least 10 salads on their menu, but that could vary. 
I did not order one of the sandwiches off the menu, I just asked for a salami sub with provolone cheese and all the toppings and they were more than happy to oblige.  My boyfriend ordered the Steak-O-Cheese, with no mustard or italian dressing.  We both had potato chips with our sandwiches, and I opted for the pickles while he opted for the peppers. 
There was so much meat on the sandwich!  We both opted for the regular (the 8 inch, 1 pounder), and I don't think we realized how big that really was.  But both sandwiches were delicious, and I ate the majority of mine (although I did leave some meat behind, it really was a lot!).   

Larkin's is a very enjoyable place, with really good service.  We received our orders surprisingly fast, the food quality was high, the subs were delicious, and the staff was friendly.  I would recommend checking them out if you're in the area, visit Yelp and Urban Spoon to see what other customers said, and check out the YouTube video I gave the link to.

Picture View - Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients

Cooking onions in butter

Add in flour

After adding liquid and spices

Adding broccoli and carrot

Pureeing with immersion blender

Pureed soup

Adding in cheese

Broccoli Cheddar Soup - Home Cooked Recipe 29

I recently had some dental issues and needed to have food that was easy to eat.  Instead of just going and buying cans of soup, I thought I would try my hand at making my own.  One of my favorite soups is the broccoli cheddar soup they serve at Panera, so I decided to make my own version.  Here is the recipe!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

1 package frozen broccoli

2 cups sharp cheddar, grated

1 stick of butter

1 small onion, finely diced

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 cup cream

3 cups chicken broth

1 carrot, shredded

1 bay leaf

dash of cayenne

salt and pepper

Directions:

Melt butter in large pot over low heat.  Add onions and cook for 5 minutes, or until tender.  Whisk in flour and cook an additional 4 minutes.  Whisk in milk, then cream, then chicken broth, and bring it to a boil.
Add cayenne, then season with salt and pepper.  Toss in bay leaf.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. 
Microwave broccoli for 3 minutes, then add to soup.  Stir in grated carrot.  Cook for 10 minutes, then remove bay leaf and puree until smooth (either with and immersion blender or in an actual blender in batches). 
Add cheese to soup and whisk over medium heat until smooth. 
Enjoy!
***Some fun ideas are to garnish soup with more cheese and homemade croutons, or serve the soup in breadbowls.  You can also add a dash of smoked paprika when you add the cayenne, it gives the soup a nice sweet smokiness.  Another way to impart even more cheesy goodness is to add in a can of cheddar cheese soup, I use Campbell's.