Last night, I had friends over for dinner after church and knew that we wouldn't be getting back until late. To make it easier on myself, I decided to find some recipes I could prepare ahead of time and throw in the oven when I got home.
For the main dish, I made Five-Herb Marinated Chicken (courtesy of Bobby Flay) that I began marinating the night before:
Ingredients
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. each coarsely chopped fresh sage, parsley, tarragon, rosemary and thyme.
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper
Directions for Make-Ahead Prep
1. Chop the herbs and garlic and place in a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag.
2. Add the olive oil, close the bag (letting out all the air) and combine the ingredients in the bag.
3. Salt and pepper the chicken. Reopen the bag and add the chicken.
4. Close the bag, again letting out all the air. This ensures that each part of the chicken will be covered with marinade.
5. Massage the marinade over the chicken and put in the refrigerator overnight.
I found the Vegetable Strudel Pocket recipe in the Good Housekeeping's Step-by-Step cookbook. It was the first cookbook I ever owned, and I have to say it's really great for finding a variety of recipes with easy-to-follow directions. I tweaked it a little by adding onion and garlic to the filling, but everything else I followed to the letter.
Ingredients
1 bundle asparagus, cut to 6" spears
1 lb. baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
2 tbsp. plain dried bread crumbs
12 sheets phyllo dough (if you buy it frozen, be sure it is thawed before you begin the recipe)
8 oz. Gruyere cheese, shredded
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
Olive oil
Salt
1. Fill a large skillet with water and heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and boil for 4-8 minutes or until asparagus is tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Wipe the skillet clean and add a couple tbsp. of olive oil. Heat and add onions, garlic and mushrooms. Saute for approximately 5 minutes until vegetables are softened and mushrooms are browned.
3. Add lemon juice to the skillet and stir for another 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
4. On the stovetop, toast whole walnuts in a dry pan until just browning. Remove and place in food processor. Finely chop the walnuts until they are the same size as the bread crumbs.
5. Mix bread crumbs and finely chopped walnuts in a bowl and set aside.
6. On a clean, dry work surface (this is important or the phyllo dough may stick and tear), take one sheet of phyllo dough and place it short side facing you.
7. Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle all over with 1/6 of bread crumb/walnut mixture.
8. Top with a second sheet of phyllo dough and lightly press together. (If you find that, at this point, your sheets of dough are tearing, simply layer them a bit. Some small tears are okay.)
9. Brush the second sheet with melted butter. Spoon 1/6 of grated cheese onto the dough 2" from the edge and 1 1/2" from each side so you have a border.
10. Top with 6-8 spears of asparagus, followed by the mushroom/onion/garlic mixture.
11. Fold the bottom of the phyllo dough over the mixture, then fold in the sides.
12. Finally, roll in jelly-roll fashion to form the pocket. (It kind of ends up looking like a burrito!)
13. Place the pocket seam-side down in a baking dish. Brush with melted butter and repeat to make five more pockets.
14. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.
Directions for Baking
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat a grill- or saute pan over medium heat. Once heated, sear the chicken breasts on both sides to lock in juices.
3. Once seared, remove chicken breasts to a baking dish and bake in oven for 30-40 minutes or until center is cooked and juices run clear.
4. In the same 400 degree oven, uncover the strudel pockets and bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust is a golden brown.
(For dessert, I served Pumpkin Spice Bread)
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