Order's up!

Last night was a little different... After having broken two bones in his arm snowboarding this past weekend, Hayden was in less of a dine with me mood, it being replaced with a painful, I am just hungry now one. Perhaps less ambitious fare would have been more appropriate, but I deal with that enough when on my own and after having recently nearly choking on a piece of cellophane in a premade meal, with the ingredients already in hand and with my handwritten recipe slip, I pushed on, ignoring my own downcast mood and in the end was able to prepare a delicious meal. So...as neither of us were in the frame of mind to sit down at the table, we decided to have 'dinner theater' and to eat while watching a movie instead. Philomena...I would recommend it. A interesting and quiet film about loss at the hand of another and lifes sorrow and the yearning found from it all. In trying to introduce more thoughtful, but also appropriate movies beyond his prefered 'action' genre to him, it was a good choice to spur some honest conversation before bed.

Back to dinner: Finding this recipe combination also on the web (what a resource!), I modified it between two different ideas, both that sounded awesome. Taking chicken breasts, I cut a slit in the center and stuffed them with seasoned ricotta, wrapping them with applewood smoked bacon and coating them with a course mustard, honey and lemon glaze. I simply baked them, adding the drippings on top to serve. For sides, I sauteed shallots, thinly sliced brussell sprouts (it called for 'shaved' whatever that means...but I only have a knife), garlic and spices in bacon fat, adding chopped walnuts towards the end for texture. In addition, I sliced up some sweet potatos, steaming them with a little coconut oil, nutmeg and cinnamon. Timing of all of this in my tiny space to arrive on the plate, hot and excellently done together was a challenge as my prep surfaces are minimal. I see I will need to correct that somehow. Hayden was perfectly patient, but as he sat there, one handedly trying to play a game on his phone, I felt like a short order cook and could see he was ready to eat as soon as it came from the oven. So as I got it onto the plate (he had moved to the living room to set up the movie), I said "order's up" for some fun to try and break the mood.

Thankfully, the chicken was crispy on the outside, but wonderfully creamy inside with the ricotte and although the sprouts were a little over done waiting for the chicken (and not bright green as I had envisioned they would be for the photograph), they were super flavorful and a great compliment to the sweet potatos. It was a very good meal that certainly satisfied the pallet, even if it did not pull us up in spirits as was hoped. Bedtime was not too soon for us.

The ingredients prepped and ready to go taking up the entirety of my counter space. The sprouts in the pan and the color I was hoping for on the plate. Sorry for the cheap wooden flea market spatula...in spite of the name of this very blog...it is what I have.