Super Bowl Weekend: Friday and Saturday

Even though we had the worst snow storm (we ended up only getting like 3 inches of actual snow, the rest was slush) on Friday, we batted the weather anyway. Our friends Colin and Jessica invited us to a secret sensation in Cincinnati, Terry's Turf Club. This place is awesome. The minute we walked in I felt like I was on an episode of Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives." The restaurant is filled with vintage neon signs, inside and out. The place is tiny (seating 49) and always crowded. We waited about 20 minutes for our table.

You pick from a variety of meats, but for our first time we stuck with the classic burger. To spice up your burger, Terry's has a variety of special sauces to pick from. I chose the burgundy wine with mushrooms and truffle. Dylan chose the roasted red pepper and blue cheese sauce. They had about 3 or 4 others to choose from. Chips come with each burger, but we opted for a side of fries. No need for appetizers at this place. A bowl of peanuts sits at each table and the shells go on the floor.

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of my meal. It was a delicious mess! We can't wait to go back again soon and take some friends along. This place is a hidden wonder in Cincinnati. It has been featured in Food Network Magazine's list of "ultimate burgers." So next time you come to visit, we are always down for Terry's Turf Club.

Saturday was a very lazy day, which I loved! We needed to make a grocery run to our local Kroger and I had the urge to make something new for dinner! I looked through the cook books I own, but everything was so complex. Most of the time I dismiss a new recipe because I don't know two or three of the ingredients. Our Kroger is no Fresh Market so it's impossible to find special ingredients. (The sell a variety of 40 oz. beers...) So as always I went to FoodNetwork.com and started searching through the "30 Minute Meals." You can't go wrong with chicken, it's cheap and the leftovers are always great. Finally I decided on Spinach and Mushroom Stuff Chicken Breast.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces
• Large plastic food storage bags or waxed paper
• 1 package, 10 ounces, frozen chopped spinach
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 12 small mushroom caps, crimini or button
• 2 cloves garlic, cracked
• 1 small shallot, quartered (DID NOT USE THIS)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup part skim ricotta cheese (DID NOT USE THIS)
  
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano, a couple of handfuls
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated or ground nutmeg
• Toothpicks
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken broth

Place breasts in the center of a plastic food storage bag or 2 large sheets of waxed paper. Pound out the chicken from the center of the bag outward using a heavy-bottomed skillet or mallet. Be firm but controlled with your strokes.

Defrost spinach in the microwave. Transfer spinach to a kitchen towel. Twist towel around spinach and wring it out until very dry. Transfer to a medium-mixing bowl.

Place a nonstick skillet over moderate heat. When skillet is hot, add butter, mushrooms, garlic and shallot. Season with salt and pepper and saute 5 minutes. Transfer mushrooms, garlic and shallot to the food processor. Pulse to grind the mushrooms and transfer to the mixing bowl, adding the processed mushrooms to the spinach. Add ricotta and grated cheese to the bowl and the nutmeg. Stir to combine the stuffing. Return your skillet to the stove over medium high heat.

Place a mound of stuffing on each breast and wrap and roll breast over the stuffing. Secure breasts with toothpicks.Add 3 tablespoons oil to the pan, 3 turns of the pan. Add breasts to the pan and brown on all sides, cooking chicken 10 to 12 minutes. The meat will cook quickly because it is thin. Remove breasts; add butter to the pan and flour. Cook butter and flour for a minute, whisk in wine and reduce another minute. Whisk in broth and return breasts to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer until ready to serve. Remove toothpicks. Serve breasts whole or, remove from pan, slice on an angle and fan out on dinner plates. Top stuffed chicken breasts or sliced stuffed breasts with generous spoonfuls of the sauce.

I did change a few things about this recipe.
1. I did not add shallots or ricotta cheese.
2. I cooked the chicken in the over for about 15 minutes before cooking it in the pan. The reviews I read suggested doing this and I think it worked well.
3. We cooked three chicken breast instead of four, but saved the leftover stuffing for a small pasta dish later. (Also recommended in the reviews.)

This recipe was very easy and very good. We paired it with broccoli and garlic mashed potatoes. It takes a lot longer than 30 minutes, but it was not hard to make.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. We are heading to Colin and Jessica's again tonight to watch the big game. I'm so nervous, but excited! I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to share tomorrow!

GO COLTS!

XOXO,
T