This dish is best if “rested” for a day. (Cooled to room temperature, and then stored covered in refrigerator overnight.) When getting ready to reheat to serve next day, add 2 tablespoons of capers (drained), and ? to ? cup of chopped or cut up Italian parsley.
Reheat in the Dutch oven over medium flame. When ready, serve with rice, or with boiled baby gold or red potatoes (skin on), or with mashed potatoes. I like to make mashed potatoes that are half potatoes and half cooked spinach, chopped.
Penni Crenna, wife of actor Richard Crenna, always loved making meals for her family and doing the cooking when they gave parties. Her Mexican-Style Chicken Kiev was a great favorite with their guests. When I made it I understood why.
Don’t preheat oven, because this needs time in the refrigerator before baking.
4 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved
1 large can (approximately 16 oz.) whole green chilies
? lb. Jack cheese
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (but you can also use prepared dry crumbs, unseasoned)
? cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon chili powder
? teaspoon garlic salt
? teaspoon ground cumin
? teaspoon ground pepper
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
Pound the chicken breasts between two pieces of wax paper until each is about ? inch thick.
Slit the green chilies into halves lengthwise and remove seeds (unless you want this dish hotter), then cut into 8 equal pieces.
Cut the Jack cheese into 8 fingers about ? inch thick and 1? inches long.
Combine the breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese, chili powder, garlic salt, ground cumin, and ground pepper. (Penni makes her own breadcrumbs: instructions below.)
Lay a piece of green chili and a finger of Jack cheese on each of the chicken pieces. Roll them up to enclose the filling. Tuck ends under. Dip the bundles into melted butter, drain briefly, and then roll in the crumb mixture to coat evenly. Place bundles seam-side down without sides touching in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Drizzle remaining melted butter over all. Cover and chill at least 4 hours, or overnight.
When ready to bake, heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Bake uncovered in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink when slashed. Remove to a serving platter. Serves 8.
NOTE FROM DELLA: Penni served this with black beans, rice, and tortillas. I like to add salsa and guacamole.
FOR PENNI’S HOMEMADE BREADCRUMBS: She takes the crusts off slices of white bread and chops the slices in the food processor. Then she mixes these crumbs with the spices listed in the recipe above.
Seana, actor Richard Crenna’s daughter, grew up in Hollywood, but instead of going into show business, she earned a Masters in Psychology and went to work with troubled adolescents in residential facilities. When I asked her how she handled them, she said, “Bring homemade Goody Bars and the kids will do anything.”
This quiche is an easy main course for a luncheon or for a light dinner. Seana says she usually serves it with mini muffins and Caesar salad.
1 single piecrust: refrigerated, frozen or homemade (see note below)
2 cups cottage cheese (low-fat and small curd)
3 eggs (room temperature and beaten)
? cup shredded Swiss cheese
? cup shredded Gruyere cheese
2 or 3 green onions (white and green parts) finely chopped
1 cup French-fried onion rings in a can (crushed with your fingers)
Salt & pepper to taste (I use about ? teaspoon salt and ? teaspoon ground pepper)
Prick the bottom and sides of the unbaked piecrust and bake according to the package directions. (Or the directions in your cookbook if you make the crust from scratch.) When the crust is light brown, remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, eggs, cheeses, green onions, salt, and pepper. Hand mix until thoroughly combined.
Pour mixture over cooled piecrust and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the quiche has puffed (about ? inch).
Pull out the oven rack beneath the quiche and cover the quiche with the crushed onions. Then continue to bake until the onions appear lightly toasted-about 5 more minutes.
Remove from oven and cool for 5 or 10 minutes before serving.
NOTE FROM DELLA: For homemade crust, I recommend the standard pastry recipe for an 8- or 9-inch one- crust pie in Betty Crocker’s Cookbook
This recipe is from British author Penrose (Penny) Anderson. She wrote for Thames Television in London, is a published poet, and is also a voice-over actress. She said her favorite voice job was in
2 tablespoons butter
1 large white onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
5 red ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon basil (or 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, if you have them)
Juice of ? lemon
