Valentine's Dinner

Thanks to my wonderful friend Laura who gave me one of her old cameras (thanks SO much Laura!), I am now back in business with pictures!   Perfect timing to highlight our family Valentine's dinner!  One of my favorite holidays growing up was Valentine's Day because my mom always made a really special dinner, set the dining room table with the best china and had a special little surprise for each of us at our plates. 

Because I have such special memories of those dinners, of course I have to carry on the tradition with our boys!  Due to a very busy weekend, tonight was actually deemed the night for our special holiday meal.  I ended up combining a couple recipes I found for Chicken Cordon Bleu and it came out really really good so I'm going to post the recipe at the bottom for anyone interested (as well as a Blueberry French Toast Casserole that I made for Valentine's Day breakfast that was also really good).  

The boys seemed to really enjoy the evening and I heard Mitch reminding them upstairs before they came down how much mommy is a "words" person and really appreciates and notices flattering words...and all 3 boys did a fabulous job complimenting me and the meal - so of course that made my night as well! 

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Blueberry French Toast Casserole

From the Kitchen of Sharon Muhlfeld

12 slices day-old bread (the good, crusty French or Italian bread)

2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) cream cheese (I used about 1/2 this amount)

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

12 eggs

2 cups milk

1/3 cup maple syrup

Cut bread into cubes and put half into a greased 13x9 baking dish. Cut cream cheese into really small cubes; place over bread. Top with blueberries and remaining bread. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and syrup; mix well. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 25-30 minutes more or until golden brown and the center is set.

Blueberry sauce;

1 cup sugar

2 T. cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 T. butter

Combine sugar and cornstarch; add water. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter until melted.

*I cut this recipe in half for our family and it worked perfectly!

 

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Chicken Cordon Blue

10 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

5 mozzarella cheese sticks, broken in half

10 slices Virginia deli ham

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons butter - melted

1 c. cup dry white wine

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 c. water

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. butter

1 c. heavy whipping cream

Pound chicken breasts if they are too thick. Place a cheese stick wrapped in a ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Dip chicken in melted butter and then in flour. Place in baking dish and cover. Dissolve 1 chicken bouillon cube in ½ c. water; mix with ½ c. wine and pour over chicken. Bake at 375 for 45 min to 1 hour depending on thickness of chicken. Remove covering for last 15 min to brown chicken pieces.

To make the sauce, combine ¼ c. cold water and cornstarch and mix well. Dissolve second bouillon cube in ¼ c. water and mix with water/cornstarch mixture; add in the wine and 1 tbsp butter. Bring mixture to a boil fro 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, add whipping cream, and simmer until ready to serve with chicken.

Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter and either pour sauce over the chicken or serve separately on the side.