Mardi Gras runs into Valentines Day

Another busy weekend last weekend. With Mardi Gras and Valentines Day. I could not choose. So, I did another two theme weekend. For Mardi Gras, I made one of my favorites, Blackened Chicken (Yum!) with Butter Steamed Potatoes. I added a side salad to it. For dessert, I made Chocolate-filled Beignets.

"Blackened" refers to seasoning and a cooking process. I first had it while working at the Radisson in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I believe it was on Prime Rib. To blacken the chicken, I first dipped the chicken breast in melted in butter, then dipped in Cajun Blackening Seasoning. I make it in my cast iron skillet. Make sure it is really hot. Keep in mind that it is going to create a lot of smoke. I told my husband this to prepare him for the smoke and I obviously I didn't stress this fact enough. Just be prepared for the smoke alarms to go off. You're going to sear the chicken. If the chicken is thin enough it should only have to cook a few minutes on each side to cook. If the smoke alarms are driving you nuts with the smoke, you can sear it on all sides and finish cooking it in the oven.

For my side, I made Butter Steamed Potatoes. I've never made these before. They tasted really good, but I had to cook them for an hour instead of the 30 minutes the recipe called for. I thought that I cut them small enough, but apparently not.

For dessert, I made another new recipe, Chocolate-filled Beignets. My daughter loved these and probably had about a half dozen of them. My husband just said, ehh. You do want to make sure you cook them thoroughly. A few came out slightly doughy. The directions recommends using a candy thermometer to maintain at temp of 360 to 370 degrees. I used an electric deep fryer and new oil, but had some unpleasant surprise when biting in.

Movie choice: The Frog Princess

For Valentines Day, I went with a French theme. Chicken Cordon Bleu, with wild rice, a side salad and White Chocolate Mousse for dessert. I tried a new recipe for the chicken. I used my meat tenderizer to make the chicken thinner, put a slice of thinly sliced swiss cheese and lunch meat in the middle. I had two large chicken breasts that I cut up and got eight servings out of it. The recipe states to cook it for 30 minutes, but due to the thinner pieces of chicken I only needed to cook it for about 15 minutes. In the end it was moist and tasted fantastic.

The White Chocolate Mousse recipe is one that I have tried before. It has a very light flavor. I used Ghiradelli white chocolate chips and didn't have to chop up the white chocolate. I topped mine with some Godiva Chocolate liqueur. The recipe says six servings, I filled my ramekins a little fuller and made it four servings.

The movie we watched, a Meg Ryan classic, French Kiss.