Recipes From the "Hood" -- - Dutch Oven Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Stuffed Chicken

Hello Everyone and Welcome to Day Four of DUTCH OVEN WEEK!  If you don't have a Dutch Oven (horrors!) you can just make this in a large covered casserole dish!

One of the things I have enjoyed most about blogging  is trying out new recipes that I have found from other's blogs.  I call these recipes, "Recipes From the Hood, " meaning recipes I have found from the food  blogging "neighborhood."

Recently,  I ran across this recipe Dutch Oven Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Stuffed Chicken on "Our Family Treat." a blog written by Lindsay who is a busy mother of three children under five!  She has been blogging since April 2009.  Take a minute to peruse her recipes; her most recent is a Greek Pasta Salad which I am also anxious to make.   I really love her recipes; check out her blog HERE.

Then I saw Lindsay's Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Stuffed Chicken made and reviewed on "Dutch Oven Madness" written by Toni who gave the highest marks to Lindsay's recipe.  Toni writes a blog about Dutch Oven Cooking and has committed to make a Dutch Oven Recipe every day in 2010!   After almost six months (and 203 recipes), she has become a Dutch oven expert!  Check out her blog    HERE. 

I made this recipe last night and the "food critics," my husband and children raved about it!  Some of them said that it was the best main dish that I have made since blogging.  The "stuffed" part of the chicken, the pesto with the salami and cheese, tastes so good and the sauce just tops it off.  I want to thank both Lindsay and Toni for the recipe for Dutch Oven Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Stuffed Chicken.  I know I will make it again and again! 

This week I have featured recipes for Dutch Oven Potatoes and a recipe for a Mountain Man Breakfast using an outdoor/camping Dutch Oven.  Last night I  took the easy way out and used my indoor Dutch Oven when I made Chicken Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes.  It is a bright cherry and cheery red color.  I love cooking with it.  My husband gave it to me as a present last year.  It is a Tramontina brand, a low-cost Dutch Oven which has had great reviews.

Recipe for Dutch Oven Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Stuffed Chicken
Serves 8-10

Stuffed Chicken
8-10 Boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded out until about double in size.  My chicken was not really cooperative, but I did the best that I could with my metal mallot.  I liked pounding the chicken as it took out some agression that I was carrying around!

8-10 slices provolone cheese -- Use one slice per chicken breast.

8-10 slices of a dry salami -- Use one slice per chicken breast.

1/4 cup pesto -- Use store bought or homemade.  I whipped some up because my basil is thriving and
needed to be pruned.

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes -- I used sun-dried tomatoes not packed in oil.

Salt and Pepper

Sauce

1/2 container of sour cream (8 oz) -- I used low-fat.

3 cups heavy cream -- I didn't use heavy cream, but next time I would do so.  Lindsay's picture shows her sauce much thicker than mine.

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup parmesan cheese -- I used the pre-grated cheese in the dairy section.

Start by pounding out your chicken breasts using a rolling pin or a mallet as directed above.  In a blender or food processor, mix the pesto and the tomatoes until fully blended. You may need to add some more olive oil if it seems too dry. Season each side of the breasts with salt and pepper. In the middle of the breast place a teaspoon or so of the pesto mixture, a slice of cheese and slice of salami. Fold the chicken, similar to a burrito, so that the inside ingredients cannot easily leak out while baking.  Use toothpicks to secure chicken.  Wrap in a Tupperware, and keep cool until you are ready to cook. Repeat with all the chicken breasts.

In a dutch oven, over 12-15 briquettes (or camp stove to start) brown the chicken breasts, seam side down first, in a tablespoon of butter. Once browned on all sides, remove from oven, and let rest covered in foil. To the dutch oven, add the rest of the butter, and whisk in the flour. Add the cream, sour cream, and cheese. Stir over the heat until it begins to tighten. Put the chicken back into the sauce and cover. Cook for 45-50 minutes using 10 briquettes on bottom, and 10 on top.  If you are using an inside Dutch Oven like I did, bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  While baking, I occasionally basted the chicken with the sauce. 
Notes:  I had a lot of sauce left over, but I didn't mind because then I didn't feel so guilty about all the fat in the dish.  You could try to make this with less sauce, but I liked that it cooked in the sauce.  If I would have used heavy cream, my sauce would have been thicker.

This is my stuffed chicken ready to serve.  The sauce has separated a little bit, but it came back together nicely once I stirred it.

Last year the "food critics" didn't enjoy my camp cooking!  I think this would be a great dish to make while camping!  If you did the prep work ahead of time, you could have a gourmet meal in less than an hour!

I am posting this with the following Blogging Parties:

Tickled Pink at 504 Main

Summer Sunday at the Tablescaper

Just Something I Whipped Up Mondays at the Girl Creative

Made By You Mondays at Skip to My Lou

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed With Grace

Dutch Oven Mountain Man Breakfast

Welcome to Day Number 2 of Dutch Oven Week!  I doubt the Mountain Men had it so good, but I love this for breakfast.  It has been my tradition to make this for Pioneer Day every 24th of July.  I am not the best at Dutch Oven Cooking, but I do own two Dutch Ovens and I enjoy cooking with the ovens.   I do not own fancy equipment, in fact I Dutch Oven on a piece of scrap sheet metal or on cleared off ground...just kind of like the pioneers used to do it!   It's just my way of saying "hats off to the Pioneers.  This year when we go family camping, I am going to have to make this!  Last year my family was not exactly enamoured with my camp cooking.  A Dutch Oven is great for camping! 

Mountain Man Breakfast Recipe

1 pound bacon or sausage
 1 (2 pound) package frozen hash brown potatoes
2 medium yellow onions, diced
Salt and pepper to season potatoes and eggs
1 fresh jalapeno or small can of green chilis (optional)
12 eggs, beaten with a whisk
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
Fresh salsa to serve (optional)

Heat a 12" Dutch oven using 18-20 briquettes under oven until hot. Cut bacon into 1 inch slices or if using sausage cut into 1 inch pieces.   Add to Dutch oven and fry until brown. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent. Add potatoes and jalapeno pepper or green chilis and season with salt and pepper. Cover and bake using 8 briquettes bottom and 14-16 briquettes top for 30 minutes. Season eggs with salt and pepper then pour eggs over top of potatoes. Cover and bake another 20 minutes. Stir gently every 5 minutes. When eggs are done, cover top with cheese and replace lid. Let stand until cheese is melted.

Serve topped with fresh salsa if desired.

Serves: 8-10 .

This has been adapted from a recipe at Byron's Dutch Oven Recipes.

Dutch Oven Potatoes and Dutch Oven Week!!

Hello everyone and welcome to DUTCH OVEN WEEK .  Dutch Oven Week is my hat's off to the Pioneers at Red Couch Recipes. 

This Saturday, Utahn's will be celebrating Pioneer Day on July 24th, an official state holiday, which commemorates the entering of Brigham Young and other Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847 after their 1300 mile journey. Although Pioneer Day has its roots in the Mormon faith; Pioneer Day commemorates all pioneers who entered Utah before the advent of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.

In 1997 the State of Utah approved H.B. 203 designating the Dutch Oven as the State Cooking Pot! Dutch Oven cooking is especially popular during the summer! Everything from potatoes to rolls to cobblers are cooked in dutch ovens. Lewis and Clark, mountain men, and Mormon pioneers all used dutch ovens to cook along the trail as they moved, travelled or explored westward; dutch ovens were essential for cooking. If you are not familiar with Dutch Oven Cooking, click HERE for a good review.  The internet is a great source for recipes and instructions on Dutch Oven Cooking.

The dutch ovens used for camping/outdoor cooking have legs on the bottom so that coals can be placed underneath and a flanged lid so that coals can be placed on top.  There are also flat-bottomed, non-flanged dutch ovens used for oven cooking.  I have a sassy red one that I like to cook in.

In , June we held a "Daddy-Daughter" party at our home for girls from my church ages 8-11 and their dads.  The evening was western themed, and, of course, we had to have some type of dutch oven cooking.  We chose dutch oven potatoes and they were cooked by our friend LaMar and his wife.  Just a few years back, LaMar was a bull rider and a clown at regional rodeos.  He came decked out in Western ware for the party.

LaMar even brought his gun!

He  wore his spurs for the evening!

I took a picture of his truck.  He has several mules they ride.  Can you tell that he and his wife love mules?

To achieve 350 degrees in a dutch oven, the rule of thumb is to times the width of your oven by 2, which helps determine how many coals to use.  For example, cooking dutch oven potatoes in a 16 inch oven would require approximately 32 coals, around 16-18 on top and 14-16 on bottom.  The amount of coals on top and bottom varies as to the type of cooking you are doing.  Once you are into cooking with your dutch oven, you will want to acquire a lid lifter as shown below.  LaMar has a fancy contraption which I love, to put the Dutch Oven in.  When I use my Dutch Ovens, I use a piece of sheet metal  to cook on or cook on cleared ground.

The potatoes are happily cooking  and the lid has been taken off an the cheese and more pepper and salt has been added.

Recipe for Dutch Oven Potatoes

1 pound bacon -- Cook in your dutch oven and then break up into pieces.

5 to 7 pounds scrubbed potatoes -- You can leave the skins on red potatoes.

1 large can (28 ounce) cream of mushroom soup

2 cups milk

1-2 medium onions chopped finely

Salt and Pepper to taste

2-3 cups cheddar cheese.  I prefer sharp.

See rule of thumb above for coals.  For a 16 inch dutch oven, put 14-16 coals on  bottom and 16-18 coals on top. Cook bacon in Dutch Oven and then slice into small pieces.  Add potatoes, cream of mushroom soup, milk, onion, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix ingredients together in Dutch Oven.  See rule of thumb for coals for Dutch Ovens above.  For a 16 inch Dutch Oven put 14-16 coals on bottom and 16 -18 coals on top to achieve a heat of 350 degrees.  Cook for about 45 minutes, depending on your coals.  Take off lid, making sure that the ashes DON'T get in the potatoes, then add cheese, and extra salt and pepper if needed,  and cook until cheese is melted.

The potatoes are cooked and ready to be served.  Yummy!

The girls drew Western pictures for display

We had S'mores for desserts!

Thanks for dropping by Dutch Oven Week at Red Couch Recipes!

I have posted this with the following:

Made By You Monday

Just Something I Whipped Up Monday