Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Chicken-and-Brie Sandwich with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

 

This is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging round up. This blogging event was started by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen.This week's host is Zorra from Kochtopf- be sure to pop by to see what other bloggers have come up with.

Over the Christmas 'madness' I convinced myself that there would be wine and cheese extravaganzas galore so when I made my dash through Costco I bought 2 huge wheels of Brie. Of course. I never used them because I had purchased close to 12 pounds of various cheeses in my various uncontrolled shopping sprees.

I don't associate Brie with low-fat so now that I'm trying to be careful with what I eat I thought I'd have to throw them out. Happily I asked a friend who convinced me that it was possible to eat Brie cheese and not fall off of the wagon. This recipe has only 440 calories and 12.3 g of fat. Coupled with a bowl of soup or a piece of fruit it is a filling dinner.

I'll admit that it is one of the more complex sandwiches that I have made but the flavour combinations are incredible! A good balsamic vinegar makes all the difference in the roasted tomatoes, whose heat will immediately melt the soft Brie. There's no need to cut the rind off the Brie, since it's edible.

Chicken-and-Brie Sandwich with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (16-ounce) loaf French bread, cut in half horizontally
3 ounces Brie cheese, sliced
3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups fresh spinach

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes; cook 4 minutes, stirring once. Remove from heat; stir in 2 tablespoons vinegar. Sprinkle tomatoes with thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Wrap handle of pan with foil; bake at 300° for 15 minutes. Keep warm.

Combine mayonnaise, mustard, and garlic in a small bowl. Spread mayonnaise mixture evenly over top half of bread loaf. Spoon tomatoes evenly over bottom half of loaf. Arrange Brie over tomatoes; top with chicken. Combine 2 teaspoons oil, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add spinach, tossing gently to coat. Top chicken with spinach mixture; replace top half of bread. Cut loaf into 6 pieces.

Yield:

6 servings

CALORIES 440 (25% from fat); FAT 12.3g (sat 4.2g,mono 4.9g,poly 1.9g); PROTEIN 34.3g; CHOLESTEROL 78mg; CALCIUM 119mg; SODIUM 826mg; FIBER 3.9g; IRON 3.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 46.7g

Cooking Light, JUNE 2001

Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

I had been wanting to try this recipe for some time. We kept placing it on the menu for Friday night and then for the last few weeks we had had so many leftovers to knock back that it seemed wasteful to cook something new. Today was the day, however.

This was a flavourful sandwich  . . . the smoky rub, the sweet heat from the jelly, and the sauce . . . it was all working. To think that it was actually low-fat!

As you can see I served the sandwiches on a toasted mini baguette with some chips and a pasta greek salad. This was a great Friday night dinner for a hot evening.

1/4 cup hot jalapeño jelly
1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
Cooking spray
1/4 cup light ranch dressing
1/4 cup sweet hickory smoke tomato-based barbecue sauce (such as Bull's-Eye)
8 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls

Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Combine jelly and water; set aside.

Combine paprika and next 6 ingredients (through pepper); rub evenly over pork. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; cover and grill 15 minutes, turning pork occasionally. Brush pork with jelly mixture. Grill an additional 5 minutes or until thermometer registers 155° (slightly pink).

Place pork on a cutting surface. Lightly cover with foil; let stand 10 minutes. Thinly slice pork. Combine ranch dressing and barbecue sauce. Serve pork and ranch mixture with buns.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 bun, 3 ounces pork, and 1 tablespoon sauce)

CALORIES 329 (22% from fat); FAT 8g (sat 2g,mono 2.1g,poly 1.6g); PROTEIN 27.8g; CHOLESTEROL 76mg; CALCIUM 73mg; SODIUM 920mg; FIBER 1.8g; IRON 3.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 34.6g

Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2005

Proscuitto, Pecorino, and Pear Panini

Lately I have been craving sandwiches. This recipe was  based upon one I found in a Cooking Light magazine. They say it is low-fat but I don't know - it was too damn tasty for low fat! It was even better in that I had all of the ingredients laying about the house.

After our trip to Italy this fall we have been experimenting with 'Italian flavours' this toasted treat was our latest experiment, one we will place in the 'keeper' file. Enjoy!

Prosciutto, Pecorino, and Pear Panini

1 focaccia bread, cut in half horizontially

2 oz proscuitto

2 oz grated pecorino cheese

balsamic vinegar

1 ripe pear, peeled, cored, and sliced

1 cup washed and trimmed arugula leaves

Open the foccacia bread up and sprinkle the balsamic vinegar over the cut sides (I used 10 year old balsamic from the Florence market). Layer the ingredients over one of the cut halves, taking care to spread them out evenly. Cover with the remaining half. Toast in a panini grill until golden brown.

This was an amazing flavour combination!

Prosciutto and Gruyère Strombolis

I am aware that I haven't included many recipes hare lately.

I blame this on all of those who do things to make me cranky thus setting off a rant of the day. Either that or I am becoming an old curmudgeon. You decide.

Today we wanted something light and quick for lunch.  I found this recipe on the Cooking Light magazine website. It fit the bill completely. Even better was the fact that I had all of the ingredients in the house already.

A stromboli is a baked sandwich. They are filled, usually with meat and cheese, rolled up jelly roll style and baked.

Prosciutto and Gruyère Strombolis

From
This is no ordinary ham and Swiss. These five ingredients come together quickly to yield a tasty Italian sandwich.


1 (11-ounce) can refrigerated French bread dough
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
1 cup trimmed arugula
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425°.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 roll)
CALORIES 275

Unroll dough onto a baking sheet; pat into a 14 x 11-inch rectangle. Cut dough into quarters to form 4 (7 x 5 1/2-inch) rectangles. Top each rectangle with 1/2 ounce prosciutto, 1/4 cup arugula, 2 tablespoons cheese, and 1 tablespoon parsley. Beginning at short side of each rectangle, roll up the dough, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of rolls). Arrange rolls 4 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until rolls are lightly browned. Serve warm.

They were great. I served them with some hearty Bean Soup we had in the freezer. The web site suggested serving a low-fat tomato sauce on the side to dip the sandwich in - we had some we had canned last fall and made for a zesty combination.