Mum’s B-day Dinner

So for my Mum’s birthday she usually likes me to make her dinner instead of buying her a present – which is totally great for me because I absolutely love cooking and coming up with new recipes. And by new I mean old recipes that I spice up by adding lots of great ingredients to. So for this birthday dinner I decided that the menu would consist of my special stuffed chicken parmesan, cheese and garlic biscuits, and stuffed mushrooms. It went over very well, so I thought why not throw my recipes up on my blog. They are fairly easy recipes but when cooking I always suggest adding your own touches here and there. Here is what you will need:

Chicken Parm

2 thick skin and boneless chicken breasts

1 can of your favorite tomato pasta sauce

1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese

2 cups of bread crumbs (you may use less but just to be on the safe side)

1 egg

Chicken Parm Stuffing

1/2 cup cooked dried out baby spinach (I used 2 frozen cubes of spinach that you just throw in the microwave for about 2 minutes)

1/2 cup Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Cream Cheese

Minced Roasted Garlic

Minced Onion (white or red)

* When it comes to onion and garlic I think everyone should use their own discretion for adding – it depends on how much of each you’d like to add. Personally I like to use a lot and continue to add more as I’m mixing.

1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese shredded

1/2 cup medium cheddar cheese shredded

Stuffed Mushrooms (about 10-12 large stuffing mushrooms)

3-4 uncooked shrimp

1 tbsp minced roasted garlic

Onion (use at your own discretion)

1 cup of cream cheese

1/3 cup cheddar cheese

Cheese & Garlic Biscuits

2 cups baking mix: Bisquick

2/3 cup of milk

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter melted

1 tsp minced roasted garlic

So I made this stuff twice and what I did both times to start off was make the stuffing’s for both the chicken and the mushrooms. I also mixed together the cheese and garlic biscuit batter. With all of the ingredients I generally like to add a little more to taste a lot so I suggest if you are going through these processes you do the same thing. I can never stick directly to a recipe. Also if you think of something to add – why not add it, just make sure you don’t add to much of one thing and smother the taste.

Mixing of Batters/Stuffing’s

First and foremost preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Also put a pan on low heat with some olive oil, veggie oil or butter.

Start off by mixing together the chicken parmesan stuffing. You do this by throwing the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, garlic, onion and spinach into a large bowl. Mix together until all is combined. Put some saran wrap over it and put it in the fridge until you are ready to stuff the chicken breasts.

Now that the pan has been heated to a pretty decent temperature you can start putting together the stuffed mushroom filling. After deveining or de-shelling the uncooked shrimp, put them in the pan (that should still be on low). While they are sizzling away, start chopping your garlic (if need be) and onion, shredding your cheese etc. Next add your garlic and onion to your shrimp. When I made mine,  I also had some extra mushrooms lying around so I chopped those up and added them to the pan also.

Once the shrimp are cooked place into a small bowl with saran and put into the fridge.

For the garlic and cheese biscuits - mix together all ingredients minus the butter and garlic. That is all. No secrets just mix. Put in the fridge for after.

So your oven should be heated up by now right? Time to coat the chicken with breadcrumbs. In one bowl crack the egg and mix. And in another throw the breadcrumbs in. You may as well get your hands dirty for this one (just be careful to wash your hands a bunch of times since you are dealing with raw chicken). Start in the egg mix (make sure the chicken is fully covered) and then move on to coating the chicken in breadcrumbs

Now on to slicing those bad boys open and preparing to stuff. Find the fattest part of the chicken breast and slice into it with a sharp small knife to create a pocket large enough to fit lots and lots of the yummy stuffing. Once this is done stuff away. You can use as little or as much as you wish.

Once stuffed put into cooking tray coated with butter or olive oil – whatever you choose to make it not stick to the bottom of the pan. Throw into the oven for 40 minutes.

* I set the timer for 20 minutes first because the mushrooms will be going in for the last 20 minutes

Whilst this is cooking you can complete your mushroom stuffing. Take the shrimp mixture out of the fridge and mix in the cream cheese and reg cheese to make your stuffing. After cleaning up those mushrooms and taking out the stems, stuff away with as little or as much stuffing as you wish.

Put onto a baking sheet that has been coated with olive oil, veggie oil or butter. And put in the oven for the last 20 minutes of the chicken cooking.

Now you can put the biscuits onto an UNCOATED cooking sheet (should make about 8-10 depending on how big you’d like them to be. At this point the chicken and mushrooms should be just about ready.

Once the mushrooms and chicken have been taken out of the oven turn it up to 450 degrees. Place the biscuits into the oven (which is still warming up to 450 degrees NOT preheated to 450 degrees) for about 8-10 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown. Put some of your tomato sauce over the chicken (as much or as little as you’d like) and then place the shredded cheese over them also. And put back into the oven until the biscuits are finished.

While the biscuits and chicken are cooking put the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds to melt. Add in the garlic. Once the biscuits are done brush the butter mixture on top of the bicuits.

You can serve with pasta or salad. I also served it with a nice Pinot Noir red wine. Such delicious and easy recipes it should take no more than an hour to make.

Enjoy!