Recipe: Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with a Blue Cheese Cream Sauce

I spent this past weekend with John in Memphis, a place I enjoy more and more each time I visit. The city has a great food scene and there are so many restaurants to try. Memphis is about more than just BBQ and Southern cooking—there are restaurants offering up fantastic pizzas, tantalizing ethnic foods, delectable desserts, and more. We stocked up on cupcakes from Muddy's (their mint icing is absolutely amazing), ate a homemade hot dog and pizza with Benton bacon at Hogs & Hominy, enjoyed cheesy bread at Houston's, and got to taste an assortment of dishes from a variety of restaurants at The Dixon's Art on Fire event. On Sunday night, we went to Boscos and I had a very tasty pasta dish with grilled chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and a gorgonzola sauce. Tonight, I was thinking back on that dish when I peered in the fridge and saw a container of blue cheese crumbles left over from some salads I'd been making last week. I'm a big blue cheese lover—I love the salad dressing, I love it crumbled on a steak or burger, and I really wanted to use that box of cheese to make a blue cheese cream sauce. That sauce, tossed with chicken, broccoli, and pasta, created a flavorful, filling dish that was perfect for this rainy day that Sandy sent our way today.

Serves: 4

Prep. time: 10-15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes total (approx. 2 min. for broccoli, 5-10 min. for sauce and chicken, 11-13 min. for pasta)

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1-2 heads broccoli, cut into florets (or approx. 2-4 cups broccoli florets)
• 8 oz. farfalle, or other small pasta (penne, medium shells, etc.)
• A pat of butter
• Olive oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of a large pan
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch cubes
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 1/2-1 cup blue cheese (more or less, as desired)
• 1-2 tbsp. dried chives, or more as desired
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Cornstarch and water mixture, as needed

Directions
In a medium pot, bring salted water to a boil, then blanch the broccoli florets (i.e. cook them for about 2-3 minutes in the boiling water). Drain them, then return them to the pot with cold water and some ice cubes (this will help stop them from cooking any further—the last thing you want is mushy broccoli). Add salted water to another medium to large pot, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 11-13 minutes). While the pasta is cooking, heat the butter and olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat and add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper and cook gently until tender and no longer pink in the middle (about 5-10 min.)—toss the garlic in near the end of cooking. While the chicken is cooking, heat the heavy cream over medium high heat in a small pot. Once bubbling, add blue cheese crumbles and stir to combine. If desired, add a little cornstarch-and-water to thicken the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium low. Once the pasta is finished cooking, drain it and return it to the pot, then drain the broccoli and add it to the pasta. Add the chicken and sauce to the mixture, season with salt and pepper, add chives, and toss in an extra handful or two of blue cheese crumbles. Serve hot, with added blue cheese crumbles, as desired.

This dish, though packed with blue cheese, is not overpowering, but rather quite light and flavorful. Broccoli is always delicious in a creamy sauce, especially one with cheese, and chicken adds some much-needed protein. A dash of chives and an extra spoonful of blue cheese crumbles completes the dish. 

Recipe: Bacon and Blue Cheese Burgers with Caramelized Onions

With the weather starting to cool down ever-so-slightly, we're trying to get the most out of our grill before we pack it away for the fall and winter months. We had steak and grilled red potatoes with asparagus last night, and enjoyed a few s'mores after that hearty meal (which I followed up with a raucous round of "chase the cats around the yard" to help burn off a few of those calories). Tonight, we decided on burgers, and, in the mood for something a little more exciting that your standard cheeseburger, we decided on bacon and blue cheese burgers, brushed with Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce and topped with caramelized onions. Paired with a fresh salad of baby greens and some beers, we had the perfect late summer dinner.

Yields: Approx 6-8 burgers (about 3-4 inches around), plus approx. 1 cup caramelized onions

Prep. time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: Approx. 8 minutes for the burgers; at least 30 minutes for the onions

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• Approx. 8 strips bacon (I used applewood smoked—great flavor), or more as desired
• 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles, or more as desired
• Approx. 1 lb., 8 oz. lean (90%-93%) ground beef
• 2-4 tbsp. of your favorite BBQ sauce (I used Jack Daniel's Original No. 7 Recipe sauce, which I highly recommend), plus more to add to the finished burgers
• Salt and pepper
• 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
• Hamburger buns, as needed

Directions

In a large pan over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until slightly crispy, then set aside on a paper towel-covered plate to drain. Set the pan aside, leaving the bacon fat in it. In a large bowl, add the blue cheese, BBQ sauce, ground beef, and salt and pepper. Crumble the bacon into the mixture and mix to combine. Form the mixture into patties, being sure to press a fingertip into the center of each one to help them cook up properly. Set aside. Heat the pan with bacon fat over medium-high heat and add the onion slices. Allow to cook for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are caramelized (brown, sweet, and soft). Keep the pan over low heat, and in the meantime, heat the grill to medium-high heat. Cook the burgers until cooked to desired doneness, then place them on buns, top each with caramelized onions, and add more BBQ sauce as desired. Serve with a side of your choice (we chose salads, to add freshness to this rich, bacon-y meal).

This bacon and blue cheese combination, mixed with tangy-smokey BBQ, creates a perfect burger—the kind of burger you could find on the menu of any burger joint or "American-style" restaurant. These burgers are rich, hearty, meaty, and perfect for you bacon-lovers out there. Paired with a beer and fries, a tossed salad, or potato chips, they're even better.

Recipe: Baked Chicken with Blue Cheese, Pears, and Wilted Spinach

I came across this recipe while looking for dinner ideas for earlier this week and loved the flavor palate it featured. Sweet pears and tangy blue cheese are a fantastic combination and perfect for the fall, and combined with lightly seasoned chicken breasts and wilted spinach, they make for a light, filling meal. This meal is very easy to pull together and topped with some lightly toasted walnuts, for added texture and crunch, it's absolutely delicious.

The dish, sans walnuts, because, to be honest, it wasn't until I sat down with the dish in front of me that I realized that walnuts were just what the dish needed to be just right.

Serves: 4-6
Prep. time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 - 1/2 inch thickness (I serve each person 1/2 chicken breast and that's more than enough)
• Salt and pepper, for seasoning
• Olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of a few pans)
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 4-6 cups (1 large bunch) loosely packed spinach (stems removed) or 3-5 cups baby spinach, washed and dried (I used regular spinach, but baby spinach would also work and it's a lot easier to clean and handle)
• 2 ripe D'Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 - 1 inch thick slices (I just cut the peeled pear in half, then cut slices/wedges out of each half and cut off the bit of core on each piece)
• 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup blue cheese crumbles (I bought a small container, garnished each plate with a spoonful or two, and put the rest on the table so more could be added if desired)
• 3/4 cup toasted walnuts (spread walnuts out on a baking sheet and bake for just a few minutes at 350*F in the oven, until fragrant and slightly golden-brown)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350*F. In a medium, oven-safe skillet/pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and add them to the skillet, cooking just enough to brown each side. Remove the skillet from the heat and place it in the oven, then bake the chicken for 15 minutes, or until cooked through. While the chicken is baking, heat a little olive oil in a large pan and add the red onion, cooking until the pieces are slightly tender. Toss the spinach in and cook until it wilts (it should darken in color and "shrink" up)—if you're using regular spinach, make sure to thoroughly wash the leaves before cooking them because they tend to have a lot of sand and dirt on them and that's no fun to bite into. Once the spinach is wilted, plate it on dinner plates and set aside. Wipe out the pan and add in 1 tbsp. olive oil and the apple cider vinegar and heat over medium or medium-low heat. Toss the pears in and cook until they are heated through and slightly browned on both sides. Add the parsley in and toss to coat, then remove from heat. Plate the chicken breasts atop the spinach, place a few pieces of pear over and around the chicken, and sprinkle the dish with blue cheese crumbles and toasted walnuts.

This dish is wonderful for an autumn meal and can easily be served casually or plated formally and served at a dinner party, as the flavors of the blue cheese and pears add a certain degree of elegance to the dish. The various components of the dish all tie into each other wonderfully, creating a well-balanced and well-flavored dish.