Creole Surf and Turf

Hope everyone had a great day. Work was really busy, I was swamped, but it was a good swamping, helped my best friend run some reports for her client and well, doing that kind of thing makes me feel pretty good and needed. Plus she works as hard as I do,so helping each other out is just a a good thing to do. Anyway, tonight as the title says, it is surf and turf, specifically Creole Chicken Breasts with Crab and Artichoke Stuffing.

Here are the ingredients...

1 and 1/2 pounds chicken breast cutlets pounded thin(already had chicken from the other night, so good to go here)

Coarse salt and pepper to taste(got it)

A few pinches poultry seasoning(I am not going to be using this, i have never been big on using poultry seasoning, but you can if you want)

2 shallots, finely chopped(had to buy a few)

1 rib celery from the heart, finely chopped(use it if you want, but as you may have read in previous posts, i hate celery with a passion, so no on the celery)

2 tablespoons evoo(got it)

1 can, 15 ounces, artichokes water, drained and chopped(had to buy this cause I mean, who keeps can artichokes around)

1/2 cup chicken broth(got it)

8 to 10 ounces canned crabmeat(had to buy, but got lucky and my grocers seafood counter had it on sale and it seemed better to get then a can)

2 slices white bread, toasted and buttered(had to buy bread)

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning(had a jar of this in the spice cabinet)

1 pat butter(got butter and as I have said before, if you have to buy it, for the love of god, buy real butter and not "I can't believe it's not butter"......cause trust me people, I can believe it's not butter, cause it sucks)

1 cup dry sherry(had to buy this, cause really the only people that keep sherry around the house are really little old women with drinking problems, who always seem to have a candydish sitting around with a big pile of old fashion ribbon candy that is so old it is all stuck together in one big mess)

1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in a splash of water or broth

On a side note, as I type this, John and Kate plus 8 is playing in the background and well, I have to agree with most people, Kate really does act pretty bitchy, of course John seems like a douchbag, so i guess they balance out......

Ok, so season the chicken cutlets with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning(if you use it). Set aside.

For stuffing, in a skillet over medium heat, saute shallots and celery(if you like that vile weed) in evoo 2 or 3 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and broth, cook 1 minute more. Add crabmeat and heat through, breaking up the meat. Cube toast into small dice and add to pan. Season with Old Bay seasoning, salt, and pepper and then combine ingredients until bread is most. Remove from heat.

Place small mounds of stuffing on cutlets and roll up. Secure with toothpicks. At this point i should say that it is good to always read the entire recipe before going to the store. Had I done this, I would have known i would need toothpicks and would not have to use chopsticks that I snapped in half instead

For sauce heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add evoo and butter to pan. Place chicken roll-ups in pan and brown, 2 or 3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken. Add sherry and cook to reduce by half, 1 or 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Add cornstarch liquid and stir to thicken sauce. Return chicken to pan. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5 mins.

You can serve this with a green side salad and maybe some french bread.

The verdict. Well since i am dieting,and trying to do the vegetarian thing,I am not trying this, but my friend, she is a liking this one a lot, plus as I type this, i can still see my cats working over a chicken roll-up, so the cats dig it too. As for me, i will say it smelled awesome and i did try the sauce and it is to die for, so over all I will say this was a success, although it took me around 40 mins, but really that was because I stopped to check out Kate from the show, cause although she does seem mean, she is cute and I am after all a guy and we get distracted o'h so easily............

Until tomorrow............