Filed under: Recipes
My quick and easy version of a romantic dinner for two on New Year’s Eve (pre-partying):
Italian chicken, steamed broccoli with sliced almonds, multigrain French loaf, and an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip. It’s easy, quick, and healthy! You know you’ll need the calorie savings for all the partying later.
Italian Chicken
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved if chicken breasts are large
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp white wine (I used some leftover chardonnay from Cross Timbers Winery)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (I actually used a chardonnay habanero mustard)
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 to 3 shallots, chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap and tenderize with mallet on both sizes until chicken is about 1/4 inch thick.
Stir together flour, salt, and pepper on a plate. Lightly dredge chicken breasts in flour mixture, reserving any remaining flour.
In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup chicken broth, wine, and mustard.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add in chicken breasts and cook approximately 3 minutes on each side or until lightly golden. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Add in remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil to skillet. Add in chopped shallots and cook over medium heat until they begin to brown, approximately 1 minute. Pour in wine/broth mixture and bring to a boil over high heat. Return chicken to skillet, reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 3 to 5 more minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. If sauce is too thick, add in remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth. If sauce is too thin, add in reserved flour as needed and stir well.
Divide chicken among 2 plates and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
Serves 2
And for a romantic dessert, try melting 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/4 cup peanut butter chips in a fondue pot, serve with sliced strawberries. We enjoyed our fondue with a couple of glasses of port from Bernhardt Winery.
And after a night of welcoming 2007, you’re inevitably going to need the hangover cure the next morning. I suggest this pesto spinach pizza (from the January 2007 issue of Shape magazine), it’s just greasy enough to kill the hangover but not nearly as bad for you as delivery pizza.
Pesto Spinach Pizza
1 tube refrigerated pizza dough
1/3 cup prepared basil pesto sauce (found in the refrigerated section by the fresh pastas and parmesan cheese)
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained (leave out in the sink before you head to bed, or before you leave for the party)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan (optional)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Unroll pizza dough onto baking sheet. Spread basil pesto onto dough, top with spinach, then mozzarella cheese. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and voila, homemade hangover cure.
Serves 4 (or 2 very hungry hungover people)
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Donna Cooks 
That pizza looks delicious! I think I will try to make that myself sometime. Thanks! 🙂
Comment by hippieposer January 5, 2007 @ 2:51 pm