This week's featured recipe is brought to us by a fellow busy professional: Ms. Natasha Persaud!  Her recipe for Chicken Marsala is great for a fast weeknight dinner - it's full of flavor!  She adds sauteed spinach for a healthy side dish. Photo & Recipe by Natasha. Enjoy!

Chicken Marsala with egg noodles and Sautéed Spinach

Time: 45 minutes, serves 4

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Ingredients:

  • 1 package of egg noodles or any desired noodles.
  • 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
  • All-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Marsala wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • 8 oz mushrooms
  • 2 Tbsp Unsalted butter
  • Fresh Parsley as desired
  • Salt and Pepper as desired

Recipe:

  1. Put a little bit of flour in a platter and season it with salt and pepper, mix all together evenly. Drench both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour and shake off any excess.
  2. In a large pot, add water and bring to a boil. Add noodles and cook to package directions. Drain and set aside.
  3. Pour some oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Fry the chicken cutlets in the skillet for about 5 minutes on each side (timing will depend on the thickness of the cutlets).
  4. After the chicken is cooked, remove from the skillet and set aside.
  5. In the same skillet, sauté garlic for about 1 minute then add mushrooms and sautée for about 5 minutes or until they are tender then season with salt and pepper.
  6. Add the Marsala wine and cook out the alcohol for about 30 seconds and then add chicken stock and simmer for a minute or so.
  7. Finally add butter and put the chicken cutlets back into the pan. Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce reduces by about 1/4.
  8. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.

Sautéed Spinach

  • 2 - 10 oz of Fresh Baby Spinach
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
  • 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Hot Pepper Flakes
  • 1 lemon (optional)

Recipe:

  1. In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for a minute or two. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
  2. Add spinach and turn the heat down to medium low and place the lid on the pan for about 1 minute
  3. Remove the lid (turn the heat back up to medium high) and season with salt and pepper and add pepper flakes
  4. Turn the heat off and squeeze a little bit of fresh lemon juice (if desired).
 
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Welcome to Feature Fridays!  This week's post features Mrs. Kemiela James-Haripaul's Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake!  Her recipe was a hit during Thanksgiving and she shared it with me so I can share it with you all.  Photo & Recipe by Kimmy. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake


Crust:

  • 1 box Vanilla Wafers
  • 1/2 cup butter (melted)

Cheesecake

  • 4 pkg ( 8 oz each) Cream Cheese, softened (Kimmy uses Philadelphia brand)
  • 1 cup sugar (divided)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning (McCormick is her favorite)

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 325

Crust:

  1. Crush Vanilla wafers- fastest method is in a food processor. Mix crushed wafers with melted butter. Combine until mixture feels like wet sand.
  2. Press mixture into desired type of pan (Recipe makes ONE 13x9 OR 2- 9 inch round cheesecakes)

 

Cheesecake Filling:

  1. Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in mixer until well blended.
  2. Add eggs, be sure to do this 1 at a time, beating after each JUST until combined. 
  3. Remove about 1 cup of batter. (I reserve 1/2 cup in a Ziploc bag to add designs to my cheesecake)
  4. Stir remaining sugar, pumpkin and spices into remaining batter. 
  5. Spoon about half of the pumpkin batter into crust (or crusts); top with spoonfuls of half the plain batter. 
  6. With a knife, swirl gently between layers.
  7. Repeat layers
  8. IF ADDING A DESIGN: end with the pumpkin later on top. 
  9. Cut a small corner of Ziploc back with white cheesecake mixture.
  10. Draw design of your choice on top layer. Simplest design: Draw straight lines across the cheesecake, then pull knife int he opposite direction of your lines to create swirl effect.
  11. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate for 4 hours.