Crab and Goat Cheese Ravioli

 

We had this amazing dish as one of the first courses for Easter dinner and J and I liked it so much, I dug out my Cuisine at Home and found the recipe to make it at home for just the two of us. The exact recipe is coming soon (as soon as I am back in the kitchen and not visiting CT for the night). But to peak your interest, here are the pictures I took of the process. Making these raviolis was time consuming, but worth it! I would recommend trimming the edges, which I didn't do and making them into circles with a cutter. I also overfilled ours and it was even better! This was served with a lemon cream sauce and left overs were delish

For filling

•  4 oz softened goat cheese
• 2 TBS chopped chives
• 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 can minimum lump crab meat
• 32 wonton wrappers(I used more)
• 2 Tbs olive oil

For Sauce
2 cloves sliced garlic
1 TBS butter (unsalted)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 TBS lemon juice and fresh zest

• Combine goat cheese, chives, crab meat, salt and pepper in large bowl
• scoop 1 TBS of mixture into the center of one wanton wrapper
• brush edges of the top wrapper with water and place wet side down over mixture
• press edges to seal
• Cut to shape if desired
• Repeat until mixture is gone
• Heat pan over medium heat
• add oil and ravioli in  small batches
• Cook until brown on one side (about 2 min)
• Flip ravioli and add 1-2 Tbs water  to pan and cover to steam 1-2 min
• Remove to plate

       For Sauce:

• Saute garlic in butter for 1 minute
• Stir in cream, increase heat to high and boil until cream is reduced to 1/2 cup
• Stir in lemon juice 
• Season with salt and pepper
• Garnish ravioli with zest

Cheesy Hot Chicken Salad

With the New England heat wave rolling through last week, I was trying to find recipes that would be on the lighter side and yet filling for J who has been a bottomless pit the past few weeks. I also still need dishes that will not leave me with left over condiments as we STILL do not have a full sized fridge... I found myself looking through my cooking magazine binder and just did not want to take the time to make some of the yummy looking dishes, but hot chicken salad popped out at me as I had made it once before. I simplified the recipe, using Philadelphia cooking cream rather than buying both mayo and sour cream. I was able to fit the left overs into a medium Tupperware which fit in the fridge and allowed two days of left overs.

For 6(ish) portions:
4 boneless chicken breasts shredded ( I poach mine if I just buy it for this dish)
1 jar pimentos (chopped)
1 small can water chestnuts slivered
1/2 cup peas
1/4 cup slivered almonds ( you don't lose anything if you opt out of these)
1 1/2 cups Philadelphia cooking cream - I used the Italian favor but any would be delish
Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
1 bag shredded cheddar
1 small can potato stix
salt and pepper to taste

• cook, let cool, and shred chicken breasts
• In a large bowl, combine water chestnuts, pimentos and almonds
• Add shredded chicken
• In a smaller bowl, combine and mix cooking cream and lemon juice
• Combine the cream mixture with the chicken mixture
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Coat large baking dish with non stick spray
• Spoon into dish
• Top with cheddar cheese
• Bake for 15-20 min at 375
• Sprinkle with potato stix and serve

adapted from Cuisine at Home