Goat cheese and spinach chicken with fig preserves

When I lived in Brooklyn Heights, Henry's End was one of my and B's favorite restaurants. B always ordered some sort of steak, and I would order their Goat Cheese & Fig Jam Chicken. One day, I decided that the recipe didn't seem so complex - so why spend $18.95 if I could make it at home, so I set out to replicate it. I usually just wing it, but here is an approximation of what I do:

Ingredients
1/3 cup goat cheese
10 oz frozen chopped spinach
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
3 chicken breasts
1 Jar Fig Preserves
milk


Directions
1) In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.
2) Pound each chicken breast until thin.
3) Dip each chicken breast in water or milk and then bread crumbs.
4) Evenly divide the spinach and the goat cheese.
5) Place spinach and goat cheese onto each breast.
6) Roll, secure with tooth pick if necessary.
7) Bake at 375° for 35-38 minutes.
8) Serve with fig preserves either by spooning onto the top of each chicken breast, or by placing a large spoon full on plate next to chicken for dipping.

Blackbean and Corn Salad

My mom just came to visit and made a blackbean and corn salad that was super tasty and super easy. This is going to be one on our regular meal rotation.

Ingrediants

1 can blackbeans
1 1/2 cans sweet corn
1 cup grape tomatoes
8 leaves fresh basil
8 scallions
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp white balsalmic vinegar
Sea salt

Directions

1. Drain corn and blackbeans, pour into bowl
2. Chop Basil, add to bowl
3. Chop scallions, add to bowl
4. Add olive oil and white vinegar to bowl
5. Mix
6. Salt to taste
7. Cut grape tomatoes in half. Add to each individual bowl.
8. Enjoy!

Note: The corn and blackbeans stay good in the refrigerator for a few days, however the tomatoes get wonky after a day or so. Therefore, to make the salad last longer add the tomatoes only when ready to serve.

Carins gurkor (Carin's Cucumbers)

Ingrediants
2 kg gurkor ( Västerås ) - 4.4 lbs cucumbers
1 kg socker - 2.2 lbs sugar
0,5 dl salt - 1/5 cup salt
1,5 dl 24% ättika - 3/5 cup vinegar (24% vinegar - I'm not sure what this is)

Directions
1. Tvätta gurkorna noga, skiva dem och lägg i en stor skål. (Wash and slice cucumbers. Put them in a large bowl)

2. Strö över socker och salt. Häll i ättikan. (Sprinkle sugar and salt over cucumbers. Add the vinegar)

3. Rör i gurkorna när det börjar att bildas vätska. (Stir the cucumbers)

4. Låt stå ca 2 dygn, häll sedan upp i glasburkar, allt socker och salt ska då vara löst. (Let sit for 2 days. Pour into glass jars. The sugar and salt should be dissolved)

5. Tillsätt gult senapsfrö och ca 2-3 cm stora pepparrotsbitar ( 2 - 4 st i varje burk ) så håller gurkorna sig i ett år om de står svalt. (Add gold mustard seeds and 2-3 cm large horseradish pieces (2-3 pieces in ever jar). The cucumbers will last for 1 year if the kept cool.

Corn Casserole

My family has been making some sort of corn casserole for holiday meals for as long as I can remember. I don't have the original recipe, but this is the recipe I've been using for at least 7 years now.

Ingredients

1 16-oz. can cream of corn (undrained)
1 16-oz. can sweet corn (drained)
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 cup milk
1 egg

Directions

Mix ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Pour into a greased casserole baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 35 to 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Heather's Sweet Potatoes

I obtained this recipe from my friend Heather in Sweden. My family requests that I make this every Thanksgiving.

Ingredients
6 Cups of Sweet Potatoes
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Cube and boil sweet potatoes. Place into baking dish.
2. Mix together brown sugar, flour, butter and nuts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Crumble over sweet potatoes.
3. Bake everything at 400 F for 30 minutes.

Rårörd saft - Strawberry Saft (Juice)

Ingredients
6 l bär (6 Liters Strawberries)

30 g vinsyra (30 grams Cream of Tartar or Tartaric Acid)

4 l vatten (4 Liters water)

Sugar

Directions

Tvätta bären snoppa jordgubbarna, strö över vinsyran och häll det kokta vattnet över. (Boil the water. Wash the berries. Take the tops off the strawberries. Sprinkle the cream of tartar over the barries, poor in boiling water).

Låt stå över natten. (Let sit over night)

Sila saften, och mät upp mängden. Lika mycket socker som saftens vikt. (Strain the juice off the berries. Add as much sugar as the juice weighs).

1 l saft väger ca 925 g (1 Liter of juice weighs approximately 925 grams)

Rör saft och socker tills sockret är löst, ca 1 tim. (Stir the juice and the sugar until the sugar dissolves -- approximately 1 hour).

Frys in saften. (Freeze the strawberry juice).

***** English conversions and note below added by Brittany***

One of the great foodie things about Sweden is the saft (homemade juice). If you've been to IKEA, you've probably tried their lingonberry saft. My favorite type of saft is the strawberry saft that Carin makes. Although you can make this saft with any type of berry or fruit, the English translations that I've added Carin's recipes specify strawberries.

Garbage Bread

Ingredients
Pizza dough
Mozzarella
1% Ricotta cheese
Honey ham (approx 1/2 lb)
Hard Salami (approx 3/4 lb)

Directions
1. Let dough rise.
2. Roll out dough into rectangle
3. Add 1 layer of ricotta cheese, 1 layer of salami, 1 layer of mozzarella, 1 layer of ham, and 1 additional layer of salami.
4. Roll into pinwheel shape and pinch edges tight so ingredients do not ooze out.
5. Brush top with butter and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.