Italian Chicken with Tomatoes in White Wine Marinade

So, this weekend, we decided to try a couple of our favorite recipes paired with a new dish, italian chicken with tomatoes marinaded in italian dressing and white wine. It turned out to be absolutely delicious! I'd say a perfect summer meal. I can not wait to eat the leftovers.

Ingredients:

1/2 a small carton of baby tomatoes

1/2 a bottle of Italian Dressing

1/2 cup of white wine

3 chicken breasts

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

italian seasoning to taste

garlic powder to taste

salt and peper to taste

First, slice tomatoes into halves or thirds and place in a bowl. Coat in italian dressing and place in the fridge. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Then, after cleaning chicken breasts, grill for about 6 to 8 minutes and place in a baking dish.

Season chicken breasts with pepper, italian seasoning and garlic powder to your liking. Remove tomatoes from fridge and add white wine, mixing a little bit. Pour additional italian dressing over chicken. Then pour the tomatoes directly on top of the chicken breasts.

Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the oven. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked all the way through.

Serve with your favorite side dishes! We chose the Pear & Roquefort salad (see recipe in the Colorblock Dinner Party) and our favorite roasted potatoes.

Enjoy with a glass of white or red wine. We paired with a Pino Grigio by Beringer. Let us know what you think!

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Kentucky Derby Cocktails & Appetizers

- Baked Brie with Brown Sugar and Almonds -

Ingredients:

1 8oz Round of Brie

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add the almonds and saute until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon and brown sugar or honey over saute'd almonds.

Place the brie in a baking dish and cover with brown sugar. Then, top with saute'd butter and almonds. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the Brie is melted and the brown sugar slightly caramelized.

- Cocktail Franks in Pineapple Compote -

Ingredients:

1 package of Cocktail Franks

1 jar (11oz) Boar's Head Brown Sugar & Spice Ham Glaze

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

In a small non-stick saucepan mix the glaze, pineapple juice and crushed pineapple, over low heat. Cook until blended, about 4 minutes and then add the cocktail franks. Raise the heat to medium and cook for about 6 minutes, until franks are warmed through. Either eat right away or transfer to a crock pot or chafing dish to keep them warm.

I decided to make a light meal out of these delicious appetizers. They were surprisingly very filling and a perfect pair to the Kentucky Derby races. We also enjoyed bloody mary's as pre-derby cocktails.

- Homemade Old Fashion Cupcakes

with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting -

These cupcakes were so yummy that I had to make them again. The icing is to die for! We saved them for a late night snack the Derby was over. You can find the recipe for both at the end of the Colorblock Dinner Party blog post. I highly suggest these cupcakes for any party, cocktail hour or small get together.

Enjoy!!!

And congratulations to Animal Kingdom and his team for winning the 2011 Kentucky Derby!

xoxo, CutieCooks

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Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Chicken Tacos!!!

Ingredients:

2 boneless chicken breasts

1 packet of Casa Mexicana chipotle chicken taco seasoning

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 box of mexican rice

salsa

salt and pepper

lettuce

shredded cheese

Cholulala Hot Sauce

Instructions:

First, start cooking your favorite mexican rice. Most usually take about 30 minutes to fully cook, while the rest of this process is very fast.

After getting the rice going, I make sure to chop up everything I'm going to need to use. Starting with the chicken, which should be chopped into small strips. If your chicken breast is large, you should be sure to cut the strips in half.

Then chop up both the red and green peppers into strips. Also, chop up the lettuce that will be used as a garnish later.

Start cooking the chicken in a medium skillett, for about five minutes or until you can see no more pink. Add half the packet of the seasoning to the chicken as it cooks. Add half a can of the diced tomatoes, with part of the juice. Then, add in both the red and green peppers. Let these simmer until the veggies are steamed and the chicken is cooked all the way through. Then place on the warm setting.

While the chicken is cooking, I like to get my garnishes ready and in serving dishes. Serve with chopped letuce, shredded cheese, salsa and hot sauce.

Once your garnishes are prepaired, heat the number of tortillas you think you will need. With my recipe, I used 5.

After everything is ready, feel free to dish up. I like to put some mexican rice down first and pile everything else on top!

Then garnish however you like, and eat up! Enjoy, and be warned that these tacos are extra fillling!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!

Hope you all enjoy with a margarita or my favorite mexican beer, Pacifico or Corona!

xoxo, CutieCooks

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