Chicken with Sundried Tomato and Pesto

Prepare, trim, 4 chicken breast halves…pound them to be the same thickness…for pounding, I like to put a large piece of saran wrap on a cutting board, place the breasts on that and then fold over the remaining wrap to completely cover the breasts so to make sure no raw chicken parts can get out..

In a heavy saute pan heat grapeseed or canola oil…add floured chicken breast to your hot oil…saute til brown on each side, remove the breasts and add 1 TBS of minced shallot and 1/2 tsp of minced garlic, add 2 cup of organic free range chicken broth and 1 cup of white wine.  when this comes to a simmer, add the chicken breasts and continue to turn in the pan to cook and get the flour off, which is what thickens your sauce.  after about 6 minutes, take the chicken breasts out and add 1 small can of Muir Glen fire roasted tomoatoes.  let simmer a few more minutes…(if the chicken breasts are not cook, place them in a 350 oven to finish cooking)

Place 3/4 of your sauce on a platter, then the chicken breasts…put the rest of the sauce over the breasts, spead about 1 TBS of pesto on each breast and thinly sliced sundried tomato on each breast to garnish

*for variation this one has sauteed fresh spinach!!!

you an also add artichoke hearts with the sauce (add them to the chicken broth, wine reduction to cook them)

Fabulous Flank Steak

This is a cut of beef that needs to be marinated, otherwise it doesn’t  have much flavor, but after 12-24 hours with this marinade, it is Fabulous!!

I am not one to measure, so just know, a little more here or a little less there is really just fine…

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced with equal amounts of fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley..all fresh

add at least 3/4 cup of olive oil, salt and pepper, lay the flank flat and rub both sides of it with the marinade for 12-24 hours in the fridge.  

Grill for about 6-8 min on each side, serve by slicing thinly and against the grain of the meat.  That’s it!

I serve this with oven roasted baby white potatoes and sauteed fresh organic spinach with minced garlic

For color have some sliced tomato with feta, balsamic vinegar and your best olive oil

Lydia Higgins

Lydia Higgins is a recent graduate from the Boston University Culinary Arts Program and is finishing up her Masters in Gastronomy. The program was started by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin over 20 years ago. She has worked closely with Jacques himself and chefs like Michael Leviton from Lumiere in Newton. As a young woman with tons of energy, she is health conscious and flavor obsessed. After living in Thailand a few years back, she comes ready to cook with a diverse knowledge of various ethnic cuisines and is always eager to try new things.

Being an event planner for a large law firm in Boston, Lydia ran countless formal corporate parties. Her passion now, however, is cooking as a personal chef. She loves to design menus suited for the client’s individual needs, be it for allergy or diet concerns. As a girl who is gluten intolerant herself, she treats all health issues with the utmost attention and is hyper vigilant about all her ingredients – being engaged to a farmer helps. She knows how to get the best produce! Lydia is ready to take on all your culinary needs and would love to help any family looking for a way to ease the pressure of creating healthy and delicious meals in their busy work week.

Contact Lydia Higgins at lydia@affinityconcierge.com