Chicken in sundried tomato cream sauce

This recipe is so good and the sauce is amazing! I serve it with mashed potatoes so you can use the sauce as a gravy. I promise you will want to drink it!

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 chicken breasts
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 cup basil leaves, chiffonade

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
4. Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, sun dried tomatoes, Parmesan, thyme, oregano and basil.
5. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet.
6. Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
7. Serve immediately, garnished with basil.

Recipe from damndelicious.com

Classic French Croissants

This was the main recipe I based my croissants on:
https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/classic-french-croissant-recipe/https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/classic-french-croissant-recipe/
Warning: you need a kitchen scale for this recipe!
However, since I was unwilling to spend THREE DAYS on making croissants, I made the following alterations.
I started the recipe first thing in the morning, at like 8 or 9 am. I put the dough together as described, then allowed it to chill for 12 hours. Before getting in bed that night, I rolled the butter into the dough, allowing it to chill for 20 minutes between each roll out, rather than a half hour. Then I let it chill over night. 
Also, between lamination layers I brushed a very tiny amount of cold water because I read that gives you extra puff.
The next morning, I shaped my croissants and allowed them to rise. I added frangipane (almond paste) in the center and sliced almonds on top after the last egg wash to half of my croissants, and a simple chocolate ganache to the center of the other half, to further fancify my croissants.

The Celsius/convection oven setting calculation was a little confusing, so I preheated my (conventional) oven to 430F, immediately reduced it to 400F as soon as they went it, kept it there for 10 minutes, and then further reduced it to 375 for another 8 minutes.


When making the dough, another options is to activate the yeast in the warmed water for 5 minutes, then add it to the other ingredients. Allowed it to rise until it doubled in size, then rolled it into the square and chilled it for an hour instead of overnight both times it says to do so. This way is a lot faster, but the texture of the pastry and definition of the layers is much better if you wait the 12 hours.

The frangipane was
3 tbsp SOFT unsalted butter
1/4 cup white sugar. Cream those then add 1/2 cup of almond flour, 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix those then add 1 Tbsp white flour.

The chocolate ganache was
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream. Heat in the microwave 1 minute until HOT. Add 6-8 oz semisweet chocolate chips. Stir until smooth.

Marianne's Fresh Strawberry Pie

I made this for my neighbor the other day and she declared: "This is the BEST pie I have ever eaten in my entire life!" I decided I should post it. :)

Marianne's Fresh Strawberry Pie

Use this pie crust recipe: https://www.joyofbaking.com/PieCrust.html

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, until lightly browned at the edges.

Filling:

In a saucepan, combine:

1 1/2 cups crushed fresh strawberries

3/4 cups sugar

1/4 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp cornstarch

2 Tsp water

Heat until boiling, stirring continually until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly. Allow to cool. Pour over 3 pints fresh strawberries, whole and cut in half (the larger ones). Toss to combine. Pour into baked, cooled pie shell. 

Top with heavy whipping cream whipped with vanilla and 2 Tsp of sugar. 

Tip: make with the sweetest, freshest berries you can find. Preferably from a farm, your backyard, or a market. It's not worth making this unless they're at their best. 

Enjoy pure summer!