OctoberFEST Recipe Contest Winners Are Chosen

Well, this, by far, was the hardest choice to make for any recipe contest I’ve held. The OctoberFEST Recipe Contest was very “fruitful.” Truly, fruitful.  The creation of most of the recipes included lots of fruit. Thank you to all of the entrants for your tasty recipes. These recipes ROCKED!!

So, the rules stated that there are 2 winners to be chosen:

“Category #1 Winner will win a $50.00 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate and Category #2 Winner will win a $25.00 Restaurant.com Gift Certificate”

Category #2  Winner is: Amie Valpone from Manhattan, NY with her Raw Cacao Cornbread - which was spotlighted earlier in this blog.

And the Winner for Category #1 – Main Dish Category – Is . . .  Bruce Lavigne from Ellington, CT with his Apple Stuffed Pecan Crusted Chicken (Recipe below).

You can find more out about Bruce and his food blog at http://brucelavigne.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to the winners!! 

Apple Stuffed Pecan Crusted Chicken

You will need:

3-4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

Stuffing Mix (Recipe Follows)

Pecan Crust (Recipe Follows)

Cranberry Gravy (Recipe Follows)

 Stuffing:

6-8 Slices of Bread

1 Cup of Chicken Broth

2 Tablespoons Butter

1/4 Cup of Chopped Celery

1/4 Cup of Chopped Onion

1/2 Cup of Finely Chopped Apples

1/2 Cup of Finely Chopped Pecans

1 Teaspoon of Ground or Rubbed Sage

1/4 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

 Cut bread slices in cubes and toast in the oven. In a small saucepan, combine chicken broth, butter, chopped celery and onions. Sautee over low-medium heat for about 6 minutes or until softened. In a medium bowl, add Sage and Cinnamon to toasted bread cubes. Add chopped apples. Add broth mixture and gently toss to coat bread cubes and set aside.

 Butterfly cut the chicken breast and lightly pound the chicken out. Spoon stuffing mix in center of cut breast and fold over. Take 3 water soaked toothpicks to hold edges together.

 Brush the entire breast in honey mustard (1/4 Cup of Mayonaisse, 2 Tablespoons of Deli style mustard and 2 tablespoons of honey) and roll in pecan crust mixture (recipe follows)

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 Pecan Crust:

1/2 Cup of Finely Chopped Pecans

1/2 Cup of Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/4 Cup of Brown Sugar

4 Tablespoons (1/2 Stick) of Butter

 *Melt butter and mix all ingredients with a fork*

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes. Serve with cranberry gravy (recipe follows)

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Cranberry Gravy:

1/4 Cup of Finely Chopped Dried Cranberries

1 Cup of Chicken Broth

1/2 Cup of Orange Juice

1/4 Cup of Lemon Juice

Pinch of Salt

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook down until thickened – stirring occasionally.

Drizzle Gravy on top of chicken breast or drizzle on plate

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This will yield 3-4 Servings.