@LindaCarmical A.K.A. @lindawrites63

This recipe comes from my “Bacon Wrapped Chicken ‘n Spinach” appetizer and it’s a huge hit with my family and friends. This works for a family dinner or as a fancy dish for company.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken ‘n Spinach

• 4 Boneless Chicken Breasts – Cut butterfly style so it opens like a book.
• 1 Box Frozen Chopped Spinach – thawed and drained well
• 12 – 16 Strips of Bacon – depending on how many strips you place on each chicken breast (I use maple bacon) Cream Cheese Mixture *See recipe below.

Cream Cheese Mixture

• Cream Cheese (I use onion & chive)
• 1 Garlic Clove – minced (1/4 tsp. garlic powder works too)
• ¼ Cup Water Chestnuts – chopped
• 1 Scallion – chopped small (optional)
• Salt (optional)
• Pepper (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 400° F.

1. Combine cream cheese, minced garlic, and chopped water chestnuts together.
2. Add salt (optional) and pepper (optional) to taste.
3. Mix well and set aside.

Chicken Prep

1. Thoroughly wash and clean any fat off the chicken.
2. Lay a butterflied cut chicken out onto a work surface. Cut side up.
3. Spoon about 2 Tbs of the cream cheese mixture onto 1 side of the chicken. Be sure to not spread the mixture too close to the edges. Pull the other side of the chicken over to close it like a book. (You can adjust how you place the mixture into the chicken and roll it up to close it.)
4. Lay out 3 or 4 bacon strips a work surface.
5. Place 1 stuffed chicken breast across the bacon strips sideways.
6. Wrap the bacon strips over the chicken and tuck it under.
7. Repeat for other 3 chicken breasts.

Baking the Chicken

1. Place chicken in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
2. Set oven to broil and continue to cook for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until bacon is at desired crisp level.

Let sit for 5 minutes and serve warm.

Tip: I always make extra cream cheese mixture. I heat it in the microwave and spoon over the chicken to dress it

@fantomaster

Here’s a creation of my own which I’m rather fond of due to the rich contrast between the meat, the fruit, the puff pastry and, of course, the spicing. It also reminds me of my growing up in the Middle East and Africa.

Pie “Oasis Delight”

* 2 lb ground beef or lamb
* 2 sheets puff pastry* 1 handful of figs and dates (chopped)
* 10 oz. pine kernels
* 5 oz. butter
* 1 egg yolk
* 4-5 big cloves of garlic (chopped)
* curry powder (optional)
* cumin seed (ground)
* salt

* pepper

1. Heat 3.5 oz of butter in frying pan, then add spices and continue heating till the air above starts to oscillate.

2. Gently braise the meat and stir to mix with the spices.

3. In a separate pot, heat the remaining butter and fry the pine kernels till they are a golden brown.

4. Roll out the bottom sheet of the puff pastry on a surface sprinkled with flour.

5. Add pine kernels, figs and dates to the minced meat and stir to mix. (Keep appr. 10 kernels for decorating the pie.)

6. Gently spread filling on bottom pastry sheet.

7. Roll out top sheet of the puff pastry on a surface sprinkled with flour, then cover the bottom and filling, carefully sealing the edges.

8. Cut out 4-5 small diamonds from pastry surface sheet.

9. Brush egg yolk on pastry and press the remaining pine kernels softly into the pastry for decoration.

10. Bake for appr. 45 minutes at 160°C (320°F) until pie is a golden brown.

(Serves four.)

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Thank you Ralph (A.K.A. fantomaster) for your contribution! This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it!

@DinnerPlanner

Another winner from Sue. This meatloaf looks so delicious I can almost smell it!

You’ll need:

- 1 ½ lbs. ground beef
- 1 (8 oz.) package fresh sliced mushrooms
- 1 medium onion – finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ½ cup shredded Romano cheese
- ½ cup milk
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Place mushrooms in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
2. Melt butter in a small skill.
3. Add mushrooms, onions, garlic and Worcestershire.
   
4. Saute for about 3 – 4 minutes.
   
5. Place ground beef in a medium size bowl.
   
6. Pour mushroom mixture over the beef and let cool for 5 minutes.
7. Add bread crumbs, eggs, milk, cheese and seasonings.
   
8. Mix with your hands to combine.
9. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray and place meat mixture in dish forming a square shaped meatloaf.
   
10. Bake for 1 hour.

Thank you @DinnerPlanner for another tasty contribution!

@DinnerPlanner

Susan this recipe looks and sounds absolutely yummy! I put it on my weekend menu and I can’t wait to try it

Quick & Easy Fried Chicken With Sundried Tomato Crust

~ 2 lbs. boneless chicken breast (pounded or sliced to 1/8″ thickness)
~ 1 tablespoon olive oil
~ 1 tablespoon butter
~ 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
~ 5 sundried tomatoes (not in oil)
~ 2/3 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
~ 1 1/2 teaspoons of dried basil
~ 1/2 teaspoon of salt
~ 2 eggs – beaten in a small bowl

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine breadcrumbs, sundried tomatoes, Romano cheese, basil, and salt in a blender.
3. Blend on high speed for about 1 minute or until dried mixture is smooth.
4. Pour contents into a large re-sealable bag.
5. Melt butter and olive oil in large skillet.
6. Dip each piece of chicken in egg mixture to coat.
7. Place 1 piece of chicken into bag and shake to coat.
   
8. Do this for each piece of chicken until well coated.
9. Fry each piece about 1 minute per side until light golden brown.
10. Remove from pan and place on lightly sprayed baking sheet.
11. Bake for 15 -20 minutes.

Thank you @DinnerPlanner for your contribution!

Anyone else have any melt in your mouth chicken recipe favorites? SHARE your Holiday recipes! Leave a comment and I just might include your favorite recipe in a post!

Whenever the Holidays are around I always start combing the Internet for yummy recipes. This year was no different from any others. I found myself on my favorite recipe sites Recipe Zaar and Food Network, going through page after page of scrumptious looking easy appetizers, and then it dawned on me. So many Twitter People tweet about dishes they’re making, made, or gonna make; why not try to get a collection and post them here? Better yet, why not break the bunch into a series? I could start with appetizers for the holidays from them and move on from there. That’s when I came up with a Twitter Dinner Party Series!

First, how about some finger foods to add to your Holiday Menu? These are a great way to get the Holiday Party started…plus my favorite Holiday concoctions of course, but those come later in the series.

ENJOY!

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Appetizers

@MomsWhoSave offers great coupon codes, discounts, and freebies! You’ll find big deals at her place!

We used to order bruschetta in a restaurant that tasted similar to this, but they took it off the menu. After some trial and error, my husband (the cook in the family) came up with this recipe. We love it, and our guests always do too. It makes a great appetizer!

John’s Bruschetta

- 1 package garlic Texas Toast (Texas Toast brand or your favorite brand from the freezer section of the supermarket)
- 8 slices Muenster Cheese
- 1 8 oz container Pesto
- 2 Roma Tomatoes
- 1 Tbs Basil
- 1 Lime
- 1 small bunch of spinach

1. Dice tomato, and put in a small bowl. Add basil and juice from lime and mix.
2. Place toast on baking pan, then spread pesto evenly over the slices.
3. Add two to three leaves of spinach to each slice. Next add one slice of Muenster cheese to each, and top with diced tomato mixture.
4. Put into preheated oven and cook per directions on box.
5. Cut slices in half and serve.

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@CiaoBella50 has a wonderful blog where people can “Bitch, Brag and Bond“.

I like to make bacon wrapped water chestnuts for the holidays! They’re really easy to make and delicious too!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

- 1 Can Water Chestnuts – drained
- 12 Bacon Strips – cut in ½ to make 24
- Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce – substitute your favorite bbq sauce
- Toothpicks

Preheat oven to 375°.

1. Wrap each water chestnut with a strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
2. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.
3. Remove from oven and brush with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce.
4. Return to oven and continue to bake another 10 minutes.

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@LindaCarmical A.K.A. @lindawrites63
I got this recipe off of T.V. and they were a little boring so I took them up a notch. These are yummy and always a huge hit no matter what the occasion.  I’ve also adjusted this recipe a little and made this as a main course before. I’ll include the adjusted recipe in the Main Dishes part of this post.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken ‘n Spinach

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts – cut into 1″ x 2″ pieces
1 Box Frozen Chopped Spinach – thawed and drained well
24 Strips of Bacon (or ½ the number of chicken pieces) – cut in ½ to double the strips (I use maple)
Cream Cheese Mixture *See recipe below.
Toothpicks

Cream Cheese Mixture

Cream Cheese (I use onion & chive)
1 Garlic Clove – minced (1/4 tsp. garlic powder works too)
¼ Cup Water Chestnuts – chopped
1 Scallion – chopped small (optional)
Salt (optional)
Pepper (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400° F. (You’ll change to broil to finish cooking.)

Combine cream cheese, minced garlic, and chopped water chestnuts together. Add salt (optional) and pepper (optional) to taste then mix well. Set aside.

Thoroughly wash and clean any fat off the chicken. Cut the chicken into 1″ x 2″ pieces. Set aside.

1. Cut all 24 bacon strips in half to make 48 strips.
2. Lay a strip of bacon out on a work surface.
3. Place a piece of chicken across the bacon strip 1/3 from one end. (Like a letter t.)
4. Spoon a small amount of cream cheese mixture onto the chicken.
5. Place a small amount of spinach on top of the cream cheese mixture.
6. Starting with the short end, wrap the bacon over the chicken. Now wrap the long end over the chicken and tuck it under if long enough.
7. Repeat for all other pieces of chicken.

Place chicken pieces in the oven and cook for 7 to 10 minutes. Set oven to broil and cook chicken for 2 to 4 minutes. (Watch closely so they don’t burn.) Serve warm.

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Do you have fans on Twitter and want to share your favorite recipe with them to try out? Post a comment to let me know!

Will you favorite Twitter Peep’s favorite recipe be next? Check back to see!

Don’t forget, follow this Twitter Dinner Party Series and you’ll find yummy Holiday recipes from some of your favorite Twitter Peeps!

Thank you @MomsWhoSave and @CiaoBella50 for your contributions.

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