Chicken Tuscany, a little bit of rock

Non-melty cheese. Such potential.

Sometimes, when I need to bribe people, I entice them with the promise of a home-cooked meal. This usually only works when it wouldn't have taken much persuasion to get my way in the first place, but it does give me a reason to cook for other people. Win!

Having my friend Maverick over before he gave me a ride out to Arrested Development night allowed me to try out a recipe I'd seen over on The Food In My Beard - a tempting dish called chicken Tuscany.

I can't figure out why this is so blurry. Camera?

Chicken Tuscany

2 large red peppers
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped
5 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
provolone to top

1. Preheat broiler. Cut tops off the red peppers and remove seeds and
membrane. Roast peppers by placing under the broiler briefly and turning
several times until skin is slightly singed. Remove peppers from the
oven and let cool.

2. Lay the chicken flat between two sheets of wax paper. Using the side
of a mallet or cleaver, pound chicken until it’s about 1/4-inch thick.
Moisten each breast with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt
and pepper. Cover each breast with 1/4 cup chopped spinach and 1/2 cup
mozzarella cheese. Tightly roll up chicken breasts and place in roasted
peppers. (Chicken can be prepared up to this point several hours in
advance and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to start
dinner.)

3. Cook at 350 F for 45-50 minutes. Take out peppers. Place 2 additional
tablespoons of provolone cheese on top of each pepper. Place under the broiler and
cook until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Hey, what's with that shirt?

I cooked it up with a side dish of saffron rice with golden raisins. That one was sort of improvised - just made in a rice cooker with chicken broth instead of water, some spices including saffron, and golden raisins. Um, ta da.

Man that was tasty.

The dish turned out really nicely - lots of melty cheese, the pepper was tender and fragrant, and the chicken was perfectly cooked. Just don't do what I did and forget to turn the oven on for a half hour. That will tend to extend your cooktime by a half hour. And make you look like an idiot.

WHOA!

So even though we were late, it was probably worth it. And by the way, if you want a great show, check out Baranof in Greenlake for karaoke.

And speaking of great shows, I also got to check out the Truckasaurus CD release party at Nectar. Wanna see some pictures? Yeah you do!

Skinny intensity.

Past Lives: They reminded me a lot of If Looks Could Kill I'd Watch You Die. Nobody reading this will get that reference.

Jazzy intensity.

Dead Science: I've loved this band for a while now. Their music is unlike anything else I've heard - beautiful, lush melodies and haunting, ethereal vocals. They're incredible musicians.

Patriotic intensity.

Truckasaurus: See how they look? That's not at all how they sound. It's a little electronicey, a little video gamey, a little dancey. Plus, they pair it with a show on a projector, kind of like Head Like a Kite. Super cool show.