Cooking Show--Poppy Seed Recipes, Inspired by Big Papi

This is the picture that inspired the theme for my most recent cooking show:

It was Big Papi bobblehead night at Fenway, so I posted a picture from the game.  My producer, Donna, commented that we should make a "Papi"-seed cake and use the bobblehead as the topper.

The show morphed into a mixture of poppy seed recipes with a healthy dose of "Let's Go Red Sox!" thrown in.

Because we sure do love our Red Sox around here.  (Photo of Gracie, c. 2009.)

What did we cook?

Lemon-Poppyseed Scones

 Strawberry/Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

Click on the above links to be taken to the recipes.

We also made Chicken with Lemon-Poppyseed Muffin Stuffing.

Here's the recipe!

Chicken & Pan Gravy, with Lemon Poppyseed Muffin Stuffing

(adapted from Rachael Ray)

• 2 medium leeks
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 celery ribs
• 4 lemon-poppyseed muffins (use store-bought, or make your own--click here for recipe)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 8 chicken breast cutlets
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour

chopped parsley, for garnish

Gather your ingredients.

Prep your ingredients!  Tear up the muffins into bite-sized pieces.

Slice the tough green leaves and the roots off the leeks.

Slice the leeks in half length-wise.

And then slice them into half-moons.

Swirl the sliced leeks around in a shallow dish of water.  This will separate them and release any dirt and grit that may be trapped between layers.  Drain the leeks.

Slice the celery stalks length-wise.

And then chop.

Chop the thyme leaves.

If you do not have fresh thyme you can substitute 1 teaspoon dried thyme.

Zest the lemon.

Cut the lemon in half and juice one half.

Chop the parsley.

After you finish prepping the ingredients, heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large sauté pan to medium-high.

Add the celery and leeks.  Saute for about five minutes, until they start to soften and you get a little bit of color on the bottom of the pan.

Stir in the torn muffin pieces.  Let them cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  You want them to get a little bit toasted.

When the muffins start to toast, add in the thyme, zest and poultry seasoning.

Stir in about 1/2 cup of the chicken broth to moisten the stuffing, and reduce the heat to low.  Let the stuffing sit on your stove, stirring occasionally while you work on your chicken cutlets.

In a large skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to medium high.  Season your chicken cutlets with salt and pepper.  Add them to the pan and cook for 2 to 4 minutes on each side (depending upon their thickness), until done.

Mine didn't all fit in the pan at once so I cooked them in two batches, which gave me lots of extra brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

When the chicken is done, transfer it to a platter.

Add the two tablespoons of butter  to the pan.

After the butter melts, sprinkle in the flour and whisk to combine.

Add the lemon juice.

Then add in the remaining chicken broth.

Stir for about 2 more minutes until it is smooth and starts to thicken.

Add the chicken back into the pan, along with any juices on the platter.

You're done!  Turn off the heat and serve.

Serve the chicken alongside the stuffing.

Sprinkle some chopped parsley on top.

Enjoy!