Blue Valentine Recipes! Blue Chicken + Blue Tres Leches Cupcakes

A Blue Valentine’s Day meal, when your Valentine’s isn’t so RED!

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Blue Valentine Meal: Blue Tres Leches, Blueberry Compote, Blue Chicken

A Valentine’s Day Alternative Theme

While we all love a Valentine’s full of hearts, kisses, romantic meals and cupids, let’s face it, every year isn’t that way. Many years ago, when I was going through my divorce, a girlfriend suggested we have a Blue Valentine’s, with all the food being blue themed to go with my “Blue” mood. It was great fun thinking up recipes! As a nod to those of you who may need a new twist on this day meant for lovers, I present a Blue Valentine Dinner. Share it with some friends on Feb. 14 and I’ll just bet you will feel some cheer!

First–off to shop for “Blue Food”

Found the Buitoni Sauces near the bread and deli.  The New Nestle’s Tres Leches were featured in the Main Aisle!

I headed off to my local Walmart to get all the key ingredients for my Blue Valentine’s meal. I decided to make Blue Chicken so I grabbed some Buitoni Alfredo Sauce as the base for my chicken’s sauce. Having heard about Nestle New Tres Leches Baking Mixes (usually quite a difficult dessert to prepare from scratch), I decided that Blue Tres Leche Cupcakes would be the perfect! As the chicken and dessert are rather heavy, I grabbed some blueberries and grapes to whip up a Blueberry Fruit Compote to lighten the meal.

Blue Tres Leches Cupcake Recipe

Tres Leches Cake is a sponge cake popular in the U.S., Mexico, and South America.  It is a “wet cake”, not unlike tiramisu or a trifle. The name means “3 milk cake”, so named as the sponge cake is literally soaked in three kinds of milk: heavy cream, evaporated milk and condensed milk. The new Nestle’s Tres Leches Baking Mix gives directions right on the side of the box to make Tres Leches Cupcakes so I won’t repeat that recipe here.

However, I will give you the tip on the “Icing”. The box suggest topping the cake or cupcakes with sweetened whipping cream. Instead, I used Cool Whip Frosting and dyed it blue with a tiny bit of food coloring. SO EASY! Blue Dessert Done!

Blue Chicken

 This recipe is a long time favorite of mine, meant to be made with Curaçao (a liqueur). However, the first time I made it I was very young, so I bought Blue Curaçao, not knowing any better, hence the name of this dish.

P.S.  Blue Curaçao and Curaçao taste exactly alike. Don’t let the addition of this liqueur put you off making this dish. It adds a delicious orangey tang and the alcohol burns off during the cooking! The Buitoni alfredo sauce makes a nice substitute for the heavy cream that this recipe normally calls for.

4.9 from 16 reviews

Blue Chicken

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

After browning, the chicken breasts are baked, then simmered in champagne and curacao. Mushrooms and alfredo sauce (or heavy cream) are then combined to make a rich sauce. This is a spectacular main course that will have your guests mesmerized between the color and the taste.

Author: Shelley Zurek

Recipe type: Main Dish

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 tspn. salt
• 4 chicken medium breasts, skinned, boned and halved
• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1 Tbs. cooking oil of choice
• 4-6 Tbs. Curacao
• ¾ cup champagne (or sparkling apple juice
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups sliced fresh white mushrooms
• 1 Tbs. butter, melted
• ¾ cup Buitoni alfredo sauce (or ½ cup whipping cream)
• blueberries
• Seedless grapes

Instructions

1. Combine salt and flour
2. Coat chicken in flour mixture
3. Heat 1 Tbs. butter and oil in large skillet
4. Add chicken and cook for 5 min each side (or until slightly browned on each side)
5. Place chicken in a oven proof pan in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes
6. In a skillet, add curacao, champagne, and broth and simmer
7. Add the oven cooked chicken and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes
8. Cook mushrooms in 1 Tbs butter, add to chicken along with alfredo sauce
9. Spoon all into a warmed serving dish along with fruit compotes of grapes and blueberries

3.2.2124

Doesn’t this fun Blue Valentine Dinner make your Valentine’s Day just a little more fun?