Recipe of the Moment - Kitty Celebration Dinner

As some of you may know, we just adopted two adorable kitties. They are 8 month old brothers, so they have a ton of energy and are a lot of fun to be around. Brad likes them because they act more like dogs at this age, go figure. I like them because I love kitties, and two is always better than one in kitty world. Plus they're adorable.

The night we brought them home from the shelter was a cause for celebration. It was a new step in the Carter family. I had already had basic ideas for dinner but this was a reason to make everything a little more decadent (and break out a bottle of really expensive wine).

I decided on a pesto stuffed chicken thigh recipe. This I served with parmesan mashed potatoes. And we had a bottle of 2007 Miner Family Gary's Vineyard Pinot Noir from our Napa trip alongside everything. The best part of the meal was the crispy, salty, chicken skin. Then the moist pesto meat was superb. The cheesy, creamy potatoes were melt in your mouth good. Actually, the best part of the meal was the Miner Pinot. It's been a while since we've had any not cheap wine, and this reminded us of what we were missing.

All in all, it was fantastic. Not all that gourmet, and with pretty simple ingredients, but the flavor was there, the pairing was there, and the kitties were well celebrated. So maybe you have something you want to celebrate, or maybe you have some extra chicken skins and basil laying around and want to do something with them. Either way, this could be the perfect meal!

Pesto Stuffed Baked Chicken Thighs

Ingredients
2 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 bunch basil, leaves only
1/4 c parmesan cheese
About 1/4 c olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Put garlic cloves in food processor and whir till minced
3. Add basil and cheese to processor along with 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper and process till finely chopped
4. Add olive oil while processor is running, just enough to form a nice paste
5. Wash and pat dry your chicken thighs and then lift the skin and start to shove pesto underneath until each thigh is liberally covered
6. Add some more pesto on top of the skin along with a good sprinkling of kosher salt and some pepper (that salt will give you a great crunch that you'll really appreciate, but beware over-salting)
7. Place in baking dish that's been brushed with olive oil to prevent sticking
8. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until skin has browned and meat is no longer pink
9. Remove from oven and let rest for about 10 minutes before you serve

Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
10 red potatoes, peeled and cut in half
4 T butter
1 c 2 % milk
1/2 c cream
4 green onions, sliced
1 c parmesan cheese
3/4 T garlic salt
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Set a large pot of water to boiling
2. Drop the potatoes in and boil till fork tender
3. Drain the water, add the butter and stir till melted
4. Add the milk and cream and mash till most lumps are gone, but leave some for texture
5. Add the onions, cheese, and garlic salt and stir around with the masher till combined and cheese gets nice and melty and stringy
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve

Enjoy!