Mother's Day

My whole family came to visit my apartment on Mother's day, and I made a nice spring dinner. For dessert, I made this recipe for Strawberry Tiramisu, but didn't realize till I had made it that it needed to cool overnight. So I made chocolate mousse from a package for that day instead, and my roommate and I enjoyed the tiramisu during the week. Mother's day dinner still turned out great. :-)

Menu:
Sauteed Chicken with Tomato Vinaigrette on Frisee
Parmesan Garlic Noodles
Strawberry Tiramisu



Sauteed Chicken with Tomato-Saffron Vinaigrette on Frisse
From Bon Appetit

Ingredients
3 tablespoons white basalmic vinegar or rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons hot paprika, divided
1/8 teaspoon crumbled saffron
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup minced shallots
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
1 1-pint basket cherry tomatoes, havled
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 head of frisee, torn apart

Directions
Mix vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, and saffron in medium bowl. Mix in 3 tablespoons oil, shallots, and 1 tablespoon thyme. Stir in tomatoes, Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken breast halves with remaining 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 tablespoon thyme, and salt and pepper. Add to skillet; saute until cooked through, turning often, about 12 minutes. Transfer chicken to work surface. Divide frisee among 4 plates. Slice chicken; fan atop frisse. Spoon vinaigrette over.

**Note: I did not include the saffron when making this recipe and use regular basalmic vinegar. It still turned out delicious. Great recipe for impressing people with not too much work since it's not too hard but has great presentation!

Strawberry Tiramisu
From Bon Appetit

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups strawberry preserves
1/3 cup plus 4 tablespoons Cointreau or orange liqueur, divided
1/3 cup orange juice
1 lb mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 1/3 cups chilled whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 lb fresh strawberries, divided
52 (about) crisp ladyfingers

Directions
Whisk preserves, 1/3 cup Cointreau, and orange juice in 2-cup measuring cup. Place mascarpone cheese and 2 tablespoons Cointreau in large bowl; fold just to blend. Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons Cointreau in another large bowl to soft peaks. Sitr 1/4 of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whipped cream.

Hull and slice half of strawberries. Spread 1/2 cup preserve mixture over bottom of 3-quart oblong serving dish or 12x9x2-in baking dish. Arrange enough ladyfingers over preserve mixture t ocover bottom of dish. Spoon 3/4 cup preserve mixture over lady fingers, then spread 2 1/2 cups mascarpone mixture over. Arrange sliced strawberries over mascarpone mixture. Repeat layering with remaining ladyfingers, preserve mixture, and mascarpone mixture. Cover with plastic and chill at least 8 hours or overnight.

Slice remaining strawberries. Arrange over tiramisu and serve.

**Note: I didn't use any of the liqueur since it is expensive and it is not a cooked dish (the alcohol wouldn't cook off). It was delicious anyway! I took some home for my mom since she couldn't have any on mother's day, and she LOVED it.