Brandy and orange chicken topped with stuffed shrimp

Ok guys , here is one post I promised for this weekend ! The brand and orange chicken topped with stuffed shrimp. I got this out of my handy Rachael Ray book . I made it with frozen veggies in a herb sauce , rice and smashed garlic potatoes ( my favorite ) Now after making it we all agree the the chicken needed some else. The brandy made it dry and bitter , so what I would do ,if your planning on making this, is scrapping the sauce it wants you to make and instead take some orange marmalade ( 2 parts ) and grey poupon mustard ( one part ) and fry that up in the pan. Keep the rub on the chicken and pour that over. I do something close to this with pork all the time ( I use different marmalade ) So keep that in mind. The stuffed shrimp was to die for ! Its really hard to stuff shrimp to :D It turned out more of a crab cake on top of shrimp . Alright so this is what you need to do to make a yummy dinner. By the way this dinner only close about $35.00 and it feeds 4 , so it you are planning to have a dinner party and want something special that will wow people but don't want to go crazy with money, this is perfect.
















What you'll need ..

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 6 ounces (drained weight) lump crab meat
• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme or poultry seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 thin slices good quality white bread, toasted and buttered, then diced
• 2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast (6-8 ounces each)
• 8 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme or poultry seasoning
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 3 jiggers brandy
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large navel orange, zested
• Parsley sprigs and sliced navel oranges, for plate garnish

What to do ...

Pre-heat oven to 400°F.

To a small skillet over moderate heat add EVOO, about one turn of the pan, and two tablespoons butter. When butter melts, add celery, onion and red bell pepper. Sauté vegetables five minutes. Add crab to the vegetables and season with thyme or poultry seasoning, paprika, salt and pepper. Fold a few handfuls of diced toasted bread into the stuffing to combine. The stuffing will take 1 1/2-2 slices of bread. Add parsley to the stuffing and remove from heat.

Brush a baking dish with melted butter. Butterfly shrimp by cutting along the deveining line, into and almost through the shrimp. Place the butterflied shrimp in your hand, butterflied side down. Dab the shrimp with melted butter and place a rounded spoonful of crab stuffing onto each shrimp. Set the shrimp upright on the baking dish with the stuffing exposed and the tail upright. Place the baking dish in the pre-heated oven. Bake 6-8 minutes or until shrimp are pink and firm and stuffing is browned.

Season chicken breasts with poultry seasoning or ground thyme, salt and pepper. In a second skillet over medium-high heat, add the EVOO and cook the breasts five minutes on each side, then remove to a serving plate.

Add brandy to the pan and cook alcohol off, about one minute. Add butter and orange zest to the brandy. Spoon brandy orange butter over the chicken and top each breast with two stuffed shrimp. Garnish the platter or individual dinner plates with parsley sprigs and sliced oranges.