Aluminum Foil Christmas Buffet

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Serves 4

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Pounded and Brined Baked Chicken Breast Quarters

4 cups water
1/4 cup sea salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 leaves fresh basil, chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Cabbage and Apples Quartered and Roasted

1 head cabbage
2 gala apples
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Peppered Peppers and Corn on the Cob

2 small ears frozen corn on the cob
1/4 cup butter
8 mini sweet peppers
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Baked Spaghetti

4 ounces spaghetti
12 grape tomatoes
1/4 sweet onion
8 leaves fresh basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Lemon Caper Fish

12 ounces fish fillet
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 lemons
2 tablespoons white wine
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
4 teaspoons capers

4 croissants

Grocery Shopping List for Aluminum Foil Christmas Buffet

From kitchen to table in 2 hours.

Directions

Prepare brine by bringing half the water, the salt and the sugar to a boil. Stir to completely dissolve. Add chopped basil, cover and cool for 30 minutes. Add remaining cold water and place in the refrigerator.
Cut chicken breast halves lengthwise into 2 pieces. One at a time, place each piece between two pieces of parchment paper, place on a breadboard or cutting board and use a kitchen mallet (a rolling pin will also work) to flatten chicken to an even 1/4 inch thickness. Note that one end of the chicken breast is naturally thicker than the other and will need more attention to create a uniform thickness.
Place chicken breast quarters into a zip-lock plastic bag (four quarters will fit nicely into the gallon size). Pour brine into bag with chicken and seal the zip lock, squeezing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate for one hour turning 3 or 4 times throughout the process.
While chicken soaks in the brine solution, prepare cabbage and apples.
Cut cabbage head and apples into quarters and remove the core.
Turn oven on to 350 degrees.
Tear off sheets of aluminum foil for each cabbage quarter. Spread butter over top surfaces of cabbage wedge and place in the center of aluminum foil piece. Sprinkle pepper on top, place apple quarters on each side of cabbage wedge and sprinkle cinnamon over everything. Pull the corners of the foil up into the center and twist to seal. Place foil packets into a casserole dish and place in oven.
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop in frozen corn and boil for five minutes. Remove corn from water and drain on paper towels.
Cut tops off peppers, slice lenghtwise into halves and remove seeds.
Tear off sheets of aluminum foil for each piece of corn. Spread 1 tablespoon butter over each ear and place in the center of the aluminum foil. Place the halves of 2 peppers on top each ear of corn. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and roll foil around the corn, twisting the ends to seal. Place in a rectangle cake pan and into oven.
When corn has baked for 15 minutes, drain brine from chicken, wrap chicken strips in foil, sealing the edges and add to cake pan alongside corn. (Or use a separate pan if cooking for a large group.)
When chicken has been in the oven for 5 minutes, prepare spaghetti.
Heat a large pot of water on high for pasta. While water boils cut grape tomatoes in halves and onions into strips, set aside. Mince basil leaves and also set aside.
When water is boiling add spaghetti, stir to separate and cook only until no longer stiff (about 3 minutes). Drain and rinse.
Place aluminum foil into a casserole dish so that the edges come up all around the edges of the dish. Pour spaghetti into the center of the foil. Add tomatoes, onions and chopped basil and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle garlic powder over the top. Pull the foil up at the corners and twist to seal. Place in oven.
Use another casserole dish and prepare foil as above for fish. Place fish fillet into the center of the foil. Pour olive oil over the fish. Slice lemons into thin slices and place on top of fish. Pour wine over the top and sprinkle with rosemary and capers. To seal the foil, bring two opposite sides together over the top and roll down to meet the fish. Next roll each edge in so that a complete seal is formed and the liquid will stay inside the pouch. Place in oven.
After the fish has baked for 15 minutes, everything is ready to serve with your bakery croissants.