Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Easy Chicken Parmigiana













1 Tablespoon of Garlic Salt
Dash of Pepper
2 Eggs
2 Cups of Italian Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese
6 Chicken Tenders
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 Cup (or more to your liking of) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Beat Eggs and dip chicken. Mix the Italian Bread Crumbs with 1/8 Cup of Parmesan Cheese and coat egged chicken with mixture. Pour olive oil on baking sheet and spread evenly. Place chicken on baking sheet and put in preheated oven of 350 degrees for 25 minutes. In a separate 7x11 shallow pan, pour 1/2 spaghetti sauce on bottom and when chicken is done place over the sauce with oiled side facing up. Use the rest (I didn't use the whole can) of the spaghetti sauce on top of chicken. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese and all of the mozzarella cheese on top of coated chicken. Put the pan into the oven for another 20 minutes. Serve over noodles of your choice.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Avacado Mango Salsa and others

These recipes are so good! I got the first two from Kashann Casper. The last one is my mom's recipe, which I love.

Avocado Mango Salsa:
Dice one avocado, 1-2 roma tomatoes, and one mango
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 c. onion, diced
Juice of one lime (or lemon juice if that's what you have)
Several dashes Frank's Red Hot sauce (all the rage around here)
salt and garlic salt to taste

Coconut Rice
1 1/2 cups rice (Jasmine is best)
1 3/4 cup water
1 can Coconut Milk
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
more chopped cilantro leaves

Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Teriyaki Marinade
1 C sugar
1/2 c soy sauce
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp ginger

Mix together until sugar id dissolved. Marinate chicken 2 to 6 hours.
I used this recipe and marinated the chicken in strips for 2 hours. I then put them on skewers with pineapple and grilled them. Delicious!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Raspberry Chocolate Torte

For those of you who want something fancy that is really easy to make, here you go. I made this for our anniverary this year and have had some requests for the recipe. I will add a picture soon.

1 c. butter, softened
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. baking cocoa

Glaze:
1/4 c. boiling water
4 tsp raspberry gelatin (jell-o)
2 Tbsp seedless rasberry jam

Topping:
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
2 cartons (8 oz each) frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 c. fresh raspberries

Line a greased 15 x 10 x 1 in cookie sheet with waxed paper, grease paper. In a lare bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and cocoa, gradually beat into creamed mixture. Spread onto prepared pan.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min. or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool 5 min before inverting on to wire rack to cool completely. Carefully remove waxed paper. (I had to leave it to cool the entire way in the pan and it still turned out fine, but it is up to you)

For glaze stir water and gelatin until disolved. Stir in jam. Brush evenly over bottom of cake. Trim edges (I used a pizza cutter) and cut cake widthwise into thirds.

For topping, in a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips (30 seconds at a time) and stir until smooth. (In my microwave it took 1 min 10 secs) Fold in half of the whipped topping until blended then add the remaining.
**Just a note, it would work better if your whipped topping doesn't come straight from the fridge. It makes the chocolate solidify a little and harder to mix in. Try to get it closer to room temp before mixing with the chocolate but never microwave it. You don't want soup.
Place one cake layer on serving platter. Top with 3/4 c. topping. Repeat with layers. Frost and decorate with raspberries and remaining topping.

Roasted Veggie Platter

So I made this worried that no one would eat it but me. Wow, my family loved it.

1 med sweet red pepper, cut into 1 1/2 in pieces
1 med red onion, cut into wedges
1 med yellow summer squash, cut into 1/2 in slices
1/2 lb whole fresh mushrooms
1/4 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
(In all reality, I didn't measure these last two, I just used a container of mushrooms and guessed with the green beans)
1/4 c. italian dressing
1/4 tsp each dried basil, thyme, and rosemary, crushed
(personally I would either reduce or eliminate the rosemary because I don't really like it because it is up to you.)

Preheat oven to 425. Grease a large cookie sheet. Put all prepared veggies in a bowl. Toss with Italian dressing and herbs. Pour onto pan.
Cook for 15-20 min or until veggies are crisp tender. You don't want them mushy. Stir occasionally.

Ginger Chicken

1 egg white, beaten
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp white pepper (I don't have this so I just use black pepper, I mean, why be racist.)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 in pieces

Sauce:
1/2 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Stir Fry:
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp peanut oil, divided (I have no idea why you can't use veg or canola oil, you can if you want)
1 med green pepper, julienned
3 green onions cut into 1 in lengths (I used regular onion because my green onion had gone bad. I just used one small onion cut into thin wedges.)
1/2 c. bamboo shoots, finely chopped
2-3 tsp minced fresh gingerroot
1/4 c. slivered almonds (optional, I didn't because I forgot, still delicious)

In a large resealable bag combine the first five ingredients. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 30 min.
For sauce combine ingredients until smooth and set aside.
Drain chicken and discard marinade (I just dumped the whole thing in the frying pan). In large skillet or wok stir fry chicken in 1 Tbsp oil until cooked. Remove and keep warm.
With remaining oil stir fry green pepper and onion for 2 minutes. Add bamboo and ginger and stir fry 3-4 min or until veggies are crisp tender.
Stir sauce mixture and add to pan. Bring to boil and cook and stir for 2 min. or until thickened. Add chicken and het through. Sprinkle with almonds and serve over rice.

South of the Border Pizza

This is a Vegetarian dish that has become a favorite. I was worried Trav wouldn't like it because of the lack of meat (that's what my dad complained about), but he loves it and we eat it at least once a month. Also, I never make my own bread/dough/crust for recipes, except this one! It's really easy and needs almost no rise time. Enjoy! :)
Ingredients:
1 c. kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 c. whole kernel corn
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 c. finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalepeno pepper, finely chopped
1/4 c (4oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Crust:
1 c. warm water
1 Tbsp white sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour (I use a bit more)
Procedure:
Stir water, sugar, and yeast together until dissolved. Add the olive oil and salt. Stir in the flour until well blended. Let dough rise for 10 min. Pat dough into pan using fingers dipped in olive oil. Sprinkle with basil, thyme, or other seasonings. Top with toppings and bake for about 15 min. (until cheese is melted and lighly browned) at 425.
(sorry the pic doesn't look super appetizing, but it's good! I like to dip mine in ranch. yum.)