Parmesan Chicken Tenders

I tried a new chicken dish that we will definitely be making again. This chicken was so good it got this reaction from Cambria:

Cambria! The kid who rates all of our new experiments a 2 or lower... She ate the whole thing and asked for seconds... and she rated it a 24 :)

I found this recipe in the Barefoot Contessa Family Style Book I got from the library:

Parmesan Chicken Sticks:

1.5 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts (3-4)-(I used a bunch of chicken tenders instead)
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 extra large eggs
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Unsalted butter
Bamboo skewers (6-10 inches long) or ice cream sticks (I skipped this part)

Slice chicken breasts on a cutting board diagonally into four or five strips.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. Beat the eggs with 1 tbsp of water on a second plate. Combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese on a third plate. Dredge the chicken breasts on both sides in the flour misture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and roll in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly to coat.

Heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook the chicken strips on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes per side, until cooked just through. (I found that it took a little hotter or longer than this to achieve the crispy golden effect). Don't crowd the pan. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Serve each strip on a skewer or stick.

Yum! It was so good. This pic doesn't look so hot because I forgot to take a picture of it until they were half eaten and roughed up a bit...

Cliff rated it his first 10. The other kids and I rated it an average of 8.5.

Carbohydrates: 5-10g per piece

Calories: (I don't know yet...)

A Frittata Minus the Eggs?

I needed to use up the rest of the Gruyere cheese and I had all the other ingredients as well. It was looking like we'd have a yummy Frittata for dinner. Only I didn't have all the ingredients. I didn't have any eggs.

I had just researched egg substitutes for the waffles that morning (I used apple sauce). It worked well. But while I was looking up possible substitutions I noticed tofu was on the list of replacements. We don't eat tofu. We aren't vegetarians or vegans... but I did pick up 2 boxes at the store last time I was there to add it to my weird ingredient list.

I served it to the kids. They rated it a 5 or so. I rated it a 7. I made it on a day that Cliff worked late, so when he came home and started to snarf it, I didn't tell him what was in it until his plate was empty. When I told him it was tofu, he said, "Yuck! It's just wrong to eat tofu!" To which I said, "But you liked it." He had to agree and went back for seconds :)

 It's fun learning substitutions. I also learned that you can substitute ground flax seed for eggs in certain dishes. I think I'll start a substitution section too. I tend to need that info a lot.

Tuna Salad

I got this one off of a blog (Mckmama) She just throws stuff together, so I probably made it slightly differently than her. We have already made this twice now Cliff loves it so much! It's relatively healthy too.

Mix together: 

Tuna and mayo

then add (all finely diced): 

tomatoes

cucumbers

onion

green pepper

then mix it in with the tuna and mayo and add:

corn

chopped cilantro

sea salt

You can serve it over lettuce, have it plain, put it in a tortilla as a wrap, or eat it on french bread. 

 Rating: 9 (It's really good!)

Calories: It depends on how much mayo you like...

Carbohydrates: < 5 grams depending on how much corn you like. This is virtually a "free food!!!" When you have a Type 1 Diabetic in your family, yummy recipes like this are a must.

We'll definitely be having this regularly.... especially on hot summer days :)

Curry Chicken Salad

I had a delicious curry chicken salad sandwich from a little restaurant at the base of the Golden Gate bridge last year. I have been wanting to attempt to make one of my own ever since...

I tried this recipe:

2 pounds chicken
olive oil
kosher salt
pepper
1.5 mayo
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup chutney
3 TBSP curry powder
1 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup whole roasted cashews

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put chicken on a pan and rub skin with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35-40 min, until chicken is just cooked. Cut chicken into small/medium pieces.

For the dressing, combine mayo, wine, chutney, curry, and 1.5 tsp of salt into a bowl of a food processor (I used a blender, because I don't have a food processor). Blend till smooth.

Combine all ingredients. Add celery, scallions, and raisins. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow flavors to blend. Then add cachews.

I served it on sliced of the No Knead Bread.

I really enjoyed it, but it did have too much curry. Next time I'll only put 1.5 TBSP of it. I'm a big fan of chicken salad and I LOVE cashews, so I rated it higher than the rest of the family.

My rating: 6
My family's rating: Average 3
Calories: 3,487 in the whole thing
Carbohydrates: 222 in the whole thing.

No Knead Bread

We have another keeper! Thank goodness! I was starting to get discouraged. I made this recipe with whole wheat flour because it's healthier to have the whole grains. It took a little planning but it was so worth it. The only problem I keep running into is that I really should double things for a bigger family. So I will make two of these next time. The other thing I am finding is that there are a lot of recipes that call for dutch ovens. I'm so glad I was given one.

Here is the recipe:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. yeast
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 cups water

Combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and stir until blended. Dough will be very sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for 16 hours.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with flour and fold the dough onto itself twice. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 min.

Then flour your fingers and dough just enough to keep it from sticking. Then quickly shape dough into a ball. Sprinkle a cotton towel with plenty of flour and add the ball. Put the dough seam side down and let rise for 2 hours. Dough should be twice its size and will spring back when poked.

30 min. before dough is done, put the dutch oven (cast iron) into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

Put the dough ball in seam side up in the pan. Try to not push on the dough.

Then put the lid on and bake for 30 min.

Uncover and bake another 15 to 30 min to brown the top. Then transfer the whole pot to a wire rack to cool for another 10 min. Use potholder to turn the pot and slide the bread out.

Yum!

We sliced it up and served it with some curry chicken salad. I'll share that recipe next...

Rating: 8
Calories: 1220 in the whole thing.
Carbohydrates: 261 "