Coconut Shrimp

Adapted from Rachael Ray's recipe. I love coconut shrimp, but can't afford to eat out. This is the closest I've found to my favorite.
Canola oil for frying
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt or sea salt
2 pinches ground cayenne pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons Chinese five spice blend
1 cup shredded coconut
3 egg whites
1 pound large shrimp, peeled but leave the tails on
Fresh lime, orange marmalade (easy to make your own out of fresh orange juice, grated orange peel, a little sugar and corn starch)

Mix bread crumbs, salt, cayenne and five-spice powder. Add the coconut, mix well.

Lightly beat egg whites, add the shrimp, mixing well. Press each shrimp into the breading mix. Put on wax paper to dry. Handle carefully. If breading doesn't stick, dip again in egg whites and bury it in the breading, pressing gently. Handle gently. Let dry for 10 minutes or so.

Heat 1 inch or so of oil. It's hot enough when you put a piece of bread in oil and it browns quickly. Gently add shrimp. Fry for about five minutes, browning well on each side. Drain on paper towels and serve with lime wedges and marmalade on the side.

Trudy's Chicken Tortilla Soup

This looks very yummy...

1 small rotisserie chicken
2 lbs.large tomatoes, chopped
2 medium jalapenos
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons green chiles, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
1 7-10 oz. can enchilada sauce (Macayo's)
¼ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons red chili powder
¼ teaspoon celery salt
Wondra quick mixing flower
4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Saute onions in large saucepan until transparent. Add tomatoes until they are softened. Cool and put in blender with cilantro, green chile, jalapenos, garlic, chili powder and cumin. Puree to medium consistency. Shred chicken and add remaining items to blended mixture in pot. Heat through and serve with tortilla chips and cheese.

Rosemary Chicken

Bryan made these for dinner last night. It was delicious. He enjoys watching Tyler's Ultimate. I borrowed this from foodnetwork.com

Crispy Baked Rosemary-Garlic Chicken Legs

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Prep Time:
20 min
Inactive Prep Time:
20 min
Cook Time:
1 hr 10 min

Level:
Easy

Serves:
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

* 12 chicken legs
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 4 stems rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
* 4 cups panko bread crumbs
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2 eggs
* 2 cups milk
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* Extra-virgin olive oil
* Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put a sheet tray in the oven to preheat.

Wash and trim the chicken legs of any excess fat. Mix the garlic, rosemary and panko together in a shallow rimmed dish and season well with salt and pepper. Alternately, crush the garlic and rosemary with some olive oil and salt in a mortar and pestle.

Crack the eggs into a similar dish, add the milk and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. In another dish add the flour and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Take the chicken legs and 1 at a time, dredge in the flour, then the egg wash and then coat well with the rosemary-garlic panko bread crumbs. (Cook's Note: you could also bread the legs by putting the bread crumbs in a large plastic bag and shaking the legs in the crumbs inside the bag.) Lay the chicken legs out on a tray lined with parchment paper, as you work. Refrigerate the legs for about 15 to 20 minutes for the breading to set.

Remove the hot sheet tray from the oven and drizzle with a good amount of olive oil. Arrange the chicken legs carefully on the tray, spacing them out evenly (the chicken will sizzle when added to the hot oil). Roast until the chicken legs are golden and crispy, about 35 to 40 minutes Remove the chicken from the oven to a serving platter. Season with salt and serve with lemon wedges.

Wow, did I get lazy last night

And still I managed a home cooked meal. :)

So I covered six chicken breasts (still frozed) in a garlic rub that I got from Pampered chef and threw them in the oven at 350 for 40 min. With about 10 min left on the chicken I started 5 cups of penne noodles boiling. Then I looked around the kitchen for about 10 min for the stupid can opener. Finally found it and put 2 small cans Hunts tomato paste and 2 cans water on a medium heat. I added a tablespoon of dried minced onions, some garlic powder and kosher salt. Then I pulled the chicken out and chopped up 1 and 1/2 of the breasts and added them to the sauce. Noodles were done at this point. I actually had horribly neglected them while searching for the cursed can opener, so they were stuck to the bottom of the pan. Drained them and scraped them and poured the sauce on. (Onions weren't quite done yet. Could have used a few more minutes, I think.) After dinner I chopped up the remaining chicken for use with a future dinner.

Overall, a success. Could have been better with more effort/time put into it.

Easy low-fat white sauce

So this was pretty good for what I was going for. Wanted a flavorful sauce for pasta without a lot of calories. I've made similar sauces, but this was my favorite combination. I was using flour for thickener, but it tended to burn on the bottom.

4 cups milk
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp minced dried onions
pinch dried peppers (for just a very little kick
enough corn starch to thicken it.
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the corn starch with a cup of milk and then combine all the milk together in a medium sauce pan. Slowly heat the milk to a simmer. While it is heating you can add the other ingredients. Make sure to stir constantly until at desired consistency. Add to pasta and toss to coat evenly.

edit: Originally wrote 2 tbsp minced garlic. Wow! That would be something! I like garlic, but that is too much. :)

Enchilada Hash Browns

Made this the other night and it worked well. Everyone liked it except Kendra, our potato and cheese hater. Definitely want to keep this in mind for future really easy meals.

Enchilada Hash Browns

1 Tbsp of vegitable oil
grated potatos (or a bag of frozen hash browns)
1 lb browned ground beef with the fat drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can red enchilada sauce
a cup or two grated cheddar cheese

Heat oil in a large deep skillet, and tilt the pan so the oil covers the bottom. Add the hash browns and cook until golden, then flip them. Spread the ground beef evenly on top the hash browns, same with the beans, then pour the sauce evenly over them. Top with the cheese and cover. Cook until the cheese is melted and then serve.

Cinnamon Vanilla French Toast

I love cinnamon french toast, but I hate how the cinnamon clumps in the egg batter. I've tried various solutions (btw, adding it to the milk and stirring it up just makes cinnamon-milk foam) but this is the one that actually works.

8 eggs
1/2 cup cinnamon-sugar mix (nice and blended)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
16 slices bread

The only thing I actually measure are the eggs :P. Put the cinnamon-sugar in the dipping bowl. Add the eggs and the milk and the vanilla. Let sit for a couple minutes while the egg/milk soaks into the sugar. Mix well. Dip the bread as usual. Stir the eggs every time they sit for more than a minute or so, or the sugar accumulates on the bottom.

Turkey a la Christopher

With me stuck at home this year I will be attempting to recreate Chris's fantastic turkey from the Sib Thanksgiving dinner last year. In order to do this right Chris recommended you have the following tools at your disposal:

An injector
A meat thermometer
Heavy fin foil
A turkey roaster

Make sure your turkey is completely thawed out by the night before. Clean out the turkey and remove the plastic ties on the legs. Chris recommended going to the food network and learning how to properly truss a turkey. I tried to make the link but couldn't get it to work so here is the address.

www.foodnetwork.com/how-to-truss-a-turkey/video/index.html

Now that the bird is ready to go, we can get ready to do the injecting. You will need:

A bundle of fresh rosemary, thyme and sage
1 stick of butter
1 bottle of dark beer (he recommended using a Belgian White like New Moon)

Simmer these all together for 1/2 hour. Cool. Inject all over the bird until the solution is gone. Cover and let the turkey rest overnight.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Give the bird a good rubdown with canola oil. Take a large piece of tinfoil and fold into a triangle. With the tip towards the legs, mold it to the turkey making sure you completely cover the breast. Remove it and set aside. Make sure the rack is in the lowest possible position. Put the turkey in the roasting pan with the breast toward you and cook for 30 minutes. This will seal up all those puncture holes that were made during the injection and help keep the juices inside the turkey while it cooks. Recover the turkey with the shield. Lower the heat to 350 degrees. Cook until the thermometer inserted in the breast reads 160 degrees and inserted in the leg reads 180 degrees. This can be anywhere from 2 1/2-3 hours for a 20 bird, but he stressed you shouldn't be relying on time, you should only have that be a guideline and check with the thermometer. Let the bird rest for AT LEAST 30 minutes before carving. He recommended giving yourself an extra 20 minutes just in case you need more time to cook. Delicious.

Totally easy (and totally boring) chicken noodle soup

So my kids love Cambell's Chicken Noodle, but it's too expensive to go through 4 or 5 cans every time we have it for dinner (didn't soup used to be cheap?) so I created my not quite as boring substitute.

Chicken Noodle Soup

4-6 cups water
chicken bouillon to taste (I use the powder, not the cubes, so I just estimate)
Noodles
chicken (canned, precooked and diced or shredded... whatever)

Boil the water with the chicken bouillon. Add the noodles. I used garden rotini pasta and added angel hair that I had broken into 4 pieces after the rotini was al dente. I added the chicken last. The amount of water you use is up to you. If you want more broth, just add more water.

For some reason, my kids love this. If it was just me, I would do more. Maybe add some veggies. But Erika begged for more of this for days. I think my taste and my kids' tastes are different on a very fundamental level.

Hawaiian Pork

I made this last week and kept meaning to post it. It is a recipe of my friend's and was not only easy, but it turned out amazing!

5 lbs boneless pork butt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 pieces fresh ginger, grated
liquid smoke, a few drops
1/4 C soy sauce (I would use the low sodium)
1 clove garlic crushed

Spray the inside of your crock pot and put the pork inside. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over the meat. Cook on high for 5 hours. If using an oven, wrap up tightly in tin foil and bake at 350 for 5 hours. NO PEEKING!!! Shred and mix into the remaining liquid. Serve with rice.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Two nights ago I decided to make a ham & cheese strata. I overheard from the other room Megan saying in what I am certain she thought was a quiet voice, "I didn't like mine...where did you put yours?". Brian the good man, just ate it in silence. So all day yesterday the dogs have been snacking on it. I informed Bri of this and he reminded me that they will also eat their own throw up. Ahem. Anyway. I made this last night to redeem myself.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cans chicken broth
3 C cooked wild rice
1 package cream cheese, cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
Tony Chachere's seasoning to taste
pepper to taste

To begin, I cooked the rice in the rice cooker and used the steamer to take care of the chicken at the same time. Then I sauteed the onions and celery together in chicken broth. From there, I just added it all together and simmered until the cream cheese was melted. Very yummy. I think my family's faith in me is restored! ;)

Orange Soda Pot Roast and Parmesan Encrusted Potatoes

I decided to make an effort for Sunday dinner this week. I've been blowing it off far too often.

Orange Soda Pot Roast

1 2 lb frozen roast
2 large onions
2 cans orange soda (not diet)
2 Cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves
salt

Place roast in crock pot. Pour soda over the roast and add cinnamon, onions, and cloves. Sprinkle roast with salt. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. The cloves are easier to handle later if you use a tea infuser.

When the roast was finished I used the liquid that was left to make a simple gravy. Just boil liquid in a medium sauce pan. Dissolve 2 tbs cornstarch in 1/3 cup cold water and then mix them together. Reduce heat and simmer until it has thickened.

Parmesan Encrusted Potatoes

6 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tbs salt
1 tbs granulated garlic
1 tbs granulated onion

Combine all ingredients except potatoes in a bowl that has a tight lid. Shake to mix it all together. Add potatoes a cup or two at a time and shake the bowl to completely cover them. Place on a couple of baking pans and bake at 350F for 40 or so min.

I loved these potatoes. The roast was only so so. I only cooked it 6 hours, and I think 7 or 8 would have made it more fall apart tender. I love that I don't have to remember to thaw the roast first. :)

Vietnamese Tofu Triangles

This CAN be gluten free, if you use GF soy sauce (sometimes hard to find) and make sure your other ingredients are GF (I mean, that's all obvious. I'm just sayin'.)

Keep an open mind here about the tofu. This is not a veggie-alternative to anything; this is the recipe for an actual (dare I say "authentic"?) Vietnamese dish. I first had it at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Salt Lake (Cafe Trang). I loved it so much I learned how to make it. We had it again for dinner tonight and Forrest commented that it is one of his favorite dishes that I make. Below are the complete instructions for the "real version." After the full recipe, I have included my extremely simplified, ketchup-based version. So quick and easy and it tastes Great! I suggest glancing through the full version, if only to get some perspective on how radically I tend to simplify things when I cook. I was recently told I think like an Australian: "Why do more work?" Dave, can you confirm or deny?

Vietnamese Tofu and Tomato Sauce (full version)

• Ingredients:
  • 1 pkg firm tofu
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 200g chopped tomato, preferably fresh (but tinned is ok)
  • a Tbs water
  • 4 Tbs soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • White pepper, to taste
  • Spring onion
  • Groundnut / peanut oil, to deep fry

1. Press the tofu so you can get as much water out as possible. Cut the tofu into triangles, slices, or cubes no more than about two inches long. I usually make right triangles with about a third of in an inch thick.
   
2. To make the sauce, which you should probably do first, simply fry up the garlic in some oil, add the tomato, water, half of the lime juice, the soy sauce, the pepper, and the sugar. Leave to simmer over a medium-low heat while you prepare the tofu.
3. Heat a wok with a a few inches of oil to a medium temperature and deep fry the tofu pieces until lightly browned. An alternative is of course to lightly fry in oil on a skillet or even to bake, but deep-fried tofu is a treat!
4. Serve the deep-fried tofu with the tomato sauce on top (because, you know, that would have been a tricky concept for you to work out had I not given that particular instruction). Drizzle the remaining lime juice and some sliced spring onion over the dish, and go pig out.

Vietnamese Tofu Triangles (Quick and EASY)

• Ingredients:
  • 1 pkg firm tofu
  • some garlic, crushed
  • some ketchup
    
  • some water
  • some soy sauce
  • some olive oil
  • some powdered ginger or some pepper, or both

1. Slice the tofu into triangles about a centimeter thick.
   
2. Heat the oil in a pan and throw the tofu triangles and garlic in there. Let the triangles get brown on the bottom, flip them, brown the second side.
   
3. When they are brown, pour some soy sauce on them. Sprinkle them liberally with ginger.
   
4. Add a little water if it's all starting to dry up at any point.
   
5. After about five minutes of cooking them in the soy sauce, quit adding water and let things almost dry.
   
6. Squirt some ketchup on them, as though they were eggs (assuming you like ketchup on your eggs.) Use enough but not tons.
7. Let them cook another minute or two, then serve them (possibly over rice).
8. Yum.
   

BBQ Chicken Ramen

So one of our favorite cartoon characters, Naruto, is always talking about how much he loves BBQ pork ramen. I got some chicken tonight, so I figured I could try it with chicken.

BBQ Chicken Ramen

3 Pkgs Ramen noodles (discard spices)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup bbq sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 prebaked chicken breast

Cut chicken breast to little pieces. Prepare ramen like usual, adding salt to water. Drain most of the water from the pan. Add bbq sauce, Worcestershire, and chicken. Mix it all together. Serve and enjoy.

I was worried about this one, but it actually turned out pretty good. The bbq sauce I used was too spicey, however, so that kinda turned the kids off after a few bites. Next time, will try more mild.

Tonights Dinner

Potato Bacon Cassarole

1 1/2 large onions
1 tbs olive oil
3 cups water
chicken bouillon
Some cornstarch
12 slices precooked bacon
5 large potatoes
Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Dice onions. Cook onions in skillet with oil until soft and starting to brown. Meanwhile, boil water and bouillon. Mix cornstarch with a little cold water and add to boiling chicken broth while stirring. Reduce heat and add caramelized onions. Simmer until thickened. Slice potatoes nice and thin. Spread a thin layer of the chicken/onion gravy on the bottom of a retangular baking dish. Put a layer of potatoes in the pan. Spread another layer of gravy on the potatoes. Tear a few slices of bacon into pieces and spread evenly. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over it. Repeat this process a few times until it is at the desired thickness. Last layer of potatoes, sprinkle Parmesan directly on top. Cover with foil and bake @350F for 45 min. Remove foil and bake another 15 min. Let sit a few minutes and then serve.

I've got kind of mixed feelings about this meal. Jana really liked it, as did Erika. I thought it was ok. Kendra doesn't like potatoes, so this was a no go for her. Beckra said it was so-so (in spanish, no less). If I do it again, I'd like to make some changes. The potatoes would be better peeled, I think, but that adds prep time. I'd like to make it creamier without added a lot of calories. Maybe use a skim-milk-based sauce instead of the basic gravy. If anyone has ideas, I'd be happy to hear it. :)

Pasta with Greens (Easy!)

I use this recipe ALL THE TIME. I like to use red kale, arugula, collard greens, or whatever greens I have around at the time. If you are using tough greens and want to cook and soften the greens a bit more, put them in the colander and drain the pasta over them before putting everything back into the pot.


Pasta with Greens
Original recipe by E. Samara Watkiss (the friend who introduced me to R. Forrest Ethington)
Adapted for the page by Gretchen Krebs

Here’s an easy and delicious way to use bitter greens or slightly wilted lettuce without sacrificing nutrients. In this dish, the steam from hot pasta barely softens both the texture and taste of leafy greens. This recipe works well with chard, kale, and other bitter greens, as well as lettuces that have recently lost their crisp but have not begun to spoil. All of the ancillary ingredients are optional. Creative and curious chefs might want to try out other additions (such as cucumber or bell peppers) as well.

For four people (or two hungry folks) you will need:

8 oz. dried pasta, any shape
3 to 5 cups leafy greens
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
or 2 to 3 whole tomatoes
1 garlic clove
or about 2 inches of a garlic scape
4 oz. mozzarella cheese

A sprinkle of black pepper
A sprinkle of thyme


Boil or steam the pasta according to your usual methods.

As the pasta cooks, rinse the leafy greens and tear them into bite-sized pieces. Halve the grape or cherry tomatoes or, if you’re using whole tomatoes, chop them into small pieces. Chop, dice, or press the garlic according to your preference. Grate the mozzarella and set it aside.

When the pasta is done, drain it and return the hot pasta to the cooking pot. Immediately stir the tomatoes, garlic, and greens into the hot pasta. Wait just a few minutes as the leafy greens soften and the tomatoes warm up. Just before serving add the black pepper and thyme. Serve topped with grated mozzarella. Enjoy!

No Thought Needed Shepard's Pie

Most of what I make regularly is really flexible. Feel free to mix it up and do whatever. For the beef, we buy a big thing of ground beef and cook it up all at once. Then we separate it into ziplock bags that represent about a pound and freeze them. A lot of my meals use these as a foundation.

1lb browned ground beef (I just grab a bag from the freezer and nuke it for 2 min)
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
6 oz can of tomato paste
14 oz can of green beans drained
couple of cups of frozen corn
cheese (or not. depends on how healthy I'm making it)
a few cups of mashed potatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Layer the ingredients pretty much in that order in a large pie dish or a square baking dish. I bake at 350F for about 20 min. Serve and eat.