Crunchy Parmesan Baked Chicken

Last night was our first adventure trying out BYU's The Food Nanny's recipes. I had seen this recipe on one of the two episodes I watched and it looked easy and yummy... and let me tell you. It was SO easy, and SO delicious. My husband was RAVING about it and said it was a keeper! I had a really long and trying day yesterday, one that ended up making an emergency trip to the phone store an hour away. By the time we got home I was exhausted and didn't really want to cook anything. But I had pulled chicken out of the freezer that morning, and I knew I had to do something with it. This was such a quick throw-together meal. We had marinara sauce on the side to dip, but I ended up not dipping them at all. They were that good.

Crunchy Parmesan Baked Chicken

1-2C Buttermilk
1/2C grated Parmesan Cheese
Chicken Breast tenders (buy breasts on sale in bulk, freeze in double ziplock baggies and cut them up yourself. Save $$ - I used one large chicken breast, it filled up my baking dish and could've fed 3 people)
pinch of salt
2C Panko bread crumbs
2 tsp Garlic Salt
half stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400. Grease an oblong baking pan. Pour the buttermilk into a wide shallow dish or pie plate. Mix the Panko, cheese and garlic salt in another shallow dish or pie plate. Roll each piece of chicken in the buttermilk then dredge in the Panko mixture to coat. Arrange in the prepared baking pan. Drizzle the butter over all. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the chicken is tender and no longer pink. Sprinkle with salt to taste.


YUM!!! Food Nanny, I {heart} you!

Friday Fish Fry

I wasn't very well prepared for tonight's dinner like I thought I was. First, I thought I had a few boxes of Tempura mix. Wrong. Then, I thought I had potatoes to make homemade fries. Wrong again. Luckily, I did have a few boxes of Panko crumbs and a little bag of frozen fries. So we improvised. And actually... the fish was yummier this time!! And because I used Panko crumbs, it was a lot less greasy!!
So here's my recipe, including dipping sauce (my secret!):

Ingredients:

Halibut steaks, skinned and boned and cut into bite-size pieces
Asparagus spears
1 Lemon, quartered
about 1/2C flour
3 eggs
about a half bag of Panko bread crumbs
3 bowls or plates
about 1TBS Lemon Pepper seasoning
a little salt and pepper
Oil for frying

For the sauce:
2TBS Ketchup
1TBS. Worcestershire sauce
1TBS. soy sauce
1TBS. Cocktail sauce
juice from 1/4 lemon (same lemon as above)
1 tsp. Oyster sauce

Instructions:

1. Combine flour and lemon pepper seasoning in a bowl or onto a plate. Scramble the eggs in a different bowl or plate and pour the crumbs into yet another dish. Heat large pot filled about 1" with oil on med-hi.
For the fish:
Coat with flour mixture, then dip in egg then into bread crumbs covering completely. Drop one piece into the oil to see if it's hot yet. Fish should sizzle right away. Once it does, add fish allowing room for turning. Don't over-crowd. Once firm and golden brown, using tongs, pull them out into a paper towel-lined plate or colander inside a bowl. Repeat and continue until all fish are cooked. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and drizzle with lemon juice.
For the asparagus:
Coat the same as the fish. Drop into hot oil. Cook just until batter is golden and pull out, placing on paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.


For the sauce:
Combine all ingredients in small bowl and either whisk well, or use a fork to mix. Great on french fries and asparagus. I prefer Tartar sauce for my fish. But it works for that also! Enjoy!!
*would work GREAT for onion rings also!

Chicken Pockets

This meal is so simple and quick. And it really only calls for a handful of ingredients. A great meal idea on those days you're stretched for time. My first time tasting a similar recipe was from my husband's sister, Maarsi. I instantly fell in love.

Chicken Pockets

Ingredients:

1 can chicken breast
2 8oz cream cheese
2 crescent roll tubes
2C mozzarella cheese, shredded
Salt
Pepper
Celery Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Italian Seasoning
1/4C Panko Bread crumbs
drizzle of olive oil
*once again, I just throw the spices in until it tastes right. Feel free to experiment.


Instructions:

1. Set oven at temp. according to roll instructions.
2. Allow cream cheese to soften, either by leaving out for a few hours, or microwaving for about a minute. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cheeses and spices. Set aside and prepare the rolls.
3. To prepare the rolls, open and unroll one tube. Separate rolls, not by the crescent shape that they're supposed to be, but in rectangles (2 rolls = 1 rectangle). Place onto a cookie sheet (each tube should yield 4 rectangle pockets.
4. Place about 2 heaping TBS in center of pocket. Enclose filling and pinch edges closed, leaving a little gap in the top. Continue until all 8 pockets are filled. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
5. Bake 25-40 minutes until outsides are golden brown.