Crispy Coconut Chicken Tenders

Coconut shrimp is my weakness. If you've ever been to the Sagebrush Cantina, theirs is FANTASTIC. I can't help but to order it. It's sweet. Like, donut sweet. Sooooo good. So, back in December, we went to a surprise birthday party for one of Mike's cousins at Downtown Main Martini Bar & Grille in Brighton, MI. We had Coconut Chicken as an appetiser and it was absolutely amazing. I decided to give it a try myself and though I'll be altering the recipe a bit the next time I make it, it still turned out really well for "oven fried."

Ingredients:
1 c coconut
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c butter, melted

Pre-heat oven to 400*F.
In a flat surfaced container, combine coconut, flour, salt, and pepper.



Dip the chicken tenders into the egg, then coat with the coconut mixture.



Drizzle with melted butter and bake for 25 minutes, turning once.



For additional browning/crispiness, I left them under the broiler for another minute or so more.



Pre-heat oven to 400*F. In a flat surfaced container, combine coconut, flour, salt, and pepper. Dip the chicken tenders into the egg, then coat with the coconut mixture. Place tenders in a shallow, un-greased baking pan, 1 inch apart. Drizzle with melted butter and bake for 25 minutes, turning once. For additional browning/crispiness, I left them under the broiler for another minute or so more.

Next time, I may try more of a batter instead of a dry flour mixture. I'll keep you posted. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. Thanks for reading!

"Everything" Chicken

I'm tired of oven fried, marinated grilled and gravy smothered chicken. Tonight, I needed something new, so I searched food.com and found this. I love making bagels, especially everything bagels so I thought these sounded scrumptious! It took less than 30 minutes from start to finish and is definitely a keeper (duh, I'm not adding it to the blog for no reason)

Of course, I don't measure anything, so I'll give you the measurements that were given on food.com.

3 tablespoons instant minced onion
3 tablespoons garlic flakes
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 tablespoons black pepper (they called for 2 tbsp)
1 tablespoons coarse salt or 1 tablespoons sea salt (they called for 2 tbsp)
1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Preheat oven to 375 f. In a bowl (I used a ziplock bag) drizzle the tenders with olive oil, coating completely. Mix all other ingredients to create the seed mixture in a separate bowl. Dip each tender into the seed mixture, making sure to coat completely. Place on an ungreased baking pan. Once all chicken tenders are covered, bake for 10-15 minutes, or until juices run clear. Enjoy!

Not My Grandmother's Chicken n Dumplin's

Now, I was taught by my VERY southern grandma how to make dumplin's. Also to- "NEVER STIR 'EM" because they'll stick to each other and the pan. I remember begging her for what seemed like forever to teach me. All the while, her excuse was that hardly any of the grand kids (I think there are 28 grand kids and multiple great grand kids on this side of the family) can make them. Most turn into "rocks" or "slime" or "just not right." The reason for this? Possibly because she literally cooked with a teacup, a hand full and a pinch of this and that. That's her recipe. No joke.
I cook very much the same way, which is why it's hard for me to actually measure, write them down and put them on these "interwebs." Please note, this isn't her recipe (you probably couldn't make it anyhow), nor is it remotely similar. I didn't hand make the dumplings. I added veggies. I didn't cook an entire chicken...but tenders instead. Today, I wanted a thicker stew-like version. I want it to stick to my ribs- more than it normally does...it's standard practice to have a bowl, sit a minute, undo your pants, get up and jump up and down while on your way to get another helping. nom nom nom delicious.
Here goes.

4 boneless chicken breasts (6 I used boneless/skinless chicken tenders)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (yes, even I sometimes use "cream of crap" soups, but RARELY)
2 cartons reduced sodium chicken stock
1 onion, medium, chopped
2 whole carrots, chopped (to my taste)
2 whole celery stalks, chopped (to my taste)
2 tsp butter
1 tsp celery salt
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 10 oz cans biscuits (I used Grands Jr-Flaky)
salt and pepper to taste

In a stock pot, over medium heat, add chicken, soup, stock, veggies, butter, celery salt and thyme. Cook until chicken is cooked through and veggies are no more than barely crunchy. Remove chicken and shred/chop/whatever you'd like to do and return to pot. About 90 minutes before serving, remove biscuits from can, flatten one by one and cut each into bite sized pieces. Add to pot, individually, to keep from sticking. Stir after every few biscuits have been added. At first, biscuits will start to spread out (like marshmallows when heated), but they'll go down. Cover and bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer. Cook until "dumplings" are no longer doughy. Put on your stretchy pants, serve and enjoy!


NOTE for those who can make their own dumplings, I think I'll actually make them instead of using biscuits this time, but it was pretty easy this way.

***Can be used as a crock pot recipe***
Add all ingredients except biscuits. Cook on high 5-6 hours. 90 minutes before serving, add biscuits as instructed above.

Grandma is probably rolling over in her grave. LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

So Good Chicken n Rice Tortilla Soup

3 tbsp olive oil

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 med carrot, chopped

1/2 med onion, chopped

1 tsp lime juice

4 tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

w/ green chillies AND juice

1/2 tsp garlic, minced

4 cups chicken stock, plus 3 cups

1 cup cooked chicken, diced

1/2 cup rice, uncooked

1/2 tsp cumin powder

salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, etc.

Heat olive oil in large sauce pan. Add celery, carrot, onion and sauté until onion is nearly translucent. Add lime juice and cilantro, cook about 1 minute more. Add tomatoes with chillies and their juices and minced garlic. Cook over medium heat until liquid is reduced to half. Add cumin powder, chicken stock and rice. Heat, uncovered until rice is tender. Add remaining 3 cups of chicken stock, then add diced chicken. Cover and simmer. (I cooked for hours, until we were ready to eat). Spoon into bowls, garnish and enjoy!

Thai Green Curry Stir Fry

A few weeks ago, we went to Stir Crazy at the mall. Before then, I hadn't been there since high school. It was SO GOOD! We did the create-your-own type of thing, where you pick your meat, veggies, sauce and noodles, etc. I decided to try their Thai Curry sauce...OMG I'm obsessed. It's one of the few things I crave on a constant basis.

Because we haven't been back (Mikey won't eat "un-american foods" more than "once in a while"), I decided to try my own Thai Green Curry sauce. mmmmm. I came pretty close. Surprisingly, Mikey liked it...he usually only likes teriaki.

This was enough for 3-4 people and measurements are approximate as I was taught to cook with "a teacup of this" and "a pinch of that" lol.

For the Green Thai Curry Sauce:

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk

2 tsp green curry powder (I used M & B Spices, which is 100% organic)

2 tsp Light soy sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar, red wine or regular should suffice as well

Noodles:

1 box rice noodles, cooked according to box directions

Stir Fry:

sesame, olive, veggie or other cooking oil

1 lb chicken, cubed

1 vidalia onion, cut into bite sized pieces

1 red, yellow and or green pepper, bite sized

1/2 c water chestnuts

1/2 c baby corn

1 c broccoli, coarsely chopped

3/4 c baby carrots

3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

Bean sprouts, cilantro, and lemon wedges for garnish and or flavor.

Sorry, pictures are from my phone... :(

Orange Glazed Chicken

I discovered this recipe in my search for easy to make and easy to freeze recipes.  I don't remember the source, however I changed the recipe significantly...therefore, whatever.

2 lb chicken; breast, pieces, etc.

1/2 c french dressing

7 oz ginger ale

1/2 c orange juice

1/3 tbsp corn starch

Marinate chicken in french dressing 60 minutes or more.  Place in roasting pan or deeper baking sheets;  sprayed with cooking spray.  Brown chicken under broiler.  Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan, combine ginger ale, orange juice and corn starch over medium heat.  Glaze chicken with orange mixture. (at this stage, you can cover and freeze)  Bake at 300 for 1.5 hours, basting with orange sauce.

(If frozen, thaw before cooking)

SUPER AWESOME Oven Fried Chicken

I LOVE this oven fried chicken. It's a hit every time I make it. I always make at least double what I think everyone will eat- apparently, their stomachs enlarge at the very smell! It's also very good the next day, cut up and placed on a salad as well.
1 to 1.5 lbs chicken

1 c cracker crumbs & rice chex crumbs, mixed (bread crumbs are ok too)

1 c flour

1 egg

1/2 c half & half or milk

1/4 c finely grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 c butter, melted

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp Crazy Jane's seasoning salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 350* for dark, non-stick pans and 375* for light or glass. Grease a cookie sheet.

Clean chicken.

Place flour on a small plate.

In small bowl, beat egg and half & half.

In a separate bowl, mix all spices, Parmesan cheese and crumb mixture.

Dredge chicken in flour, followed by half & half mixture, then crumb mix. Place on Greased cookie sheet. Continue until all pieces are covered. Drizzle melted butter evenly over all pieces. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until no longer pink. (I used 1 lb of chicken tenders, baking at 350* for 30 minutes)

(not my photo)

Five Star Moist Garlic Cheddar Chicken

From Recipezaar.com

This wonderfully moist dish gets rave reviews every time! Very garlicy- so be sure to have plenty of mints or gum on hand afterward. :D

4 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless

1/2 - 3/4 c bread crumbs
1/2 c shredded cheddar

1/3 c butter, melted

2 tbsp garlic, minced

1 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp grated parmasean

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350. In medium bowl, mix butter, garlic, garlic powder and seasoning salt.

In a second bowl, mix bread crumbs, cheddar and parmasean cheeses, and pepper. Dredge cleaned, dry chicken into butter then into bread crumb mixture. Place in greased baking dish. Bake covered for 15 minutes, uncover and bake 15 minutes more.

Suggestion: top with additional cheddar cheese in last 5 minutes.