Crispy Chicken Tenders

Quick and easy crispy chicken tenders:

10 chicken breast tenders
Dried Oregano
Dried Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Flour
1 large Egg, beaten
Panko
1/4 c Black pepper parmesan

Heat oil in a deep fryer.
Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper the chicken. Season with oregano and thyme. Set up your breading station: add some flour to one bowl, the beaten egg to another, and the panko, parmesan and pinch of salt to the third bowl. Coat a chicken tender in the flour, then dip in the egg, then coat in the seasoned bread crumbs. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Fry until golden brown.

Twice Baked Leek Potato

Oh, this is not your ordinary twice baked or stuffed potato. This side dish could even serve on its own as a main dish. The idea for this came from a steak dinner Matt prepared. He grilled up some steak with this leek cream sauce served over it. There was a surprise in that sauce though. Whiskey! I thought this cream sauce would dress up a baked potato very nicely. And it did...

Twice Baked Leek Potato

6 russet potatoes
8 slices bacon
2 leeks, chopped
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c cream
1/4 c whiskey
1 bay leaf
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tbsp chives, chopped
3 tbsp grated asiago cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pierce the potatoes in some spots with a fork. Rub some olive oil, salt and pepper on the outside of the potatoes. Bake directly on the middle oven rack for about an hr or until fork tender.

In a deep skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Set the cooked bacon aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the leeks to the bacon dripping and saute until tender, about 5-10 mins. Set aside until ready to use.

In a small saucepan, simmer the chicken broth, cream, whiskey, and bay leaf. Keep it warm on low heat until you're ready to use.

When the potatoes are done, remove potatoes from the oven, and turn the heat down to 375 degrees F.
Hold the potato with an oven mitt, trim off the top of the potatoes to make a canoe-like shape. Carefully scoop out most of the potato flesh into a bowl. Take care to leave enough potato in the skin so the shells stay together.

Mash the potato flesh with the sauce (discarding the bay leaf). Crumble in the bacon. Stir in the leeks, butter, parsley, and chives. Salt and pepper to taste. Refill the shells with the potato mixture mounding it slightly. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the potato filling. Bake for about 10 mins, or until warmed.

Pumpkin Icebox Cake

I've got a backlog of posts that you're about to get. This dessert was obviously made back in the Fall. I know, ages ago! But who says you can't enjoy pumpkin outside of the Fall season?

Pumpkin Icebox Cake

4 Graham cracker sheets
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/4 c heavy whipping cream
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c pumpkin purée
1/2 c cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract

Crush the graham crackers and mix with the melted butter. Split the mixture among 6 cupcake molds, pressing it to the bottom of the cupcake pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 mins. When the graham cracker crust is done baking, set aside to cool.
Whip the cream, sugar, pumpkin, cream cheese, and vanilla together. Pour the filling into each of the cupcake molds. Freeze for about an hr or overnight. When ready to eat, just run a knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it out.

*Note, this recipe is lighter on the pumpkin flavor than I would like. I didn't have anymore puree sitting in the fridge though! So feel free to adjust to your liking.

Roasted Artichoke with Herb Yogurt Dip

This yogurt dip was delicious! I couldn't get enough of it. Very light, refreshing and better for you than most dips!

Roasted Artichoke with Herb Yogurt Dip

1 12 oz bag frozen artichoke hearts
1/2 c nonfat, plain Greek yogurt
1/4 c sour cream
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp chives, chopped
2 tsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Toss the artichoke with some salt, pepper, and olive oil. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for about 30-40 mins.
Meanwhile, mix the yogurt, sour cream, thyme, chives, parsley, and garlic powder together. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to eat. Serve with the roasted artichoke hearts.

Lemon Thyme Porkchop

You know how I love to throw leftover ingredients together. I hate waste. This dish was one of those occasions. For these 2 bone-in porkchops, I seasoned it with salt, pepper, about a teaspoon of dried thyme, and the juice of half a lemon I had laying around. Then I dunked it in an egg wash bath (comprised of 1 egg and about a teaspoon of milk, beaten). We also had some old, hard French bread that I had processed into breadcrumbs. I combined about 1/4 c of that with about 2 tbsp of grated black pepper parmesan. Sprinkled the seasoned bread crumbs over the porkchops and cooked it over medium heat, 5 mins per side. It was a pretty quick and delicious Milanese!

Orange Thyme Porkchops

I wanted to try something new with a couple of bone-in porkchops. I was gonna use the lemon half I had left over, but thought why not use the orange that's been sitting in my fruit bowl. It could act as the citrus, right? I rubbed the orange zest of one orange, seasoned with some salt and pepper, and added about a teaspoon of thyme to the porkchops. Cooked it for about 5 mins per side over medium heat. When we bit into those chops, I thought, "good thing I didn't add some of that orange juice!" That little bit of orange zest really came through. We were shocked, but it wasn't bad.

Cod Fillet Sandwich with Cilantro Cabbage Slaw

I was going for a light fish sandwich. The store didn't have mahi-mahi like I wanted, so I decided to try the cod. It worked and tasted good, but the cod fillet didn't hold up as well as mahi-mahi could have. The fillet broke apart so I ended up stacking pieces of fish onto the sandwich. But you can try out any other white fish you'd like.

The star of this dish was the slaw. It was so light and refreshing. The Greek yogurt added tang to the slaw, and the cilantro added the flavor. It can even be enjoyed as a side dish.

Cod Fillet Sandwich - with Cilantro Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients

4 cod fillet (or any white fish)
4 buns
1 small savoy cabbage, sliced
1/2 c cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
1 c nonfat, plain Greek yogurt
4 tbsp mayo
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
salt and pepper
butter or olive oil

1. Prepare the slaw: Mix the cabbage, cilantro, lime juice, Greek yogurt, mayo, garlic powder, seasoned salt, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper together. Let it chill in the fridge while you prepare the fish. (That way the flavors can develop as well.)

2. Prepare the fish: Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper. In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil. Cook the fish about 3-5 mins on each side.

3. Assemble: Butter and toast the buns. Then top with a fish fillet and some slaw. Enjoy!