Oven Fried Chicken with Sweet Onion Bake

this is what we had for dinner last night. both were good and easy to make. here's the recipes...

...oven fried chicken my own creation


1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
1/2 cup flour
2 envelopes Kraft Good Seasons Salad Dressing
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400F.

Put melted butter and oil in a large baking dish. Place flour and italian dressing packet in a large ziptop bag. Add one piece of chicken to bag and shake to coat. Dip chicken skin side down in the butter oil mixture and place skin side up in the baking pan. Repeat with all the chicken pieces.

Bake for about 1 hour, basting every so often with the grease in the bottom of the pan.

...sweet onion bake slightly adapted from the april 2006 issue of Southern Living


6 tablespoons butter, divided
3 medium sweet onions, chopped
8 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 cup Ritz crakers, finely crushed
1 cup Half-And-Half
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Melt 4 tablespoons butter, in a large skillet over medium heat; add onions, and saute 20 minutes or until golden brown. Place half the cooked onions in a lightly greased 9-inch square pan. Sprinkle with half the cheese and 1/4 cup of the cracker crumbs. Top with remaining onions and cheese.

Whisk together eggs, half-and-half, salt and pepper; pour over onion mixture.

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat; add remaining cracker crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the mixture in the dish.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Honey Soy Pork Medallions with Crispy Risotto Cakes, Pineapple Salsa and Spinach

i made this thursday night for dinner. i was trying to recreate something that i had at the restaurant clyde's a few weeks ago with our friend rian. it turned out really well. here are the recipes...

...honey soy pork medallions
1 pork loin, cut into 1-inch thick medallions
soy sauce
Honey
garlic, minced
sesame oil

Put pork medallions, soy sauce, honey , garlic, and sesame oil in a large ziplock bag and marinate for a couple of hours. Grill on low for about 10 minutes each side or until cooked through.

...crispy risotto cakes
2 tablespoona butter
1/4 cup sweet onion, diced
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
2 limes, juiced
cajun seasoning
flour
olive oil

Melt butter in a large saucepan and saute onion until soft. Add rice and saute until golden. Add wine and stir until it is absorbed. Add one cup of hot water and stir until it is absorbed. Continue to add water, one cup at a time, until the rice is just tender and the mixture is thick, simmering until the liquid is almost all absorbed before each addition, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice and cajun seasoning.

Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

Shape risotto into cakes, using about 1/3 cup for each cake. Place the cakes on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place flour and cajun seasoning in a shallow dish and lightly coat each cake with flour mixture. Heat some olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook risotto cakes until golden brown and heated through, about 3 minutes on each side. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.

...pineapple salsa
1 pineapple, finely diced
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1/4 red pepper, finely diced
1 lime, juiced
sprinkle cajun seasoning

to plate place one crispy risotto cake in the middle of the plate. lean two pork medallions up against the risotto cake. place sauted spinach next to the risotto cake. spoon the pineapple salsa on top of the medallions.

Perfect Attendance Award

our friend tim has come to all three of our london desserts. last night he showed up wearing this t-shirt.

Lemon Chiffon Pie with Gingersnap Crust

we had another dessert last night to share with people about london. i served this pie and leftover super duper chocolate brownies (see previous post). i liked the combination of lemon and ginger. here's the recipe...

...recipe from the july 2006 issue of Bon Appétit magazine
for the crust
1 1/4 cups finely ground gingersnap cookies, about 25
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon crystalized ginger, minced
5 tablespoons butter, melted

for the filling
2 cups ice cubes
1/4 cup Water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
lemon peel strips from 1 lemon, removed with citrus zester

For crust: Preheat oven to 350F. Mix cookie crumbs, sugar, crystalized ginger, and butter together in a medium bowl. Press into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake about 8 minutes. Cool completely.

For filling: Pour enough cold water into a medium bowl to come halfway up sides; add 2 cups ice cubes and set aside.

Pour 1/4 cup water into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 15 minutes.

Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, egg yolks, grated lemon peel, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan to blend. Whisk constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens very slightly (mixture will coat spoon but will not be thick like curd), about 6 minutes, do not boil. Add gelatin mixture; whisk until gelatin dissolves and mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Place saucepan in bowl with ice water until lemon filling is cool to touch, whisking occationally, about 8 minutes. Transfer lemon filling to large bowl.

Beat whipping cream with powdered sugar in another bowl until peaks form. Fold 1/4 of whipped cream into lemon filling until incorporated. Fold in remaining whipped cream in 3 additions. Transfer filling to cool crust, mounding slightly in center. Refrigerate pie until filling is set, about 4 hours.

Can be made one day ahead.

Toss lemon peel strips with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in small bowl; let stand 10 minutes. Twist peel to form curls. Garnish center of pie with lemon peel curls.

Happy Father's Day

this afternoon after church we had lunch together at the passerellis. the startts joined us. the girls and i gave dan a couple of dvds, The Matrix, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Seinfeld Seasons 1 & 2. for dessert i made super duper chocolate brownies and served them with vanilla ice cream. here's the recipe...

...recipe my own creation
1 stick butter, melted
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 bars good dark chocolate (such as lindt), broken into squares

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil and grease with butter. Whisk the cocoa into the melted butter and add sugar, egg, and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Pour half the mixture into prepared pan. Place dark chocolate squares on top of the brownie mixture to completely cover. Then spread the rest of the brownie mixture over the top. Bake for about 25 mintes. Cool completely in the pan. When cool peel off foil and cut into squares.

Missions Conference Scones

i made scones to go on our display table at the river's edge missions conference. everyone seemed to enjoy them and i had lots of requests for them to be put on the blog. for the conference i made them small instead of big. i cut them out with the square cutter from the wilton scalloped mini cookie cutter Set. here's the recipe...



...chocolate chip-toffee scones recipe from the septmember 1997 issue of Bon Appétitmagazine
3 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped
1/2 cup toffee bits
2 cups chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted
additional sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease 2 large baking sheets. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, chocolate chips, waltnuts, and toffee bits in a large bowl. In another large bowl beat the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the dry ingredients. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Knead gently until soft dough forms, about 2 minutes. Form dough into ball; pat out to form 1 1/4 inch thick round. Cut dough into 12 wedges.

Transfer wedges to prepared baking sheets, spacing apart. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.

London Dessert

last night we had a dessert at dan's parents house to share with people about london. it was a lot of fun getting to see people we hadn't seen in a while and meeting some new people. i made the desserts for the evening. we had butterfinger cookies, cheesecake and fudgy chocolate-raspberry bars. the fudgy chocolate-raspberry bars were a new recipe and they turned out really well. here's the recipe...

...recipe from the august 1997 issue of Bon Appétit
for the cake:
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup butter, cut in small pieces
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

for the glaze:
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
12 ounces fresh raspberries

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil. Butter and flour the foil. Melt chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Add jam whisk until melted. Cool slightly.

With a mixer beat sugar and eggs in a large bowl until mixture thickens, about 6 minutes. Fold in the flour and baking powder. Gradually fold in the chocolate mixture.

Pour batter into pan. Bake until top cake is slightly crusty, begins to crack and tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 45 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently press down any raised edges of cake to even. Cool in pan. Invert cake onto platter. Peel off foil. Trim 1/2 inch off each edge of cake.

For the glaze: Stir cream and jam over medium heat in a small saucepan until the jam melts; bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Let stand until cool but still spreadable, about 15 minutes.

Spread glaze over top of cake. Immeadiately arrange berries atop glaze. Chill until glaze sets, about 10 minutes.

Fried Polenta

i made this from the leftover polenta that i made on friday. i've made fried polenta before, but this was especially good because the polenta was flavored. i just rolled up the leftover polenta in some plastic wrap and refrigerated it until it was firm. then sliced it and pan fried it a few minutes on each side in olive oil. then sprinkled them with freshly grated parmesan while they were still warm. it was really good and a great way to use up leftovers.

Reunion

we had our 10 year highschool reunion last night. it was alot of fun seeing everybody again. alot of people we hadn't seen since highschool. this is my friend tim eating crabs. we've been seeing alot of him lately. i brought potstickers for an appetizer. i went to the local asian market and bought frozen potstickers and cooked them and them made my own dipping sauce for them. i got this recipe from a chinese cooking class that i took with a friend. here's the recipe...

...recipe from david's kitchen
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
scallions, chopped

Roasted Gremolata Chicken & Polenta with Mascarpone and Roasted Garlic

i made this chicken last night for dinner. it went really well with the polenta. the chicken is supposed to be marinated overnight, but i didn't have the time so i didn't. i also did not weigh down the chicken during cooking like the recipe says to, again i was short on time and didn't want to fool with it. it was still really good, but next time i would try these things to see if its more flavorful. here are the recipes...

...recipes from the september 1997 issue of Bon Appétitmagazine
roasted gremolata chicken
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 chickens, quartered
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs, toasted
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Mix oil, 2 tablespoons rosemary, 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, and 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic in a medium bowl. Place chicken in a large roasting pan and spoon oil mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and chill overnight.

Mix breadcrumbs, parsley, 2 teaspoons rosemary, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, and 1 teaspoon garlic in a small bowl. Season gremolata with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Heat large heavy skillet over high heat. Add chicken skin side down and cook until brown, about 5 minutes. You may need to do this in batches. Arrange chicken skin side up in the roasting pan. Place baking sheet atop the chicken and weigh down with a heavy large ovenproof skillet to flatten the chicken. Bake 15 minutes. Remove skillet and baking sheet. Continue to roast chicken about 35 minutes longer or until the juices run clear.

Top the chicken with the gremolata and serve.

polenta with mascarpone and roasted garlic
30 whole large garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 1/2 cups chicken stock, plus more
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss garlic with olive oil in a small baking dish. Cover and bake until garlic is tender, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until garlic is very tender, about 10 minutes more. Cool garlic; peel. Puree garlic in food processor and set aside.

Bring 5 1/2 cups chicken stock and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat to medium. Gradually whisk in yellow cornmeal. Continue to cook until the mixture is creamy, whisking occationally and adding more stock a 1/4 cup at a time as necessary to keep the polenta soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in cheese, parsley, and roasted garic puree. Season polenta to taste with salt and pepper.

Creamy Dill Dressing

dan's brother mark graduated from highschool this past week and we had a big party for him on saturday. hopefully i'll get a picture of the party up soon. it was a lot of fun and we had a ton of food. one of my favorite things was this dressing that we used as a dip for veggies. it is really good and is also good on salads, potato salad, and spread on sandwiches.

...recipe from Bon Appétit magazine (i can't remember which issue)
1 1/4 cups mayonaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
onion salt, to taste
3 cloves garlic,minced
2 teaspoons worcestershire

Chicken and Rice Casserole

i served this last night to a group of people and have had several requests for it to be posted on the blog. this is a recipe i got from my grandmother. so here it is for all of you who requested it.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can french onion soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups rice
1 stick butter, melted
1 chicken cut into pieces

Mix the soups together with the water in a 13 x 9 inch (or larger) baking pan. Sprinkle the rice over the mixture, pressing the rice into the mixture. Roll chicken pieces in the butter and place chicken on the rice mixture. Pour butter over the chicken and rice. Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours @ 350F.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

i made these by sandwiching two butterfinger cookies together with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. it was andi's idea to make these cookies into sandwiches. she saw a program on the food network where they were making ice cream sandwiches and suggested we do it with these. she loves them!

...recipe for butterfinger cookies (i can't remember where i got it from, i've had it for a while.)
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 1/4 cups peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 Butterfinger bars, chopped

Instructions: Cream butter and sugars. Add egg whites. Blend in peanut butter and vanilla. Add combined flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in candy bars. Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls. Bake @ 375 for 10-12 minutes.