Pecan Crusted Chicken

Recipe taken from wellplated.com

Eric didn't like very much, so probably won't make again. Oh well. Wish I had posted this last month because I don't remember it as well.  I think he likes the sesame encrusted chicken better because I marinate the chicken in soy sauce etc, which I obviously didn't do here, so maybe it was a bit too dry and not as flavorful.  

Oh and Eric told me to dust it with flour before dipping in egg, which I think actually messed it up more and made it so the pecans/panko didn't stick when I went to flip the chicken.  Or maybe I shouldn't have flipped the chicken at all.  Anyways, when I went to flip, basically the crust all came off.  

Plus, I ran out of eggs, pecan/panko, before I was finished with the chicken tenders, which sucked.  I think I used 1/4 cup because that's what I used for the sesame one, and need to use the full 1/2 cup.

Ingredients:

-2 large eggs

-1 cup pecan halves

-1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

-1 tsp dried basil

-1/2 tsp kosher salt

-1/4 tsp coarse black pepper

-chicken tenders

Directions:

-Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper

-Lightly beat eggs in shallow bowl

-Pulse pecans in food processor --> mix with panko, basil, salt, pepper (also garlic)

-Dip chicken tender in eggs, then pecan mixture (did the flour beforehand per Eric, and didn't like)

-Place chicken tenders on sheet and spray with olive oil (think I forgot this step, too)

-Back for 15 to 20 min

*American

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Made and was a hit.  Recipe from loveandlemons.com

Ingredients

-6 medium tomatillos

-1/4 medium yellow onion, cut into large chunks - (would do 1/3 onion bc didn't use burnt pieces)

-1 serrano or jalapeno pepper

-2 garlic cloves, unpeeled, wrapped in foil

-1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

-1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice - think I used one full lime and it was a lil too limey

-1/4 cup chopped cilantro

-1/2 to 3/4 tsp sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Remove husks from tomatillos and rinse under cool water to remove stickiness

3. Place tomatillos, onion, pepper on baking sheet - sprayed with olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper

4. Place wrapped garlic on pan

5. Roast for 15 min or until tomatillos are soft

6. Add all ingredients into food processor (add water if too thick)

Didn't add onion pieces that were too burnt, so add extra onions to pan.  Will make again.  Summer is when tomatillos are in season.  Hmmm.

*Mexican

*Appetizer

Chicken Cauliflower Alfredo

Taken from Fitmencook.com 

This one didn't hit the mark.  Won't be making again.  Posting for the memories, I guess.  Good idea, but I guess if we are not into the original chicken alfredo as much, then this one didn't have much of a chance.  Ended up adding a bunch of italian seasoning, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to make it better.

Ingredients for sauce (for 6 servings):

-olive oil

-3/4 cup of onion diced (used whole small yellow onion)

-2 1/4 Tbsp garlic (used like 6 cloves)

-18 oz cauliflower (used 2 bags of 10 oz)

-2 1/4 cups almond milk

-1 1/2 cups grated parmesan (used the whole block and took forever to grate, so don't do that again - eric said maybe use a different cheese next time)

-1 1/2 pinches sea salt

1 1/2 pinches pepper

Ingredients

-1 1/4 lb chicken breasts, cut

-1 bunch of asparagus

-pasta

Directions:

1. Steam cauliflower bags and set aside

2. Boil pasta and set aside

3. Cook asparagus in air fryer

3. Saute onions and garlic for 2-3 min in olive oil, or until onions slightly brown and translucent

4. Transfer onions and garlic to blender, along with remaining ingredients for the sauce.  Blend until smooth and fine.  Season to taste with pepper.  Add more almond milk or water for thinner sauce.

5. Cook chicken

6. Add sauce to chicken

7. Combine chicken, sauce, asparagus, and pasta together in bowl

*Italian

Winter cocktails

Have a lot of different liquors right now, so to use some bottles up, I made some cocktails last weekend for UFC.  Everything was put in shaker with ice and divided between me, Eric, Jasmine, and Ian.

*UPDATED - did a few more for New Year's Eve 2021 with Eric, Jasmine, and Thomas.

Screwball Whiskey Peanut Butter Cup Shots (by homebodyeats.com)

-1 part peanbut butter whiskey (Screwball)

-1 part coffee liqueur (Kahlua)

-1 part milk of choice (almond milk)

-Reddi whip (coconut milk) to top off

Notes: very tasty

White Russian

-2 parts vodka

-1 part Kahlua

-1 part heavy cream/milk (used lite coconut milk) - other recipes vary amount of this

Notes: not as good as 1st one, tasted too strong, maybe 1 parts of each next time

Peppermint White Russian (another website, but also on The Marvelous Misadventures)

-1 part vodka

-1 part Kahlua

-1 part peppermint schnapps

-1 part milk (used almond milk)

-ground up candy cane around rim of glass

Notes: maybe less peppermint? I think I liked the Peppermint cocktail below with the white chocolate liqueur better than Kahlua.

Mistletoe Martini Cranberry Christmas cocktail (by mixthatdrink.com)

-1.5 oz vodka

-0.5 oz elderflower liquer

-1.5 oz cranberry juice

-0.5 oz simple syrup (didn't make, so used grenadine syrup)

-mint leaves

Notes: Eric liked this one the best

Peppermint cocktail (couldn't find original, but similar one found on thecocktailbird.com)

-1 part vanilla vodka (only had regular vodka)

-1 part white chocolate liqueur

-1 part peppermint schnapps

-ground up candy cane around rim of glass

Notes: Very tasty, some other recipes with milk in it that I would try next time

Cranberry Mule Holiday cocktail (from Aberdeen's Kitchen)

-2 oz bourbon

-1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

-1 oz orange juice

-1 oz cranberry juice

-ginger beer to top off

-add some mint sprigs in shaker

Notes: I'm not sure I liked this as much as Eric.  Maybe try with different liquor like rum

Screwball whiskey peanut butter cup

*Drinks

Green Beans Amandine

Recipe from cookieandkate.com

Ingredients:

-2 Tbsp unsalted butter, sliced (would use olive oil)

-1/2 cup sliced almonds

-1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 1 small)

-1 pound slender green beans, trimmed

-2 tsp lemon juice, to taste

-1 Tbsp + 1/2 cup water, divided

-1/2 tsp fine salt, to taste

-freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions.

1. Melt butter over med-low heat.  Once completly melted, add almonds.  Cook stirring constantly until butter browned and almonds are beginning to brown, about 7-8 min

2. Add shallots and cook for 1 min. 

3. Stir in lemon juice + 1 Tbsp water.  While stirring, cook until liquid thickens enough that spatula leaves an open trail on pan behind it, about 1 more min

4. Scoop out and set aside

5. Cook green beans with 1/2 cup water + 1/2 tsp salt.  Cover and cook over med heat, stirring occ ntil beans are nearly tender about 9-10 min (I used pre-cooked green beans)

6. Remove th elid and cook over med-high heat until liquid evaporates, about 2-4 min

7. Off heat, add almond mixture and toss to combine, season with salt and pepper and serve. 

Notes.

I had doubled recipe and used pre-cooked french green beans.

used in friendsgiving and tasted pretty good

*Sides

*American - sort of

"Fried" rice

Recipe modified from elizabethrider.com sans eggs and peas for Eric.

Ingredients:

-Cooked brown rice (2 cups uncooked for 6 servings)

-avocado oil

-1 jalapeno, diced (or serrano, sliced)

-3 cloves of garlic, cuisinarted

-1 bunch of scallions, chopped

-1 inch of fresh ginger, cuisinarted (probably less, make it equal to amount of garlic)

-3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

-1 tsp rice vinegar

-1 tsp toasted sesame oil

-salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat avocado oil, garlic, jalapeno in pot

2. Add scallions until softened

3. Add rice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, salt, and pepper

4. Stir to combine

Notes:

Writing this over a week after I cooked it, so maybe a little foggy.  I may have added the ginger and scallions at the same time.

Served with the encrusted sesame tenders and oven-roasted broccoli

*Asian

*Sides

One-pan Herb Chicken and Veggies

 Got this recipe off of Instagram - @cleaneatguide, and they got it from Alix Traeger and Tasty

Ingredients (for 6 servings):

-Olive oil

~3 cloves garlic (I used more)

~2 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

~2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

~2 Tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped

-1 package of chicken tenders (1.75 lbs)

-1/2 lemon (I added)

-1 bag of mini-potatoes (1 lb)

-1 bag brussel sprouts (1 lb)

-1 red onion, chopped

-1 green bell pepper

-1 red bell pepper

-1 package of turkey bacon, nitrite free - didn't use

-avocado, cubed

-salt

-pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 400 F

2. Chop thyme, rosemary, sage; cuisinart garlic.

3. Add 1/2 herbs, lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil to chicken and marinate in fridge

4. Chop veggies - brussel sprouts, onion, bell pepper, potatoes

5. Mix veggies and potatoes with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, 1/2 herbs

6. Spread veggies and potatoes on pan lined with parchment paper

7.  Add chicken on top

8.  Sprinkle bacon on top

9. Cook in oven 25-30 min

10.  Add avocado

Notes: I didn't add bell pepper when I cooked, but Eric said it needed it.  I just estimated the herbs when I cut from the garden - was a bit too herb-y.  Should estimate less next time.  Also, I added lemon on my own, not sure if it did need or did not need it.  Easy enough recipe, though.

UPDATE: Cooked again and not as good.  I didn't use bacon this time.  Mainly because the potatoes and brussel sprouts were raw.  Maybe cook the veggies first for 15 min, then add chicken on top and cook for another 15-20?

*American