pan fried chicken a.k.a. the only way to cook a chicken breast

i have to apologize first off because i don't have a picture, but my excuse is that i do not have a picture because i ate my dinner so quickly that the flash from my camera had absolutely no time to go off. this chicken is delicious and incredibly simple to make. i hope you enjoy! 

p.s. in the future i will try and make posts in a more traditional recipe format, but i keep track of the way i prepare meals rather haphazardly as i rarely cook anything the same way twice. keeps my kitchen fun that way. 

3 - 5 (depending on how many you're feeding) boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed off

salt, pepper, dried basil, garlick powder, and / or any other spice flavor combinations you would like to make

2 - 3 Tbs butter (the more butter the better, imo)

rinse off your chicken breasts and pat them dry with a paper towel. place them on a workable surface to season them. over medium(ish) heat melt the butter in a heavy skillet or cast iron pan. season one side of your chicken breasts (i prefer a lot of seasoning, but i know that varies upon taste) and pat the seasonings into the chicken so it sticks when you turn them over, turn them over and season the other side so they are pan ready (also patting the seasonings in on this side, as well). 

when the butter is all melted in your pan place your chicken breasts in ... now comes the most important part of this entire cooking experience: DO NOT PLAY WITH YOUR CHICKEN. the trick to perfect pan friend chicken is not over-turning it. pan friend chicken is tender, retains juices like you will not believe, but the trick is not to play with it. once you put your chickens down in the butter just leave them. (do not even smoosh them around. walk away if need be.) do NOT cover the pan, in fact, steaming the chickens actually makes them tougher and will also ruin this perfect chicken cooking technique. 

after 3 - 4 minutes, flip the chicken over and allow it to cook happily, without being played with (again) for another 5 minutes or so. not smooshing the chickens around will also allow the seasonings to make a perfect little crust of happiness on your chicken breasts. depending on how thick your chicken breasts are you may need to turn them once or twice more after the 5 minutes are up. chickens should have a nice brown seasoning crust on them. i cook my chicken to 165 degree internal temperature, as they will continue cooking after you take them off the burner.

when your chickens are cooked to 165 internal temp remover them from the pan and cover them on a plate. here is where you can get creative.

tonight i made a pasta with this chicken. i used Bertolli's 4 cheese Rosa and tossed some of the pasta sauce w/ noodles and reserved the rest of the sauce for the buttery leavings in the chicken pan. after removing the chicken from the pan i quickly threw in some chopped garlick (like a Tablespoon, but i LOVE garlick) and browned it for about a minute before adding in some of the pasta sauce, a bit more basil and a lot of pepper, and a little parmesan cheese. i stirred that together and used it as a sauce to top the chicken. 

an alternative to this recipe that is one of my favorites is using crushed rosemary instead of basil. after removing the chicken i sauté up some red onions, zucchini, and an occasional tomato or red pepper and deglaze with a bit of white wine and lemon to top both the chicken and a bit of pasta (carb junkie, right here.) 

this variation on chicken should allow you a lot of room to play with flavors. try pairing your favorite seasonings and veggies and if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments. i will keep my next recipe to less that, oh, this many words, but i felt like this needed a bit of extra explanation.

let me know what you think!!

happy eating, 

kerry

Tin Foil Dinners

Tin Foil Dinners, perfect the beginning of summer:

The cool thing with Tin Foil Dinners is you can add whatever you want, here are some ideas.

Ingredients:
cut up potatoes
asparagus
Cream of Chicken
Salt
Pepper
cut up carrots
Meat of Choice or leave Meatless
Pack of dry onion soup mix
Italian Dressing
onions
broccoli
green beans
butter

Place ingredients in a bowl to mix together prior or just throw it all on top of a piece of tin foil, you want a big enough piece to cover the ingredients. We usually wrap ours 3-4 times to ensure nothing leaks out.

Cooking over the fire:
Make sure you have coals that are hot, takes about 20 minutes.
Cook your tin foil dinners for 20-30 minutes and then turn over on the other side for 20-30 minutes.
Open up and eat.

Enjoy!

Lemon Bars- Only 3 points!!

This is an easy recipe for some great lemon bars that taste delicious! The crust is buttery and tender, and the filling lemony and velvety. Yummy!

Weight Watchers Lemon Bars recipe
Makes 16 bars

Ingredients

For the crust
1/3 cup sweet unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For the topping
2 large eggs or egg whites, lightly beaten with a fork until foamy
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

Additional ingredient
1/4 cup powdered sugar or icing sugar, for dusting tops

Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Using a pastry blender, combine the crust ingredients until the mixture resembles crumbs.
3. Using your fingers, press the mixture into a greased and floured 8″ square glass baking pan (make sure that the entire bottom of the pan is evenly covered).
4. Bake partially for about 15 minutes, then remove from the oven.
5. While the crust is prebaking, combine the filling ingredients and pour over the warm crust.
6. Bake for about 15-20 minutes (or until lightly browned), being careful not to overbake.
7. Let cool completely.
8. Once cool, sift the powdered sugar over the top, according to your taste.
9. Slice into 16 bars and serve.

WW POINTS for one lemon bar: 3
Nutritional information for one lemon bar: 123 calories, 4.5g fat, 0.3g fiber

Taco Scoops

I think that we have tacos at least once a month at our house, they are quick, easy and yummy. So I decided to spice things up a little and made Taco Scoops, bite size tacos! Dress these babies up any way you want-salsa, ranch, guacamole, refried beans or whatever your tummy desires! These Taco Scoops are perfect for kids, game night or any party!

Tostito Scoops Chips
1 pound ground beef
1 package Taco Seasoning
Cheddar Cheese
Salsa
Ranch
Chopped Olives


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the Tostito Scoops on the pan. Brown the ground beef with the taco seasoning. Fill the Scoops with the ground beef and top with cheddar cheese and olives. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with salsa and ranch.

If you like refried beans, before you fill the Scoops with ground beef put a little scoop of beans on the bottom of the Scoops and then fill with ground beef.

Cafe Rio anyone?

**I got these recipes from my Ward cookbook but am sure they are posted else where**

Café Rio Pork


Slow cook your pork roast in a crock pot with garlic and a little water until you can pull it apart. At that point add the following: 1 can diced green chilis, 1 to 2 cans of medium or hot enchilada sauce (the red stuff), depending on how much pork you use 1 can of either Dr. Pepper or Coke, at least 1 cup of brown sugar but use as much more as you want to get your sweetness, salt to taste. Make your recipe a little on the strong side as once you add it to a tortilla it mutes the flavors just a bit

Cafe Rio Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch
1 cup mayo 1 cup cilantro,
chopped 2 cloves garlic,
chopped 3 tomatillos - peel off paper, chop
1/3 - 1/2 cups buttermilk, to consistency you want
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
Put in blender and mix.

Homemade tortillas
3 C. flour
1/2 C. veggie or olive oil
1 1/8 C. luke warm water
1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. baking powder
Mix all ingredients and knead. If too hard to knead, add a little water but if too sticky add a little more flour. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Makes about 12 small balls. Flatten each by rolling them out and then cook them in a frying pan

Cafe Rio Rice
3 c water
4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic –minced
½ bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles—or equivalent fresh
¾ t salt
1 T butter
½ onion
3 c rice

Blend cilantro, green chile's and onion together in food processor. Bring water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes

Congo Bars

So easy and delicious!


1 3/4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cube of margarine

almost 1/3 cup of vegetable oil

2 1/2 tsp of baking powder

3 eggs

1 box (2 and 1/3 cups) of brown sugar

1 package of chocolate chips


Melt margarine and add sugar and oil. Cool a little before adding eggs, one at a time. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Bake in a 10x15" pan for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.



Enjoy!

Please find original post here (Love her blog)

P. F. Chang's Mongolian Beef

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions


Directions....
1-Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat.
2-Don't get the oil too hot.
3-Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.
4-Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
5-Remove it from the heat.
6-Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices.
7-Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.
8-Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.
9-Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.
10-As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil).
11-Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.
12-Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.
13-You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later.
14-Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
15-After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.
16-Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.
17-Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions.
18-Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.
19-Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan

Enjoy!!


Find the recipe here

Easy Tacos

Makes 6 (2-taco) servings.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 package Seasoning Mix

3/4 cup water
12 taco shells
Assorted toppings such as shredded lettuce, chopped tomato and shredded cheese
DIRECTIONS
1. Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Drain fat. 2. Stir in Seasoning Mix and water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 3. Spoon into warmed taco shells. Serve with assorted toppings.

Weird but Simple Brownies

First off this sounds super crazy and weird, but I promise you will not be disappointed!

All you need are these two ingredients:

(You can also use Low-Fat Brownie Mix)

First: take the can of black beans-rinse and drain them.

then put the beans in a blender or food processor

add 1 cup of water to the beans and blend




















add the slop into the brownie mix

Pour into baking pan. You can also add chocolate chips which I what I ended up doing
bake according to the box instructions..................















The end results: The most moist and perfect brownies, EVER!!!















Recipe came from: busybeelauren.blogspot.com