Oven Fries

I found this recipe from my friend's cooking blog. I looove this recipe because I love french fries (don't most people?) but I hate buying them and eating so much grease and junk. These are a great alternative!

(I'm posting her recipe, with a couple of my modifications.)

3 russet potatoes (8 oz each), peeled, each potato cut lengthwise into 10-12 evenly sized wedges (I always cut more than 3 potatoes. We really like to eat in my house! :) And I never worry too much about getting them the same size.)
5 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil (don’t substitute olive oil)
Salt and ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat to 475. Place potatoes in large bowl and cover with hot tap water; soak 10 minutes. (Don't be tempted to skip soaking, as this is what will give you the crisp crust and soft innards.) (I usually soak them longer, like 20 minutes, and find them to be even softer this way.) Meanwhile, coat 18 x 12 heavy-duty baking sheet with 4 T oil and sprinkle evening with ¾ t. salt and ¼ t. pepper.

Drain potatoes and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Toss potatoes in dry bowl with 1 T oil. Arrange potatoes in single layer on baking sheet, cover tightly with foil (I just use a cookie sheet) and bake 5 minutes.

Remove foil and continue to bake until bottoms of potatoes are spotty golden brown (15-20 min), rotating the pan in the oven after 10 minutes. Using metal spatula and tongs, flip potatoes to other side, keeping in single layer. Continue baking another 5-15 minutes until fries are golden and crisp, rotating pan as needed for even browning.


Yum yum!

Spinach-Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

I volunteered to make dinner again tonight. I love cooking for my family, although sometimes we end up calling for take out! I guess that's part of the wonderful life of experimental cooking!
(I didn't take this picture but it gives you an idea of the final product. Except, my chicken was swimming in bright, delicious tomato sauce.)

Spinach-Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken
Servings: 8

Serve with rice, noodles, or, my personal favorite, sourdough bread!

Ingredients:
18 ounces packaged prewashed fresh spinach
2 1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Ground nutmeg
8 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 family-sized can garlic and herb spaghetti sauce
1 14-15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450°.

To prepare chicken, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add spinach to pan; cook 5 minutes or until spinach begins to wilt, stirring frequently. Drain any excess liquid and finely chop spinach. Place spinach, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and a dash nutmeg; stir well to combine.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Place 1/4 cup mozzarella mixture in the center of each chicken breast, fold over, and secure with 1-2 toothpicks. Place rolls in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish (I used a slightly larger dish). Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over rolls. Combine spaghetti sause, diced tomatoes, and onion. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Bake at 450° for 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is done (gage with meat thermometer. Poultry is thoroughly cooked once the meat reaches 180° F).

Don't forget to remove toothpicks before you dig in! That would be a nasty surprise..

Fresher Fish Tacos

What to do when there is a sale on tilapia and you buy 10 pounds of fish? Have a FIESTA!

Fresher Fish Tacos:
4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos)

Fish:
1 1/2 pounds white fish (I prefer tilapia)
Cooking spray
ground cumin
smoked paprika
ground red pepper
chili powder
cajun seasoning
dash of salt and garlic powder

Lime-Cilantro Crema:
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped FRESH cilantro
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced

(If you're looking for a little bit lighter version, use reduced-fat sour cream and mayonnaise!)

Additional Fix-ins!:
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 bag pre-shredded cabbage
Lime wedges
Avocado
Your favorite tomatoe salsa (My favorite can be found at Ridley's. Their fresh made salsa is absolutely devine!!)

Preperation:

To prepare crema, combine ingredients in a small bowl and store in fridge.

To prepare tortillas, heat a large, dry skillet over medium-high heat, toast tortillas one at a time until crisp and slightly charred on each side. Wrap in a cloth napkin to keep warm.

To prepare fish, preheat large skillet. Sprinkle both sides of fish with seasonings. (I never pre-measure the seasoning for my meat or protein, just go with my instinct. If you don't want super spicy fish, ease up on the chili powder, red pepper, and cajun seasoning. Or, make your own mixture!) Coat skillet with cooking spray. Cook fish about 4 minutes on each side until it flakes easily with a fork. Break fish into chunks and place in a bowl. Keep warm.

Top tortillas with golden fish, crunchy cabbage, a dash of crema, zesty salsa, a slice of avocado, and a spritz of lime!

Frosted Banana Cookies

Yum. These turned out great. Gotta sway from the traditional chocolate chip cookie every once in a while. Recipe from the Land O Lakes website.

Preparation time: 30 min Baking time: 8 min

Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Cookie Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 medium (1 cup) ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (I just used 1 T OJ, but couldn't even taste it)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Glaze Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons half & half or milk
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Grated orange zest, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine 3/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add bananas, egg, orange zest and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat until well mixed.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 1-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons brown sugar and half & half. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil (1 to 2 minutes). Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; beat until well mixed; cool slightly.
Frost cooled cookies. Garnish with grated orange zest, if desired.

Cinnamon Rolls

I have been looking for a really good staple cinn roll recipe for a while - I think I've found it. So far I've had success each time!

3 ½ cups warm water

1 cup oil

¾ cup sugar

5 TBSP yeast

Combine above in large bowl and let rest 15 minutes.

10 ½ cups flour

3 eggs

1 TBSP salt

Mix into yeast mixture 5 cups flour, eggs, and salt with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in by hand the remaining flour. Pour out onto floured board and knead till smooth. Let rest about 15 minutes.

Divide dough in half and roll each half out approximately to 12x30 inches. Melt ½ cup butter and evenly spread out onto rolled out dough (1/4 cup each).

Sprinkle each with a generous amount of cinnamon and about ½ cup sugar. Roll up each half and slice into 20 rolls (40 rolls total).

Place on large cookie sheet (a little larger than a jelly roll pan). Let rise about 20 minutes.

Bake for 10 minutes (or until desired doneness) at 400. Cool for about 5 minutes, then frost with buttercream frosting.

For orange rolls, omit cinnamon and use some grated orange rind instead. When making the frosting, use orange juice instead of milk and add a little orange rind.

Buttercream Frosting:

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 TSP vanilla

3-4 TBSP milk  (enough to make it spreading consistency)

Beat together with electric mixer until smooth.

Cranberry Chicken

This is really similar to the Apricot Chicken recipe I posted before, but worth a try if you feel like mixing it up a bit. There are lots of variations to this recipe, but here's the one I used from Favorite Family Recipes:

3-4 chicken breasts
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 pkg. chopped pecans
1 bottle Catalina dressing
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

Place chicken in baking pan. Generously spread cranberry sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle pecans and onion soup mix over chicken. Pour catalina dressing over top. Bake lightly covered with foil at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.

I couldn't find whole berry cranberry sauce, so i just used the jellied kind and it was fine. I've seen variations that use French dressing instead of Catalina, and raisins instead of chopped pecans.

S'more Brownies

from the Food Network.

I went the lazy route and used a brownie mix but they still turned out fine. Just make sure you don't overcook them.

Crust:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch fine salt

Brownie:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 large cold eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Topping:
4 cups large marshmallows
Directions
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 by-8-inch square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch.

For the crust: Lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter. Stir the rest of the butter together with the crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the brownie. Put the butter and chocolate in a medium microwave safe bowl. Melt in the microwave on 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. Alternatively, put the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl on the pan without touching the water. Stir occasionally until melted. Stir the light brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the melted chocolate. Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter. Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean, with a few crumbs, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat on low. Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, (keep an eye on it, it can go quick), about 2 minutes. Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the aluminum flaps. Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away. Cut into 12 (2-inch) squares.