My Own Spin...ach &Tomato Chicken

I was attempting to re-create a dish (from memory) that I ordered at a couple of different restaurants the past month or so. I'd been craving this dish, and eating at those restaurants can get a little pricey. Because I didn't have an exact recipe to follow, I just drummed it up with my very own spin. Let me tell you. I surprised myself. I actually think my version was way better suited to my taste buds. (and I didn't even use a white wine sauce) I truly didn't expect that. I thought this would, like everything else, take several tries to get it right. Because I went into this blindly as a test, I only made a small portion-only 2 chicken breasts. I think it's a rule of the universe that the smaller the portion available, the better it tastes. When you have more than enough of something, you just don't want it. Go figure.

As usual, there are no exact measurements here. Here's what I did in case you'd like to try it also.

Spinach & Sun-dried Tomato Topped Chicken Breasts

You will need:
2 chicken breasts (or more if you'd like)
  *I used boneless and skinless. However the ones I had in the restaurants had skin and bones.
lemon juice (about 1/4 cup)
paprika
garlic, minced or chopped
sun-dried tomatoes
garlic powder
salt
fresh ground pepper
parsley
cumin
oregano
basil
Panko bread crumbs,lightly seasoned with Parmesan cheese
olive oil
Kraft mayo
lemon pepper seasoning
baby spinach, rinsed
feta or goat cheese, whichever you prefer
foil
a frying pan
another pan for the oven if your frying pan won't hold up in the oven

I took 2 thawed and cleaned chicken breasts and put this in a freezer bag with the lemon juice, salt, pepper,lemon pepper,  paprika, parsley,cumin, garlic powder, ground black pepper, oregano, dried basil. Mix well. Seal the bag. Shake and massage. Let it marinade in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.
After 3 hours, drain the juice.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the frying pan (I used a cast iron pan) to medium heat and coat with about a tbsp of olive oil. You only want to leave it on both side long enough to sear and brown.Not to be fully cooked. Remove from the pan.  Slather a thin layer of mayo on both sides of each breast and coat with panko bread crumbs. Toss it back in the pan.Cover with foil. (Careful not to burn yourself!) Let it bake in the oven until golden brown. This took less than 30 minutes I believe.

When the chicken is nearing done, fire up a skillet to medium heat. Coat the pan with olive oil. Toss in some minced or chopped garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes. Saute' until spinach is dark shiny and withered. Turn heat off. Toss in cheese so that it slightly melts but not totally.   

Remove chicken from oven. Once on plate top with sauteed topping. As you can see, I placed mine over a bed of garlic butter basmati rice on this trial run. Next time I'll do this over a bed of pasta I think. 

This came out super tender and juicy for me. It seemed so perfect in the moment. I ate every single bite and wished I'd had leftovers the next night.

Good luck to you. As always, feel free to comment and let me know how yours turned out of you tried it.

~Until Again~

Easy Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

wish I would've gotten a better picture before I devoured it

So, I'm having an "afternoon on a hard day's" snack and wondering how come I  never put these chocolate covered cookie dough bites in my ice cream sundae's before?! Yeah, I feel a whole lot better now.  

Playing catch up on the recipes now. Here's one for Cheesy Chicken Lasagna. It's basically my mom's recipe but with chicken subbed for the beef and a few added seasonings. My sister loves it. (And her family even after they initially turned their noses up at the thought one Thanksgiving. But we're not going to go there right now.)
Hopefully you and your family will enjoy it also. 

This is actually a pretty good recipe to use when you have leftover baked chicken, but maybe not quite enough to feed the whole family.  Even if you don't have left over baked chicken when the craving stikes, you can always use your favorite unseasoned shredded chicken breast.

Chicken Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles
1/2-1 lb chopped or shredded chicken 
1-2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
tbsp chopped or minced garlic
1/4 of a onion, chopped
onion powder, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
thyme, to taste
oregano, to taste
rosemary, to taste
basil, to taste
salt, to taste
4 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
4 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese


Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. 
Boil a large pot of water with just a couple drops of olive oil in it.
Preheat a medium deep skillet or pot on medium heat lightly coated with olive oil.

Boil one pack of lasagna noodles to tender.

Chicken :
I use less than a pound of chicken everytime unless less I'm making a huge pan for a gathering.
Saute this with green and red bell peppers, onion, chopped garlic, black pepper, rosemary.
Once light golden brown, add tomato paste and tomato sauce. Season with onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, basil, salt to your liking. This should be very thick and not at all soupy. Simmer on low for at least 10 minutes.

Coat pan (8X8 or 9X12, whichever size you need) with olive olive. Line the bottom of pan 1 layer of drained noodles. Top that with a layer of the chicken/tomato mixture. Top that with a layer of ricotta. (Helps to slightly swirl it in the sauce. Keep alternating these layers until the pay is almost full or you run out. Top it with lots of mozz! Bake in the over until it's nice and melty and bubbly. Yum!

I strongly suggest you let it cool before you take a bite. :)

Easy, cheesy, warm and a little bit greasy. 

-Until again-

CHOCOLATE DIPPED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Be forewarned.  

This recipe may be simple. But these yummy little buttery buggers will get you into trouble if you eat too many. And it won't be so simple burning those calories. So stick to eating one or two, and sharing the rest. :)

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened **no substitutions**

1/4 tsp vanilla

the slightest dash of ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together butter, sugar, vanilla in a medium to large bowl. Add flour little by little to make sure it's well blended. If it's crumbly like old play-do, you need more butter. 

Lightly flour the surface you'll use. Roll out the the dough 1/2 inch thick. You can cut it into any shape you like. The ones pictured about are heart shaped ones I made around Valentine's last year.

Line them on a dry cookie sheet.

Bake for about 18 minutes. Once they've been removed from the oven and  had a chance to cool, you can dip those suckers into some melted milk chocolate. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes to allow the chocolate to set.

Now they're ready to eat....Or bag up nicely to give to someone special.  

Mmmmmmm! Drooling. 

Don't be afraid to get creative and add shaved chocolate or white chocolate or sprinkles or peanut butter cup crumbles or nuts. The possibilities are endless.

~Until again~

Cocoa Kahlua Bread

According to Hallmark's site calender, today is National Chocolate Cake Day. Imagine that. They make days for everything. 

I posted a recipe for I Have a Dream-y Chocolate Cake  last week. Here is another recipe for Cocoa Kahlua Sweet Bread (fairly cake-like). It also uses the Amish Bread Starter like the Banana Bread does. 

Cocoa-Kahlua Bread

(makes enough to fit one bundt pan or 2 medium sized bread pans)

1 c Amish starter

2 c all-purpose flour

1 c granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 tbsp original Kahlua Rum & Coffee liqueur

1/4 tbsp Kahlua Cinnamon Spice liqueur

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

*optional* powdered sugar for dust the top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, combine the chocolate chips and butter in microwave. (Don't leave it in longer than maybe 30 seconds or you'll have burnt chocolate. You could also melt by stove-top.) Stir well. Add bread starter, vanilla, and liqueurs.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. 

Alternate adding this dry mixture and the eggs to the wet mixture. Blend well until you have a smooth consistent batter.

Pout the mixture in the pan. 

Bake for about 45 minutes or until inserted toothpicks comes out clean.
When cooled, you may opt to dust the loaf with powdered sugar. 

Enjoy.

-until again-

Granny's Vegetable Soup

vegetable soup and cornbread

So the past couple of days were pretty cold here (by southern standards) and all I wanted to do after work was get home and cuddle up under 5 blankets and have warm food and drink served to me by a foot rubbing manservant. (No luck on the foot rubs or menservants though- darn.) I was also being very cheap. So time's like this, I reach for inexpensive comfort food--like my Granny's homemade vegetable soup. She made this a good bit growing up and still does. When I left for college, I made a point to call her and ask her how to make this. Surprisingly, she actually shared this one. Probably because it's a common southern soup- no big secrets here. She used to make a big pot, and before it's fully cooked she'd take out maybe half, let it reach room temp, and then freeze it for later so it'd be ready in a pinch at a later date. I sometimes do the same. It's simple and inexpensive to make. Our family loves it. It certainly has warmed my bones many a times in the chilly night air. The weird thing is, I usually crave this the most in the summer months for some reason. So, this is the first time this winter I've made it.

It's important to note, that this tastes it's absolute best when you use all fresh and locally grown ingredients. Well, at least that my opinion. But it's okay to use canned or frozen too-- nobody's is judging here. I like it best with cornbread crumbled into it. It also goes well with Townhouse crackers.

I've heard of people adding meat to it--chicken, sausage, ground beef or turkey, beef tips etc. We've both tried that. I prefer it WITHOUT meat hands down. But if that floats your boat, by all means add some to yours.  I've also tried this with sweet peas, carrots, onions, etc. Sometimes, simpler is just plain better.

These measurements aren't exact. You can just eyeball as we so often do. Of course my pot is smaller because it's just me here. I'll eat for a few days by myself if I don't happen to share and maybe freeze some.

Granny's Vegetable Soup

Water- 1 1/2 cups if using canned ingredients, 2- 2 1/2 cups if fresh ingredients
a pinch of salt
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil or margarine
1 tbsp sugar
Tomatoes-
   If fresh, go with 4-5 peeled diced tomatoes
   If canned,  a combined total of around 42 oz
Potatoes (2 russets peeled or 3-4 red unpeeled or peeled)
2 cups Okra, cut- fresh or frozen, rinsed
Corn-
   If fresh, 1 cup loose cut whole kernel golden sweet 
   If canned- I like to use Green Giant Super Sweet White & Yellow corn mix 
      You could also substitute with a can of creamed corn if that's all you have. Found this out by mistake in a            
       pinch. It will make it slightly sweeter so I suggest cutting the sugar in half if you do.
*optional* strip fatback- (Granny uses this- I personally don't because I think it tastes fine without it)

All of your vegetables should be well rinsed/washed before cutting and using. Doesn't hurt to rinse them after peeling and cutting too.

You can either make this stove-top or in the crock-pot. 

If you use the crock-pot just dump it all in and let it cook on low for 5-6 hours. Stir every so often.

If you're going the stove top route and you want it like Granny's. On medium-low heat fry up a strip of fatback. I usually skip this part.
Then add water, salt, sugar, veg oil or margarine whichever you chose. Do not add anything else for at least 5 minutes. Bring to a boil.  (As a note, Granny told me whenever I'm cooking something that requires a boil etc to let the seasonings and water simmer/boil together first for a few minutes before adding what's being cooked. I think this helps a good bit with even distribution on flavoring too).
Add okra, corn, potatoes, and tomatoes. Boil for about 30 minutes. Simmer covered on medium-low heat for at least an hour before serving. 


Easy, pleasy, hot and steamy.

-Until again-

Glazed Ham

a plate full of southern goodness
soda glazed ham, fried okra, pinto beans w/ onion,
cornbread , crockpot mac-n-cheese & sweet tea

I felt it was time to add a little meat to the FTFC pot.
No, I haven't given up on the 30 days of chocolate, just buying some time to taking better pics of those. :)  

You might want to bookmark this ham recipe for Easter.

The "honey glazed ham" is a recipe for a special occasion or a larger crowd using a 4-6lb ham.  I get asked to make this every holiday and some regular days. My bro-in-law asked for it so much I gave the recipe to my sister though I don't think she's used it yet. I think I got this one off the internet and maybe tweaked it a very little bit.  
The "Cherry-Coke Glazed Ham" recipe is a Mel El original. This is for one family of maybe 2-5 people. 
They are both equally scrumpdiddlyumpscious. I make no claims for a healthy meat dish. Eat at your own risk. 

Honey-Glazed HamNeeded:
4-6 lb cooked or uncooked ham
2c honey
2c brown sugar
1/3c apple cider vinegar
2 tsp nutmeg
2tsp cinnamon
2tsp cloves

For an uncooked ham:
Put water (maybe a cup and half) in the bottom of a large roasting pan. (This is for steam and to keep it moist during a long cooking process so it won't dry out.) Cover semi-snugly with foil. Bake at 325-350 degrees for 1 hr. Mix the remaining ingredients together. (This is not going to smell all that great and it's going to look horrible. But I promise once the sugar melts during cooking it will look like a glaze and smell fantastic.)  Pour HALF the glaze on the ham. Cook for another 1.5 hrs. Pour the rest of the glaze on the ham. Cook for another 2 hrs basting it every 30 minutes. The last 10-20min you can uncover it if you so desire a deeper browned appearance. But you may lose some of the moisture.

For a pre-cooked (smoked) ham:
Glaze immediately and cook for 1-1.5 hrs basting it every 30min. 


Cherry-Coke Glazed Ham
Needed:
1-2 packs of pre-sliced hamsteaks (I usually use the Farmland traditional fully-cooked pack that has 7 hamsteak slices in it. The package is blue. I tend to stick with this because I'm familiar with it and I know it's real ham and not that horrible  gritty "ham product" stuff that disgraces the freezer sections. )
3/4 can (6oz) of Cherry Coke
1 cup of brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp clove

Preheat the oven to 350. In a foil baking bag (you can make one by folding the foil in half and rolling the ends tightly together if you don't have any on hand) put the ham steaks in the bag.  Place this bag in a baking dish deep enough to catch any extra glaze that may leak out. Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, dry mustard, nutmeg, clove and pancake syrup together in a bowl.  Pour that mixture into the bag.  It doesn't have to be evenly because the mixture will thin out during cooking.  Last pour in the Cherry coke. (3/4 of the can if using 1 pckg, the entire can if using 2) Seal the bag in the pan.  Cook for about 45min to an hour.  No need to cook uncovered.  Each slice will be juicy and full of sweet flavor.

As always, if you try it, tell me about it. 

-Until Again-

I Have a Dreamy Chocolate Cake

Ok so, chocolate cake and Dr. MLK, Jr have nothing to do with eachother, but since it's his birthday, I'd thought I'd squeeze a reference in there somewhere. Why not celebrate the progress of America in civil rights with a hunk of super moist, super rich, decadent goodness?  I mean, we are still in the 30 days of chocolate stretch to Valentine's Day. 

By the way, I've never been a huge fan of chocolate cake, which is why this one doesn't have chocolate icing. To me, there is such a thing as too much chocolate. But this one I do like. So far, it's the only I've ever bothered to make note of the recipe for future cravings. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Chocolate Cake (with vanilla glaze) (for small 8x8 square pan or small bundt pan)

 For the batter you need:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp salt
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (or 1 stick) butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup of fresh brewed coffee (still warm but not boiling)

For the glaze you need:
1 cup of confectioners sugar
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or non-stick spray (same thing) the pan to be used.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon. 
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Until its light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the dry mixture. 
While the coffee is still warm, slowly stir it into the batter.  It should look slightly watery/runny. Not as thick as usual cake batters. You will indeed be compelled to add more flour if you're used to mixing cake batters. But do refrain.

Pour the smooth, well blended batter in the pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes our mostly clean. (Because it's so moist, some will stick. If it comes out completely clean, it's overdone.)

While the cake is in the oven, mix the confectioners sugar, milk, and vanilla in a bowl until its smooth with almost no visible sugar clumps. 
Once the cake is cool, drizzle it over the cake.

It's so yummy and easy pleasey, so pass me a piecey.

-Until again-

Chocolate is the New Chocolate: Chocolate Chip Cookies

prob not the greatest picture

Seriously though, it really is. Since it's discovery chocolate has done nothing but bring lots of smiles and make a lot of people rich. It comes in so many forms. You can alter the look and taste of it. You can use it for art purposes. You can dress it down for at home hangouts or dress it up for upscale menus. Certain kinds are even good for you. But there's no mistaking the fact that chocolate always reminds us of comfort and childhood. 

Although I don't much celebrate it, Valentine's Day is right around the corner. So I thought my next few recipe-related posts will have something to do with chocolate. Fellas, (if I even have any male readers at all), women will tell you they want a lot of things. There's nothing like a man that can cook and/or bake. While all the other Joe's are out stocking up on boxed candy that's been on the shelf since Halloween, you could be stunning your lady with your "from scratch" treasures. I guarantee she'll brag that you tried, even if it doesn't come out right or even edible. She'll be glad you put in the time, the effort, and the thought.  

I get asked to make these chocolate chip cookies quite a bit. They've been tested for the last 6 years. I haven't received a complaint yet. I only tweaked a few things from a recipe I got online. Now, I can't remember what the website was that I got it from, otherwise I just would've posted the link and added my notes instead of taking the time to fully type this out. 

This recipe will make at least 80 small cookies. If I'm not giving out out baskets to various folk, I like to ball up all the dough and freeze it Otis Spunkmeyer style.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter (If you sub the butter you might as well not bake these)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 granulated white sugar
2 (3.4oz) boxes of instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
2 tbsp Watkin's Double Strength Vanilla (this brand & variety makes ALL the difference)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups of Nestle Toll-house semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups of Nestle Toll-house milk chocolate chips
**as always 1 cup pecans are optional if you go for that kind of thing
roll of parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a couple of pans with parchment paper. (Note: If you're make the entire batch at once, obviously there won't be enough room to bake them all at once if you're using a standard size home oven. You'll have to bake them in rounds until you get them all done. Maybe 2-4 rounds.

In medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients little by little. Make sure it's well blended. Add the chocolate chips (and nuts if you absolutely must.)

Once mixed, it's best to refrigerate it a couple of hours before to harden so your cookies won't come out super flat. But it's not mandatory or anything.
You can drop them on the pan by the spoonful (or 3 spoonfuls if you like larger cookies.) However, if presentation is important, I suggest you use your hands to roll them into 1.5in balls. Use your finger to press in the middle of the ball on the parchment paper covered cookie sheet. This should help you get them as close to perfectly round as possible.

I like my cookies a little gooey and not quite fully done so I take them out around the 8 minute mark. Just before they're browning. But if you like them done to the point in the picture about, that's about 10-12 minutes. Ovens vary, so just keep your eye on them.

Enjoy that nice plate of cookies with a tall glass of milk or a warm mug of hot cocoa.

If you are giving these as gifts, I suggest you not simply Ziploc bag it. Try stacking them in cellophane bags and tying a nice ribbon around it or using some decorative baker's boxes with a nice handwritten note tag. Personal gifts are always the best. Makes a person feel....thought about.

Don't forget to let me know how your batch turned out.

-Until again-

Breakfast Buddies Banana Nut Bread

 

Happy Hump Day! I tell ya, I'm so glad to be on the down slope of the week. It hasn't been a bad week by any means, and I usually wouldn't wish my life away. However, I'd gotten so used to sleeping late over vacation, I think my body is upset with me. (So is the dog as he has gone back on his usual crating schedule and I guess he thought those days were over and I'd never go back to work.) Needless to say, if I can help it I will most certainly sleep until at least 10am on Saturday. (Lord willing hopefully this whole construction thing outside is over and the noise won't ruin my not-so-needed R&R.)

I suppose it's time for another recipe. So here you go. A sweet, kind of cake-like, bread. This one starts with 2 cups of Amish Friendship Bread starter. Here is a link for that.
  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/amish-friendship-bread-starter/
Or you could just Google it and a gillion search results will pop up. WARNING: This is only for the patient. It takes at least 10 days. Your home will smell like wonderful yeasty breaded goodness the entire time and your stomach will curse you for teasing the nostrils and not following through with delivery of delicious bits heaven to it.

I myself have a tree nut allergy. This recipe makes two loaves. So I usually make one loaf with nuts  and one loaf without. Bread, cakes, cookies, brownies--there's always a family member that asks me "Where's the nuts? You need to put those in there!" I also usually only top it so that I can cut the top off and eat the bottom. But it you're going to use walnuts, you'll want to just mix it in the dough/batter.


Banana Bread

2 cups of Amish Friendship Bread starter
3 super ripe bananas (I mean as brown as you can get them without them being rotten. Brown on the       outside. Still whitish yellow on the inside.)
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
*optional* 1-2 cups of pecans or walnuts whichever is preferred

Grease 2 9x5in loaf pans. Preheat over to 325 degrees. 
In a medium bowl, mash the bananas and shortening together and smooth as you get it. There will be lumps, but you don't wan't them to huge ones. Add starter, vanilla, eggs, and milk.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg. Combine this with the wet ingredients in the other bowl. Mix well. Divide/pour batter into the two pans.
If you opted to add the nuts, top it now, if you did not mix the nuts in with the batter already-which is okay too.

Bake for about 1hr 15min  (enjoy the aroma while you wait) or until it's golden on top, toothpicks come out clean, and the edges have begun to separate from the pan. Let it cool for a few minutes before separating from the pan completely. It's best to let it finish cooling on a wire rack if you have one. If not, just let it set on some parchment paper.

Here's where you wrap up the extra loaf all pretty and give it to a friend or an unsuspecting yet very deserving stranger. Yep.

Hope you enjoy it. I'm told it's the perfect companion to your cup of coffee in the morning

Don't forget, if you try any of these recipes, please comment and let us know how it turned out and what changes you'd suggest (if any). It's always a community effort to make any recipe the best it could possibly be.

-Until again-

Fried Mudslide Over to the Fun Side

Happy Saturday night! So, I've basically spent the last free day of my vacation being uber-lazy. I thought, maybe I should post something before I start the laundry and cleaning fest and taking the time to figure out how to work this DVR thing. (Yeah, I'm late but I never wanted to pay extra for anything unnecessary. I'm a cheapo. I wait until things are free. You'll realize this sooner or later.) 

I digress. In my laziness I was thinking, a fried mudslide would be good right now. Though, I'm not having one tonight, doesn't mean I can't share the recipe with you! You can have a good night, too. Yes, I spread the happy. You're welcome. And no you don't actually "fry" anything per se; though you could should you choose to do a stove top method on the tortillas rather than using the oven. It's a combo of 2 of my fav desserts--fried ice cream and obviously a mudslide. The measurements aren't exact, you're just going to have to eyeball it like I do. (I did mention it was lazy Saturday didn't I?)


Fried Mudslide (1 share-able portion)

1-2 cinnamon tortillas to garnish (recipe to follow)
2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
1 tbsp Kahlua
1/2 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
Hershey's chocolate syrup
heavy whipped topping
corn flakes
sprinkling of cinnamon sugar

Blend the ice cream, Kahlua, & Bailey's Irish Cream to milkshake consistency. In a glass, drizzle chocolate syrup on the bottom. Add the ice cream/liqueur mixture. Top with whipped cream. Toss the cornflakes with cinnamon sugar and top the whipped cream with this.Garnish with cinnamon tortillas. Doesn't hurt to drizzle a little more syrup here. Make it all pretty and stuff.  

Cinnamon Tortillas

flour tortillas (makes as many as you feel like making)
butter melted
cinnamon
sugar

Preheat the oven to about 325 degrees. Cut the tortillas into any shape you'd like-strips, wedges, or fancy whatnots. Coat both sides of the tortillas in melted butter. Sprinkle both sides with cinnamon sugar. Bake until light golden brown and crisp. It should bubble up a bit. You're going to want to line this pan because this will leave a syrupy residue behind. Be sure to let them cool before enjoying them with your mudslide or fruit salsa.

Now here's the part where I sound like a commercial. Though there is very little alcohol in this, I can't control how much you pour in. So....."drink responsibly."

Good stuff? Yep. I thought so.

-Until again-

Cinna-Oat Pancakes

Okay FTFC fam, I promise that not all of my posts will be breakfast items. I'm just going one by one through items I already have pictures of first.  I'm already getting requests for certain dessert recipes, so we may be in the bread family for a little while. 

Cinna-Oat Pancakes (makes 6-10 pancakes)

cooking spray or a tab of butter
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2tbsp white granulated sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup whole grain oats
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp white vinegar
3/4 cup milk
The last 3 ingredients can be substituted for a cup of buttermilk

You can combine the vinegar and milk and let it set about 10 minutes to sour. Then add the melted butter and whisk it together. (Or you could just use a cup of buttermilk if you readily have it. I don't always have buttermilk just hanging out in my fridge.) Add egg and vanilla. Separately mix the dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon, oats. Whisk the wet and dry ingredients until there are no lumps.
In a skillet heated to medium that's either sprayed with non-stick spray or coated with melted butter, spoon the batter in to your desired pancake size. When the edges and golden and it's bubbled up, it's time to flip. When both sides are golden, remove from the pan. Repeat until you've used all the batter.

I personally prefer 2 strips of crispy bacon with my 2 butter-and-syrup topped pancakes. (Sorry pigs!) You have it with whatever you like. 

-Until again-

French Toast to the New Year

Happy 2013! So, I kind of left this page for a bit (more like a year). But it's 2013 I'm back on it now. And I will remain faithful and consistent this time. :) Promise. As soon as I gather all my photos and recipes, I'll post on a regular basis as well as sharing any little adventures that I have.  I felt that since the blog is called French Toast and Fried chicken, my first recipe post should be just that. French Toast at least.  Here goes. If you try it, be sure to let me know what you think.


6 slices of your favorite bread (I use sourdough or honey wheat. It doesn't matter much really, as long as it's a bread you like.)
1 1/2 cup of milk
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
2 tbsp white granulated sugar
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp imitation brandy
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
non-stick spray
a sprinkling of orange zest if available
1/2 tsp nutmeg
optional: powdered sugar or syrup or your favorite fruit and whipped topping for toppings 


Heat non-stick sprayed skillet to med-low heat. In a bowl whisk together the milk and egg. Add white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, brandy, cinnamon, orange zest. This mixture should smell like a cold vanilla milkshake. If it doesn't, you may need to add another 1/2 tsp of flavor. You can cut your bread slices in strips or triangles, however you want, or not at all. Dip the bread in the batter. Place the bread in the skillet. When one side is golden brown, flip it. When both sides are golden brown, remove from the pan. 

When all is said and done, it doesn't hurt to sprinkle it with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Or you could go the traditional route with syrup; to which I suggest you pair it with your favorite fried chicken for dinner. It's also great with peaches and whipped cream. The options are endless. Whatever floats your boat. Happy eating.  
-Until again-