Quick Munchies

We like to have a little something to munch on when we get home before we start dinner. Bruschetta is a favorite because I can make a big bowl and it will last a few days. But I wanted to try something a bit different this week.

Fontina and Pancetta Crostini
Ingredients
Day old baguette loaf
Fontina cheese or any other creamy easy to melt cheese
Thinly sliced pancetta
Olive oil

Method
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the baguette into slices about 1/4 inch thick and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil.

Grate the cheese into a small bowl. Slice the pancetta into thin ribbons. Sprinkle the cheese over the bread and top with a few ribbons of pancetta. Bake until they become crispy and brown. Top with fresh basil if you want. 


The fontina is mild and creamy next to the salty pancetta, which is basically thin Italian bacon. Pretty much sold you on the bacon part huh!

Crispy Coconut Chicken

I just love the sweet crunchy coconut chicken mixed with the spicy chili sauce. Plus it's baked and not fried so it's better for you. With that in mind feel free to eat a few more pieces. Mine were a little crispy-est in some parts, mostly because I was distracted while cooking.

Crispy Coconut Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken breasts
2 eggs
Panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup coconut milk (optional but worth it)
flour
shredded coconut
1 jar sweet chili sauce

Method
Heat oven to 425 and set a wire rack on a baking sheet. This will ensure the chicken is crispy on all sides.

Add flour to one bowl and sprinkle in a little salt. Combine the egg and coconut milk in a separate bowl. Then add the panko and shredded coconut in equal amounts in another bowl.

Set up your beading station so you dip the chicken in flour first, then the egg mixture, then the coconut mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes or until it is golden brown and cooked all the way through.

Serve along side the sweet chili sauce. I would have made my own but honestly the ingredients for it would far out weigh the cost for just a jar.


I would say this would be super yummy on jumbo shrimp, scallops, perhaps even some veggies like green beans. 

Meatless Meal

Wow you are saying to yourself, she really is keeping up with this meatless thing. How has the hubs not gone completely crazy over the lack of man food. Oh I know she bribes him with baked goodies and cheese.

Thank the lord we are not lactose intolerant up in here, we would starve.

Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo
Ingredients
2 red peppers
4 oz herbed goat cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
pasta, I used Bucatini, which is a thicker spaghetti with a hole in the middle

Method
Preheat oven to 500 degrees, cover a baking sheet with foil. Place peppers on baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes until the are charred and shriveled.

While they are roasting heat the oil in a medium saute pan and add the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes until they are nice and brown. Add in the garlic and cook for about 1 minute more. Be careful not to burn, garlic will turn bitter once it is burnt. Turn heat to low.

Once the peppers are done take them out of the oven and transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they steam up. Once they have cooled a bit peel the skins off and cut off the stems.

Start the pasta and cook until done.

Add the cream to the onion pan and slowly add the cheese until melted. Once melted add in the chopped peppers. Pour into a blender and puree until smooth. Return to pan and keep warm until pasta is done.

Cover pasta with sauce and add some extra Parmesan cheese or basil if you like.

And yes I did eat this straight out of the giant bowl. Sometimes I am too lazy to wash an extra dish, plus washing dishes was never my strong suit... ask my mom.

Fish Tacos and Pineapple Guac

Fish tacos are a favorite weeknight dinner that is super fast and quite healthy. To change it up a bit this week I went with a sweet and spicy combo.

Fish Tacos
Ingredients
White flaky fish I used tillapia
chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder
salt and pepper
brown sugar
corn or flour tortillas the small ones are the best for this, plus you can have three and you don't look like a fatty
taco toppings such as tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, olives, onions, peppers, really anything that strikes your fancy

Method
Heat 2 tbl of olive or vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat. Sprinkle the spices including the brown sugar on both sides of the fish. Fry in the pan turning carefully until it flakes apart.

Warm the tortillas in the microwave and assemble your taco line.

Grilled Pineapple Guacamole
Ingredients
fresh pineapple 2 rings
2 avocados
2 tbl sour cream
1tbl salsa
fresh cilantro
squeeze of lime juice

Method
Heat the grill or a grill pan until hot. Lightly spray the pineapple rings with non stick cooking spray. Grill on both sides until you have nice char marks.

Smash remaining ingredients in a bowl. Once the pineapple has cooled slightly chop into pieces and stir into the guac.

Eat by the spoonful.

Take Out Turned Take In

 This week is an all time favorite, Chinese food. The hubs loves orange chicken, and I love me some crab rangoons. I do have a favorite orange chicken recipe that I stand by however it calls for deep frying the chicken. So I'm going to lighten it up by baking it and to give it the crispy crust I'm going to use corn flakes instead of just breadcrumbs.

Crispy Baked Orange Chicken
Ingredients
chicken breasts cut into strips
2 cups corn flakes crushed to a medium texture
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water
3 tbl orange juice
juice from 1 lemon
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tbl soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar loosely packed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like it hot)
3 tbl corn starch
3tbl water

Method
Crack the egg into one bowl and whisk to break up. Pour cornflakes into a seperate bowl and season with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in egg then in cornflakes and coat evenly. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 425. It may take less time if your strips are thin.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat add in the remaining ingredients except for the cornstarch and 3tbl of water. Whisk to dissolve the sugar and spices. Continue simmering over medium heat until it begins to thicken, about 5-7 minutes.

In a small bowl add the cornstarch and 3tbl of water. Stir with a fork until smooth. Pour the cornstarch mixture into the orange sauce while whisking. Turn heat to low until you are ready to serve.

I serve mine with rice and broccoli and the sauce on the side. If you choose you can coat the chicken in the sauce.

I'm still working on the crab rangoons, tricky little buggers.

Barefoot Contessa

The Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook is another find at the library. While I must confess to being a Food Network junkie, I rarely watch Ina Garten's show. I find her slightly pretentious and her over use of the adjective "good" to describe top shelf ingredients gets on my nerves. However I decided to give the cookbook a shot and see just how many recipes were of value in there.

The book itself is laid out quite nicely and in a logical order. You would be surprised how many don't really make sense. And I did enjoy her introductions to each recipe and the little foreword at the beginning. At the end there was a nice touch which I wish more cookbooks included, it was a menu planner using the recipes throughout the book. I liked that you could put together a few dinner parties with just one cookbook Though I must say overall, disappointed with the actual recipes. Most were not really that complicated and were pretty common sense to anyone who cooks at all. Not to mention her use of "good mayo" and "good olive oil" certainly wasn't diminished from her show. It's not that I don't agree with the use of good quality ingredients but what constitutes good for her, is it a fifty dollar bottle of olive oil or is there a more reasonable brand she suggests. If you are going to insist on "good" ingredients then let the reader know how and where to acquire said ingredients.

Rant aside we tried out the Goat Cheese and Basil Chicken.

Goat Cheese and Basil Chicken
Ingredients
chicken breast , boneless but skin on
herb goat cheese
basil leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
Heat oven to 375. With chicken on a sheet pan gently separate the skin from the chicken to create a pocket. Stuff goat cheese under skin and press to spread out. Use as much cheese as you like. Then place a basil leaf under skin.

Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until internal temp reaches 160 degrees or chicken is cooked through.

I didn't have any basil left so I made it without and it was still quite yummy. The chicken itself came out moist and the goat cheese added a great tang to it. I felt it was missing a little something though, it could use a light sauce drizzled over the top, maybe a lemon butter sauce.

Nutella Krispies

Why oh why have I not discovered Nutella before this. Sure I heard that it was good but honestly the color reminded me of a bad experience with Vegemite. Something I would really rather not do again. Then I came across this recipe and figured I would give it a try. Wow best rice krispie treat ever. Nutella is now on the menu by the spoonful. Don't judge you have done it too.

Nutella Krispies
Ingredients
6 tbs butter
1 package mini marshmallows
6 cups rice krispy cereal
1 cup Nutella
1 cup chocolate chips
sea salt

Method
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add in rice krispies and stir to combine.

Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking pan lined with wax paper. Press into the pan to evenly distribute. Lick the yummy krispies off your fingers. (wash hands). Put in fridge to cool.

Melt chocolate chips in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Stir in Nutella to combine. Pour over krispies and spread to cover everything. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Put in fridge until chocolate hardens. Cut into pieces while trying not to eat all of them.

I suggest sharing these with friends, that's the best way to avoid eating the whole pan, plus it makes them smile too!