what we eat.

crunchy almond chicken tenders.

I'm big on crunch.  It's my favorite food texture.  I also appreciate things that are chewy.  And crispy.  But I'm here to talk about this crunchy chicken that made me really happy the other night.  And I'm convinced everyone in your family will like this.  Including your picky 6 year old.  And your weird half cousin.  And your grandma.

You're going to use your typical coat and dredge technique here.  I coated the chicken tenders in dijon mustard mixed with a little honey and then dredged them in a mixture of panko breadcrumbs, chopped roasted almonds and parmesan cheese.  Here's what they look like when they're sittin' pretty ready for the oven:

Okay, but wait.  This is important.  Before you put them on the sheet pan you'll want to preheat the oven to 425 and while you're getting the chicken all coated and dredged stick the pan in the oven to get it hot.  So not only are you preheating your oven, you're preheating your pan.  Genius?  Yes.  The key to getting these babies crispy on the bottom? Yes.  Did you already know about that trick?  Probably.  Well, good for you.  Here's what mine looked like when they were finished.  The flavor from the almonds was so good I think I made up a song about it and sang it at the dinner table.  Totally normal behavior at our house.

 We ate this with a little side green salad and the cutest potatoes I've ever seen.  And the easiest potatoes you'll ever make: olive oil, salt and pepper.  Hot oven and that's it.

See what I mean?  Totally cute.

There is one more thing to tell you about and hopefully you have hung in there with all this because this meal was extremely good and we had an extremely good time eating it.  When all was said and done and we were about to sit down, I whipped one of these up using orange marmalade and we dipped everything in it.  I'm still thinking about all of it.

Crunchy Almond Chicken w/ Baby Roasted Potatoes
A couple boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up into strips
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup chopped roasted almonds
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
salt and pepper
baby potatoes, your choice

Here's what you do:
Preheat your oven to 425 and stick your sheet pan in.  Meanwhile, mix the panko, almonds, cheese, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.  In another dish mix the mustard and honey.  Dredge the chicken strips in the honey-mustard and then generously coat them in the almond mixture.  Place on a separate plate until they are all done.  When they're ready for the oven grab your now hot pan and drizzle it with olive oil.  Then put all the chicken on it and drizzle the chicken with a little more olive oil.  Cook until done (about 20 min?) flipping them once about half way through.

For the potatoes:
Toss them in olive oil, (not too much) salt and pepper in a glass baking dish and roast at 425 right along with your chicken.

 

"gnocchi you didn't."

 

I have been laughing out loud about that quote--"gnocchi you didn't"--since my friend said it to me the other day in response to me telling her I made this recipe.  It's still funny to me, even many days later. 

This recipe was so satisfying to make in a couple different ways.  #1--It's unbelievably easy.  Just when I thought this was for sure going to land in my 'only on the weekend' pile, because come on, it's pasta for heaven's sake and everyone knows its ludicrous to think you can make pasta on a week night.  From scratch.  Once you bake your potatoes this mixes together super quickly which brings me to #2.  There are only 3 ingredients! (well 4 if you count salt, but 3 sounds more impressive.)  Potato, flour,  & egg which makes this cheap, cheap, cheap as far as meals go.  #3--It's kinda zen-like.  You roll out the dough into ropes and then cut them into cute little pillow-shaped pastas.  All the sudden there is homemade gnocchi staring you in the face and you can hardly believe it.  And, #4--These taste better than anything you'd get at a nice restaurant and you don't even have to put on a good bra and a nice dress which there is a time and a place for, don't get me wrong, but I'm just saying now you won't have to if you don't want to.

We had these with a little fresh pesto (recipe to follow) but pick your favorite sauce and have at it.  And oh my gosh I almost forgot to tell you the best part about all of this.  You don't have to put the potatoes through a ricer like ever other gnocchi recipe on the face of the earth tells you to do.  Which yes, means you don't have to spend the rest of your Sur La Table Christmas gift card on that gigantic kitchen contraption.  I did a quick search and found that Smitten Kitchen (all things lead back to her and I'm not complaining) found this recipe that uses a box grater.  All the really average cooks in the world just said hallelujah.

Gnocchi
2 pounds Russet potatoes (this was about 3 medium ones)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat your oven to 400°. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, and bake them on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to one hour, or until they are fork-tender. For best results, turn the potatoes over halfway through the baking time. Let the potatoes cool slightly.
2. Peel the potatoes, and grate them over the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Add the lightly beaten egg and the salt to the potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the flour to the potatoes a little at a time, using only as much as you need so that the dough will not stick to your hands. When the flour has been incorporated, bring the dough together with your fingertips.
4. Dump the dough and any remaining floury bits onto a slightly floured surface. Knead the dough as you would bread dough. Press down and away with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over, make a quarter turn, and repeat the process. Knead for about three or four minutes.
5. Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 6 smaller balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the six pieces using your fingertips into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces.
6. Drop the gnocchi into boiling water and cook until they float.  Take them out right away and then add your favortie sauce.

Easy Pesto (this makes alot, so I cut this in 1/2 and it was plenty):

• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
• 5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups good olive oil
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.

To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.

mustard roasted potatoes

 

I feel a little strung out.  The last week has been a whirlwind affair with the foods of Thanksgiving.  The stuffing-mashed potato-turkey-gravy-cranberry-plate-o-mush went down easy at least 4 or 5 times over here (including leftovers.)  And even though when it was all over and I realized I hadn't had nearly as many leftover turkey sandwiches as I had hoped for, I somehow snapped out of it and declared it "vegetable" month at our house.  Okay, so by "month" I probably mean "week" because let's face it, it's December.  We have something like 18 food related parties to attend in the next 30 days and plus, the coconut cake is gone and it's time to bake something else.

Our "detox" started last night with chicken-veggie-noodle soup that I have to post about later because it truly was off the charts fantastic.  I also made these potatoes that we dipped in honey and while I'll admit I was convinced that nothing would excite me after the food week we just had, I cannot wait to make these again.

I first saw these on one of my favorite blogs, and tweaked it a tiny bit

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick or 1/2 ounce) butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
3 pounds 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter mixed unpeeled red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges (I think any potato would work well, really, and I used all red-skinned when I made these last night.)

Position 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with foil and nonstick spray. Whisk mustard, olive oil, butter, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, lemon peel, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add potatoes; sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat. Divide potatoes between prepared baking sheets, leaving any excess mustard mixture behind in bowl. Spread potatoes in single layer. Roast potatoes 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets and roast until potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes longer.

I cut this reciepe in 1/2 and it worked great.  These also heat up well in the micro the next day.