Randall saw a picture of our University Daughter's latest culinary adventure- a chicken stir-fry, and it inspired a craving.
I told him I'd make him one tonight, since the boys are out at a Youth thing that includes a pot luck type supper.
Problem #1: the only stir-fry veg I have on hand are carrots and a green pepper. Maybe you can count the green beans in the freezer.
Problem #2: Thomas needs the car to get to school early today... and it's just such a hassle to get him there, and pick him up just for some broccoli and cauliflower!
Problem #3: Randall has a completely packed day, making the van inaccessible.
Solution #1: Make something else... like Mmmmm.... breaded almond chicken!
Problem #4: No recipe. None of my millions of cookbooks have a recipe, everything on the Internet is just a bit different... not exactly what I am envisioning.
Solution #2: Picture it in your mind, and make it up.
Being just lazy enough to not want to get out into the -1 degree morning in order to have the car, (which reason also prompts me to not want to walk over to the nearest likely grocery store half a mile away), I may be motivated to come up with something.
I'm thinking, dip the chicken breasts in egg, coat them in bread crumbs, dip again?, cover in ground almonds... bake instead of deep fry...
I'll let you know how it turns out!
*UPDATE: The chicken turned out pretty well, if a little dry. I dipped the pieces of chicken breast in breadcrumbs seasoned with garlic & onion powder, and pepper. Next I dipped the coated chicken in a beaten egg, and then in finely chopped almonds. I placed the chicken in a greased baking dish, sprinkled some lemon pepper over it and baked it at 350* for 45 minutes.
It was good served with fried rice (mostly leftover brown...) and green beans with toasted almonds (seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of basil).
What I would do differently: I would make a thickened lemon sauce, probably something with a little vinegar and brown sugar. (something like the sauce from Company's Coming Lemonade Chicken, in the first slow cooker cook book) I think I would make the sauce first, or mix the sauce ingredients together, pour it into the baking dish, then put the coated chicken breasts on top of the sauce to bake. I might toast the almonds before chopping them in the food processor first, and/ or mix the almonds with the breadcrumbs... possibly dip the chicken breasts in seasoned flour first, then in the egg, then in breadcrumbs mixed with almonds.
Hey! I made up lunch today too! And it was the first real meal I cooked too! It was supposed to be a bolognaise sauce but all the recipes I saw made you simmer it for like...two hours. And I didn't feel like that much effort.
ReplyDeleteSo I stuck some chopped up onions and garlic in the olive oil, fried that up some, then added diced fresh tomatoes. Then added a Cervelas, which is a sausage that tastes like a hotdog, for the meat. And voila...it was good.
A woman after my own heart!
ReplyDeleteLove reading the Friesen blogs, and since I love trying new recipes, I always see if you have some good ideas. I'm teaching a Kids in the Kitchen (Ron is my helper!?!) and we learned that when you bake chicken breasts (whether strips or whole) dip them in a 3 step method to coat .We did flour and seasonings, then egg white mixed with a bit of milk, then crunchy coating (anything from crushed cornflakes to chopped almonds). Bake them at 425 degrees for 10 -25 minutes- depends if you are using strips, nugget size or whole breasts. A higher temp means a moister result. If they are too dry they are over cooked. The frozen skinless boneless breasts that come from Superstore in a bag (on sale for $17.98 from time to time) are great as you can take out what you need and for some reason are always very tender and moist when cooked. Johanna's recipe sounds good too. Will have to try it!
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