Three More Recipes

I have three more recipes to share. They are on opposite sides of the spectrum, but each holds its own charm.

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The first I actually got off a gal's website where she is trying to make something in her crockpot every day of 2008 without repeating anything. Since I love my crockpot and how it takes so much time out of dinner, I perused her site and found this recipe. As you know, Braden and I are trying to like fish, so I'm willing to try just about anything.

CROCKPOT PESTO FISH

1-2 lbs white fish
Bottled pesto
Shredded parmesan cheese
Aluminum foil

Spread a layer of foil on the counter top. Put a piece of fish in it. Cover it with a spoonful of pesto and sprinkle on some cheese. Fold over the foil to create a little packet. Put the packet in the Crockpot. Continue to layer in the foil packets until you run out of fish. Do not add water. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Check it after 3 hours. The fish is done when it is fully white and flakes nicely with a fork.

Verdict: This was good. Considering I don't really like fish, I ate the entire thing. Braden, on the other hand, likes fish even less tham me and he still didn't like this. But, if we're going to eat fish again, I will probably try this recipe again. He also says the picture looks like someone's lung, so sorry if it looks too gross to eat.

*****

This recipe is a variation of one I found on allrecipes.com. Braden LOVES fried chicken. I do not. It's not that I don't like the chicken part, it's that I don't like the fried part. So, if he's lucky, I make fried chicken once a year. Because I knew he would really love it if I made it, I was looking for a recipe that used less oil. I also wanted a better "crust" on the chicken. This is what I found with the changes I made. I also have an eggless option, which was really good.

FRIED CHICKEN

30 Saltine Crackers
2 Tbs Flour
2 Tbs dry potato flakes
1 tsp season salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp paprika
2 eggs
¼ cup flour
3 chicken breasts, pounded and cut into strips
¼ cup oil (truly)

Place crackers in a large resealable plastic bag or food processor; seal bag and crush crackers until they are coarse crumbs. Add flour, potato flakes, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic salt, and paprika to crumbs and mix well. Beat eggs in a shallow dish or bowl; pour crumbs in another bowl; heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Pour ¼ cup flour into resealable plastic bag and put all chicken strips in the bag and shake until well coated. One by one, dredge chicken pieces in egg, then dip in crumbs to coat. Reduce heat to medium and cook coated chicken in skillet for 15 to 20 minutes, turning frequently, until golden brown and juices run clear.
For eggless: Dip floured chicken in ranch dressing or other sauce and then coat with crumbs.

Verdict: Excellent! Oh so good. And beautiful too. The coating was perfect and delicious. Braden really enjoyed it the next 2 days for lunch by putting a couple strips on a hamburger bun with some pickles so it was like his favorite sandwich at Chik-fil-A.

*****

We were invited to our neighbor's for dinner last week (where they made the most amazing ribs...I'll get the recipe). They asked us to bring dessert. I have this thing about going to people's houses for dinner. If they ask me to bring something, I think I should put in as much effort as they are going to put into the dinner. I think it's tacky to show up to a big Sunday dinner with a plate of cookies, especially if they are store-bought. So, I'm going to make pies, cakes, or something beyond ordinary. Well, I needed something simple and cheap but fun, so I came up with this.

ANGEL FOOD PUDDING CAKE

1 Angel Food cake (from a mix, homemade, or store bought), cooked and cooled

1 pkg instant pudding, any flavor, made according to directions on package

2 cups whipped cream (I used whipping cream, but you could use cool-whip. I think Dream-whip would be too soft)

Fruit

Hershey chocolate bar

Powdered sugar

Cut the cake in half, horizontally. Place the bottom half on serving plate. Divide the pudding into two portions, one being about 2/3 and the other about 1/3 of the total. Divide the whipped cream the same way. Mix 2/3 pudding with 1/3 cream (in other words, this mixture will be predominantly pudding). Spread mixture over top of the bottom layer of cake. Top pudding with fruit of your choice. Place the top half of the cake on pudding/fruit. Mix 1/3 pudding with 2/3 cream (to make a predominantly cream based frosting). Spread this over the entire cake as a frosting. Grate the chocolate bar to create shavings or curls. Sprinkle over top of cake. Dust with powdered sugar.

Verdict: This was delicious. It looks good, tastes good, but even looks like it takes a ton of time when it doesn't. Also, it doesn't have a lot of fat or calories, depending on what you put in it. Ours was banana pudding and bananas, because that's what we had on hand. But we're looking forward to trying white chocolate pudding and raspberries. Mmmm. My sister made a chocolate variety last night, so I can't wait to hear how it turned out. Oh, and as you can see in the picture, I swirled in some chocolate angel food batter before I baked it. All I did was take a tablespoon or so of unsweeted cocoa powder and mixed it in about 1 cup of batter. Then I swirled it in the cake. It was a great addition. It made it taste like a very light non-donut boston cream donut.