I say all that to explain why I’m not sure why I got a wild hair to fry some chicken yesterday … on a school night no less. S. has been traveling a lot for tournaments and hasn’t been quite as vigilant about his good eating habits. For no apparent reason … other than I’m weak … I’ve been very easily swayed to do the same. So when I saw a fried chicken recipe in my Glamour mag that used panko bread crumbs (which I happened to have), I thought what the heck.

The actual recipe didn’t look all that great so I hit the net for some additional inspiration, which I mostly found from a guy named Coupon Dad, but also gathered from various other sources. I used boneless, skinless chicken breast, which I like to believe made it a tiny bit healthier … and although I have no experience, I’m sure it made it much easier because they cook quickly and I didn’t have to worry much about making sure they were done, but not too tough.

Here’s roughly what I did (sorry for the lack of measurements, I just winged it … odd for me so I’m sure you can do it too!):

Boneless Skinless Fried Chicken Breast

5 thin boneless skinless chicken breasts (if you can’t find thin, you could probably pound them)
Salt and pepper
2 cups buttermilk (or this nifty substitute that worked fine for me)
6 or so shakes of hot sauce
Oil to reach one to two inches in pan/pot (peanut is recommended, I used half canola/half vegetable with fine results) – and it’s more oil than you think (nearly a small bottle)
Flour
2 eggs, beaten (I used two eggs for five thin breasts)
Panko bread crumbs
Seasoning (I used Penzey’s Northwoods Seasoning)

• Salt and pepper chicken and soak in buttermilk and hot sauce in a 9 X13 pan (most sources say overnight, I did it for two hours).
• Season flour and bread crumbs with seasoning on two separate plates (I like spicy so I piled it on).
• Heat oil to 350 degrees (Regarding temp: I have a thermometer, but a nifty hint in the Glamour worked better … add one kernel of popcorn to the oil, and when it pops, the oil is 350 degrees. Regarding pan/pot, I used a large Dutch-oven-like pot, which worked fine and seemed to help with splattering.)
• Dredge the chicken in flour, then dip in the beaten egg, then dredge in bread crumbs (one tip I’ll try next time … letting the coated chicken sit on waxed paper to allow the mixture to better adhere).
• Add chicken to hot oil and fry 3 or so minutes on one side, then flip and fry a few minutes on the other (I just did two pieces at a time and found that I needed to wait for a bit between batches to allow the oil to reheat).
• Drain on paper towels.

Unfortunately, I was so worried about frying chicken for the first time and making sure that S. and I ate it while it was hot and tasty (and it was tasty!), that this is the only pic I got …

What’s to love about bean salad? The tangy mayo-based dressing is pretty tasty. And the crunch of the celery, onions and green peppers is satisfying (I belong to a family of picky, anal individuals … and I’m not so much when it comes to veggie chopping … so mom had to come over Friday night to practically mince them as required.)

My grandfather was the most meticulous of bean salad chefs until he passed away in the early 90s. My aunt took the helm after that, but asked if we could spread the wealth this year. The first time I ever saw the recipe was yesterday so I might be breaking some family rule by sharing it here … but I figure most of you won’t try it anyway so what’s the harm?

Uncle Kenny’s Red Bean Salad

4 cans red beans
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 green peppers (slice three rings for garnish; finely chop the remainder)
1 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish, plus juice
2 boiled eggs (cut one into quarters or thin slices for garnish; finely chop the remainder — love my Pampered Chef Egg Slicer for this!!!)
Lemon juice
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise or lite Miracle Whip
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

• Drain and rinse beans and place in large mixing bowl.
• Add onion, celery, green pepper and chopped egg.
• Add pickle relish and a little relish juice (about 1/2 tsp.); a little lemon juice (about 1/2 tsp.) and the mayo or Miracle Whip.
• Mix together, adding salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Let sit several hours or overnight for flavors to develop.
• Just before serving, lay green pepper rings on top, place quartered or sliced egg in middle of rings and an olive in the center and sprinkle with paprika (here’s a little proof of the picky, anal thing, huh?!?).

So … do tell … what’s your weird family recipe or tradition?

This year, I tackled four dishes:

• The cucumbers, which I blogged about last Easter;
• Deviled eggs (I’m IN LOVE with this Emeril recipe, which appeals to the “heat” lovers in the crowd and also works for the wimps);
• A nameless layered dessert with chocolate pudding and cool whip; and
• Bean salad … the acquired taste I referred to in the headline. It was the first time I ever tried making this family holiday staple and it only turned out mediocre, but still good.

We’ve called the dessert “Better Than Sex” cake, which was always embarrassing as a kid … and now that I’m old enough to know better, I think it’s false advertising . The recipe I have is titled “Yummy Dessert” … ok, I ask, “What dessert really isn’t yummy?” But whatever you call it, it’s delightful. See the recipe below and feel free to make up (and please share) your own name or let me know if this recipe looks familiar and you have some great name for it.

I’ll share the bean salad recipe tomorrow. If you don’t like beans, definitely feel free to skip it. But if you do, but the thought of bean salad doesn’t sound appealing, I urge you to give it a look tomorrow and then decide.

Crust:
1 stick butter, melted in a 9X13 pan at 400 degrees
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix together in the pan and press to form crust on bottom of pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool.

First layer:
1 package cream cheese (I used reduced fat and it worked fine)
½ of a large Cool Whip (use the remainder for topping)
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix together (I used the big mixer; a regular mixer would also work). Spread carefully on bottom layer.

Second layer:
2 packages instant chocolate pudding
3 cups milk

Mix with wire whisk and let sit until thick. Spread over first layer.

Third layer:
Top with remaining Cool Whip and sprinkle with nuts or chocolate sprinkles (I went with the festive colored sprinkles for Easter).

Even reduced-fat package microwave popcorn has a fairly long list of ingredients that don’t sound very healthy, including added color. The Glamour recipe … 3 Tbsp. popcorn kernels. Place them in a paper lunch bag. Fold the top of the bag down a few times. Microwave for two to three minutes or until popping slows (mine took less than a minute and a half.) Add your favorite popcorn topping (I’m going with a few sprays of Pam, a touch of salt and hot sauce … healthy hottt corn!)

I was a bit skeptical of the whole paper bag thing and of popping the corn without any fat, but it totally worked! And it has to be a ton cheaper and much healthier than the packaged variety.

We have a family recipe … my grandma used to make oxtail soup (yes, as in from the tail) and now my dad makes it. It’s very tasty, but I’m thinking me making it will be the end of me eating it … you have to pick the meat from the tail, and I can be a bit squeamish when it comes to stuff like that.

My friend Kelly, who is an awesome cook, brought me some amazing vegetable beef soup when I was recovering from my first surgery in October and kindly shared the recipe. It’s very easy to make and perfect for a cold day.

Kelly Gregoire’s Beef Soup
Olive oil
1 beef soup bone (with a little meat on it)
½ pound of beef (rump or sirloin roast) in one big hunk
1 small bag of frozen mixed veggies with lima beans (I actually used two bags)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 -15 oz can tomato sauce
6 beef bouillon cubes
9 cups water
½ cup quick barley
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder

• Pour a little olive oil into a large stock pot and heat over medium heat.
• When the oil is hot, add the soup bone and beef and sear one side until brown, then turn the meat to sear other side while adding onion and raw potato; stir frequently until the veggies get a little sear themselves.
• When meat is brown on both sides, add tomato sauce, water, bouillon, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, then add the frozen veggies.
• Bring to a boil again, then add the barley.
• Simmer for about an hour.
• Remove the meat and bone out, cutting the meat in small pieces and adding back into the soup.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

I served it for dinner and dominos with the neighbors last night. A simple tossed green salad and fresh baked bread rounded out the meal. Bread from scratch is actually something still haven’t made. This was frozen Rhodes dough, which I highly recommend.

For dessert … piping hot baked apples with cinnamon ice cream. The ice cream was fantastic, but if you skip it, the apples are very tasty and healthy as they have no added fat and only a touch honey for sweetness. The recipe is here on Mother Rimmy’s Cooking Light Done Right.

Last spring I blogged about cooking for the first time when I was 9 years old and my dad poking fun of the not-so-tasty outcome. Ever since, I was reluctant to stray from a recipe and its exact measurements. As silly as it sounds, maybe sharing that on this blog was cathartic for me and that’s why I’m cooking without my net. Another theory … bringing the herbs inside this fall may have forced me to be a little creative to use them up.

Ultimately, I think those two things may be contributing factors, but that the main reason is one of the great loves of my life … Google . I search recipes for specific dishes, as well as recipes including ingredients I have on hand. And instead of being locked down by one recipe in a cookbook, I can glance at several recipes, using them for inspiration and guidance, but not as gospel.

Tonight’s concoction – homemade croutons.

We had Christmas dinner last weekend because my uncle, the Christmas chef, and his family are out of town tomorrow. Without plans or the need to cook the traditional meal (that I really don’t like – sauerbraten and potato pancakes – yuck!), my parents and I decided to splurge with steak and crab legs for tomorrow. I’m in charge of sides – loaded baked potatoes, sugar snap peas and salad. I had some nice leftover bread that I hated to pitch and decided homemade croutons on our salad would be a nice touch.

I Googled “crouton recipe stale bread” because that’s exactly what I had on hand, and then scanned several recipes, picking the directions and ingredients I thought sounded best.

The only problem with not following a recipe is that it’s sort of difficult to share. But here’s the general gist … and I imagine I’m pretty much the only freak that follows a recipe to a T anyway.

Homemade Croutons
Stale French baguette or other artisan bread
Olive oil (roughly 2/3 cup for 4 cups of bread cubes)
Spices to taste (I used garlic powder and fresh thyme)
Sea salt
Fresh cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Slice the bottom crust and any really hard pieces off the loaf.

Cut loaf into cubes and place in large bowl.

Whisk olive oil and spices (not the salt and pepper) together in a smaller bowl.

Drizzle spiced oil over bread cubes and toss well.

Spread bread cubes on cookie sheet or 9X13 pan.

Sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Check and stir the cubes every 10 minutes, but the baking time will depend on how large your cubes are and how saturated they are with oil. Mine took about 30 minutes (they won’t brown, but should be crisp on the outside and fairly chewy on the inside).

“A Googling” I went, and found this helpful site that gave a very detailed, step-by-step guide for making a pie from fresh pumpkin. Was it as much of a pain in the tooshy as it sounds? As I was making it, I thought … well … absolutely, yes it was. But honestly, in hindsight, it wasn’t at all difficult. It just required an extra hour or so and some extra dishes (stove-top steamer, food processor, utensils).

Sure … extra time isn’t something many of us have. And who likes extra dishes? But then again, the results were pretty amazing. I think partly because the recipe on the site is good, but this pie also tastes fresher and better … brighter is another words that comes to mind … than one from a can. The pumpkin itself is beautiful after it’s been cooked and processed … especially when you see how gross the pumpkin looks in the can.

Thanks to GretaMaria on Flickr.com

P.S. For those of you that don’t like pumpkin pie, I recommend you try a slice warm from the oven or warmed in the microwave for 15 or 20 seconds. I’d hated it for 38 years, but tried the Aldi’s pie I mentioned above warm from the oven. It was delightful, and now I’m a pumpkin pie fan.

I say “some” because of the nasty worm issue that you may remember. Thankfully, my tactics for de-worming and preserving the pumpkins worked … all but one of the little orange guys I saved made it through and hit the trash just a few days ago. And the “some” I didn’t pitch were two that actually made it out of the garden without worms.

Although I tend to be a bit of a princess, I enjoy digging in to clean out the pumpkin “guts” (I guess from years of carving pumpkins with my dad as a kid), and I couldn’t resist cutting into one of survivors the minute it finished its decorating tour of duty.

Even though they were smaller pie pumpkins, there were lots of seeds for roasting. I found a few recipes on the Internet. This one suggested boiling the seeds before roasting them.

I was pleased with the crispy result, although I waited to salt them until after boiling so that I could add some different spices like garlic pepper.

I still have one pumpkin left. It just seems crazy to me to go through all the trouble of messing with the flesh when I can buy a can of pumpkin, but I may try a pumpkin pie just because it makes me smile to think that I actually grew something I can create a pie with.

I love it because it’s yummy, very cheap and so easy. Open two cans, a box, melt some butter, mix and viola. This time I even put it in my beloved big mixer, which was way overkill because it’s so simple to mix.

Cornbread Casserole

½ stick butter, melted
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn
1 packages Jiffy cornbread mix
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Green, red or jalapeno pepper (optional)*

Mix melted butter, both cans of corn and cornbread mix together.

If using peppers, dice into very small pieces and add to taste (with jalapeno, remember the heat is in the seeds, removing them all yields very little spice).

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

If using cheese, scatter on top about three minutes before removing dish from oven.

*I tried finely sliced green onion (green portion only) this time and was pleased with the results.

So this morning I went a-Googling for something better. I’m a fan of light cooking so searched for “Cooking Light blueberry muffins.” I found a Cooking Light community forum and a recipe posted by KCSoccer from Susan Purdy’s Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too: Two Hundred Luscious, Low-Fat Cakes, Pies, Cookies, Puddings, and Other Desserts You Thought You Could Never Eat Again.

The recipe was easy to prepare and tasted great. It also included an option for baking it in a square pan, which was fantastic because I hate washing muffin pans with a passion.

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins

1 large egg
1/2 cup skim milk — or 1%
1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted (can substitute wheat flour for ½ the amount)
1 tablespoon — plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Granulated sugar

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Coat pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, yogurt, oil and sugar.

Set a strainer over the bowl and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir and sift the dry ingredients onto the egg mixture, then stir just to blend. Don’t overbeat.

Fold in the berries.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with a little sugar.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are well risen and golden brown, and a cake tester inserted in a muffin comes out clean (requires about 10 more minutes in cake pan, but begin checking for doneness at 20 minutes).

Cool muffins in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 163 Calories; 4g Fat (22.3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 243mg Sodium.

NOTE: This recipes works equally well as a coffee cake baked in an 8×8 (bake 25 to 30 minutes).