Fried Zucchini

I love fried zucchini. I usually just dip the slices of zucchini in beaten egg and then flour, then pan fry them, but this time I decided to use a crumb coating and deep fry them. I like the flavor both ways, but I think deep frying makes a better looking dish.

When I made Fantastagirl's Chicken Parmesan, I had crumb coating leftover, which I stored in a zipper bag in the freezer. I added a little seasoned salt (1 t. seasoned salt to 1/2 cup breading) and used it to bread the zucchini.


Fried Zucchini

2 cups cracker crumbs
2/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
Seasoned salt to taste
2 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/8" to 1/4" thick slices
2 large eggs, beaten
Peanut oil for frying

Heat oil in deep fryer to 345°.

Combine cracker crumbs, Parmesan, salt and paprika. Add seasoned salt to taste.

Dip zucchini slices in beaten egg, then coat with seasoned crumbs. Fry in hot oil, in batches of about 5 - 8 slices, until golden brown, turning once.

Drain on paper towels, then serve.

Makes 4 - 6 servings.

Roast Sticky Chicken

Versions of this recipe have been all over the Internet for years, so I just picked one and ran with it. I ended up with moist, rotisserie-style chicken and a cup or two of flavorful, if a little spicy, gravy to go with it.

You have to plan ahead for this recipe because the seasoned chicken has to sit over night in the fridge. I tried skipping this step once before, and all I have to say is "Don't!". It makes a huge difference in the flavor and moistness.


Roast Sticky Chicken

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 onions, quartered
2 (4 pound) whole chickens

In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, pepper, cayenne pepper and garlic powder.

Remove and discard giblets from chickens. Rinse chicken cavities, and pat chickens dry with paper towels. Rub each chicken inside and out with spice mixture (I only did the outside). Place 1 onion into the cavity of each chicken. Place chickens in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. (I put them in the pan I wanted to roast them in and wrapped the entire thing in plastic wrap.)

Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 250° F.

Place chickens in roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 5 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180° F. Let the chickens stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Notes: After about 1 hour of cooking, I poured about a cup of water in the pan, stirred it into the pan juices, and then basted the chickens with the liquids every 45 minutes or so.

To make gravy, remove the cooked chickens from the pan, pour the pan drippings into a small sauce pan, and add about a cup of water to dilute the spiciness of the drippings. Heat to a boil, and then thicken with a mixture of cornstarch and cold water (about 2 T. of cornstarch in 1/2 cup of cold water).

Makes 2 whole chickens and about 2 cups of gravy.

Shrimp On The Barbie

I decided to make some shrimp kabobs on the grill yesterday (yeah, it was Mother's Day, and I still cooked...but I wanted to, so it's all good).

I didn't use a recipe, but just put together kabobs from whatever I could find in the fridge. The veggies are green pepper, chunks of yellow squash, onion and chunks of pineapple. I brushed both the shrimp and the veggies with this Ginger Dressing. I love it on salad, but to be honest, I couldn't taste it on the kabobs once the food was done. Next time I'll probably use some kind of an Italian dressing.

Because shrimp cooks so quickly, I skewered the vegetables separately and put them on the grill about 10 minutes ahead. I served the kabobs over orzo pasta (could use rice) with a side of steamed broccoli.

I was a little hesitant to post this, because on first taste, I thought it was a little bland and could have used a sauce of some kind. But with a sprinkle of salt and garlic powder, it perked right up, and the more I ate, the more I started wishing I'd made more!

Sports Drink

Spouse Guy works out in the heat every day and goes through a lot of sports drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade. Those drinks get to be very expensive, especially if you buy them by the 32-ounce bottle. The powdered form is a little less expensive, but only comes in two or three flavors.

Instead of buying sports drink, I've been making it home for the last couple of years. Spouse Guy saves a couple of the bottles from the store-bought kind and refills them to take in his lunchbox (aka, a 12-pack sized cooler). The number of flavors is limited only by the combinations of Kool-Aid you can come up with.

The salt and potassium chloride is what makes this a sports drink and not just Kool-Aid. The orange juice is optional, but don't add it to grape or any other purplish drink mix. The memory of me making punch as a young teenager tells me that mixing orange and purple results in a tasty, but hideously ugly, army green drink.


Homemade Sports Drink

1 pkg. non-sweetened drink mix such as Kool-Aid
2/3 cup sugar
3/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon salt substitute (potassium chloride)
1/2 cup orange juice (optional)

Combine all, then add cold water to make 2 quarts.

Double the batch using two different flavors of drink mix to create a new flavor.

Chicken with Pepperoni Cream Sauce

That's one bright photo! Not sure what happened, but this isn't quite so orange-y in reality.

I found this recipe some time ago, then lost it, then found it again. It came from Hormel or Armour or some other maker of pepperoni. I made it with my homemade pasta sauce instead of canned chopped tomatoes, and omitted the oregano.

Serve it over pasta or rice, or do like I did and serve it over orzo pasta that's shaped like rice.


Chicken in Pepperoni Cream Sauce

4 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut in half cross-wise
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small package of sliced pepperoni
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 can (15 ounces) can chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon dry oregano leaves
1/2 cup half and half

Brown chicken breast pieces on both sides in olive oil in a large skillet. Remove chicken and set aside.

In same pan, saute pepperoni and onion until onion is tender, about five minutes. Add tomatoes (or pasta sauce) and oregano. Stir well. Place chicken back in pan; cover and heat over medium-low heat until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.

Stir in half and half; heat through and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Product: Spray-On Salad Dressing

Anyone else tried this yet? It's Wishbone Salad Spritzers. A few sprays on your favorite salad and you're good to go.

We generally go for the creamy salad dressings, but I found these on a great sale and decided to try one. We bought the Balsamic Breeze flavor, and liked it well enough that I went back and got the Italian flavor.

The label says it has just one calorie per spray and that the smallish 7-ounce bottle will dress as much salad as a 16-ounce bottle of regular dressing. That's at 10 sprays per serving, which is what Spouse Guy uses. I prefer a lot less dressing than he does, and the pump is a great way to keep from over-dressing my salad.

You can read more product information here.

Copycat Pan Pizza

Although I've posted a picture of this pizza here before, I don't think I've posted the recipe. I'm not sure where I found the recipe, but it's been a favorite since I did. It's not an exact replica of the well-known pan pizza, but it's close. It's by no means a low-cal or low-fat dish, but you can use the same crust recipe and bake it just as you would any other pizza with great results and fewer calories.

A word about my equipment. My pans are actual pans from the Pizza Hut chain. I bought them on eBay about 3 years ago and they're wonderful. Because they were actually used in the restaurant, they came to me well-seasoned and virtually non-stick. Most times I simply wipe them out with a paper towel after I use them (much like a cast-iron skillet) or, if absolutely necessary, I wash them with hot water, but no soap, then oil them lightly with olive oil to keep the surface non-stick. If you make a lot of pizza at home, it's well worth it to try to find these pans. They're also great for baking a pan of dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls.

The cutter I use looks something like this. It works so much better than the typical wheel type cutter. I highly recommend one of these, too, if you make a lot of pizza. They are also great for cutting quesadillas, some kinds of cakes and pies, homemade dough into noodles, etc.

I used to use a KitchenAid mixer for bread doughs, which worked great until the heavy doughs eventually stripped the gears. Now I use a Bosch Universal. It costs about the same as the top-end Kitchen Aids, but is belt-driven from underneath the mixing bowl (instead of gear driven from the top). It also has an integrated blender that actually works the way a blender should. If you don't have either a KitchenAid or a Bosch, you can still make this crust by hand-kneading. (Some people find it therapeutic.)


Copycat Pan Pizza Crust

Crust:

2 cups warm water (110° to 115° F.)
1 pkg. dry yeast (or 1 tablespoon bulk yeast)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 8 cups of all-purpose white flour (can use 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat)
1/2 cup olive oil, divided

Place warm water, yeast and sugar in mixer bowl. Stir. Let proof for 10 minutes.

Add oil and salt. Mix. Add 4 cups of flour. Mix well.

With mixer running, gradually add additional flour until dough forms a ball and pulls away cleanly from sides of bowl. Continue mixing (or knead by hand) until a soft, well-developed dough forms (if you use all white flour, the dough should feel like very soft with a silky texture).

Prepare pans by pouring 1/4 cup olive oil in each of the deep dish pizza pans. Rotate pan until bottom and side surfaces are coated, then set aside. Oil will pool in bottom of pan.

Divide dough into two equal portions. Roll or pat out on a lightly oil (not floured) surface until they are slightly larger than the size of your pans. Carefully lift dough and place in each pan. If dough doesn't quite reach the edges or if the oil comes over the top a bit, that's normal.

Cover each pan and let sit for an hour for dough to rise.

Heat oven to 400° F.

Remove covers from pans and top with your favorite sauce and toppings (pictured are pizzas with homemade sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella).

Bake at 400° for approximately 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and cheese and crust are nicely browned. Transfer pizza to cutting board or pizza stone to cut, then transfer back to pan if you wish for serving.

Makes 2 medium (12-inch) pan pizzas.