Chicken Poppers or Homemade Finger Food.

     Welcome and thank you for checking out my blog, today's dinner is
Chicken Poppers.

     This week we are back to the normal end of month snack series. Something that I noticed when I looked at my calender to see what I am writing about is that I inadvertently scheduled three chicken recipes for this month. I usually try to write about diverse dinners to keep this interesting but apparently I haven't fully thought through my choice of dinners this month. Since I'm already committed to writing about Chicken Poppers I promise I won't write about chicken again until the last post of next month.

     I recently stumbled across the recipe for chicken poppers, these are very similar to the chicken nuggets that we all know from many fast food franchises, the difference is that you are making them yourself and you are making the dipping sauce from scratch. When I made these I was very behind schedule; it was an hour before a get together and I had left no room for error, this recipe had to work the first time or I would be running to the store to pick up a veggie tray. As I pulled the first baking sheet from the oven I tried one; it worked, I'm halfway home. The popper was hot and moist but not greasy, it was a lighter, tasty version of the nuggets most of us grew up on. While the second batch was cooking I mixed together the dipping sauce. I took another popper from the first batch and dipped it in the sauce; it was different from most dips that I have tried but it had a little kick to it and I liked it.

     The idea of the sauce is that it's a low fat alternative to heavy, full fat sauces; it's a lighter sour cream based sauce that gets most of it's flavor from salsa and cilantro. I'm normally a honey-mustard person but I found this combination of poppers and dipping sauce a nice change of pace.

     Let's jump into today's recipe.

                                     Chicken Poppers

Prep time   12 Min.     Cook time   15 Min.     Serves   4

Ingredients

3 sprays cooking spray

1 pound chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 cup fat-free egg substitute

1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup fat free salsa

1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise

1 tablespoon cilantro, fresh, minced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425f. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Place egg substitute in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cornmeal, garlic salt, salt, paprika and pepper.

Dip chicken in egg substitute and then in breadcrumb mixture; turn to coat. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet; coat with cooking spray. Bake for 5 minutes, flip over and bake until chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, to make sauce combine salsa, mayonnaise and cilantro in a small bowl; stir well.

Place poppers on a plate and serve sauce in a small bowl on the side.

This recipe yields about 6 nuggets and 2 tablespoons of sauce per serving.

     This is a quick and easy snack that requires very little effort. I would imagine that these can be made ahead of time and frozen until you want them or you could make large batches of them and freeze them in smaller batches to be eaten over a period of time. If you try this recipe leave a comment and let me know how they turned out.

     Next week- BBQ Pork Sandwiches with Homemade Slaw or Football Fare.

Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala or Somewhere In Between.

     Welcome and thank you for checking out my blog, today's dinner is
Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala.

     Over these many months I've been able to try many new dinners and in turn post them here so that you can try them. The one thing that stands out the most about them is how ethnically diverse they are. We have tried foods from all over the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Chicken tikka masala is a dinner from India; this is only the second Indian dinner that I've tried to make but I have to say that I like how easy they are to make. I also like that they inject new flavors into my dinner routine.
     For me Indian food is difficult to describe; it's not New World, European, or Oriental, it's somewhere in between. The flavors are diverse, ranging from sweet to sour and spicy to cool and refreshing. At first glance the ingredients seem to be a mistake but during the cooking process they come together in a way that they play off of and compliment each other. The ingredients are simple but create flavors that are very unique.
     Now that we've shed a little more light on Indian cuisine, let's jump into today's recipe.


                           Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala

Prep time   15 Min.     Cook time   480 Min.     Serves   8

Ingredients

28 ounce canned crushed tomatoes

1 small onion, minced

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon ginger root, fresh, minced

2 tablespoons garam masala

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/2 cup plain low fat Greek yogurt

1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped


Instructions

Combine all ingredients except yogurt and cilantro in a crock pot. Cook on high 3 to 4 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours. Stir in yogurt and cilantro. Serve.

This recipe yields about 1 cup chicken with sauce per serving.


     This is a unique dinner that will take your crock pot cooking in a new direction. After you've tried it out make it for your next potluck and dazzle your friends.
     The one thing that is not clear in the recipe is whether you should use 8 big pieces of chicken or many small pieces. I've made it both ways and at this point I don't know which I prefer. My suggestion is try it both ways and decide for yourself.
If you try this dinner leave a comment and let me know how it turned out.


     Next week- Chicken Poppers or Homemade Finger Food.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies or Happy Halloween.

     Welcome and thank you for checking out my blog, today's dinner is Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies.

     Two things that I want to point out up front about this recipe are that this is a snack recipe and that in order for it to be timely I'm posting it as a bonus recipe. Normally I post the snack series recipes on the last Tuesday of the month but if I do that this month you won't see it until the day before Halloween and that's just too late to be timely. So, bonus.
     Generally speaking I don't bake; I like to cook and I appreciate the sense of creativity that I get from it but baking is a much more involved process that I don't want to dedicate my time to. Cooking is a general practice type of activity that require a little bit of knowledge in a lot of areas, baking is more of an exact science that requires a firm understanding of how ingredients actively interact with each other chemically. I'm not saying that baking is bad, I just find that if I want baked goods it's easier to go to a bakery and have the professionals do the work for me. The exception to my feelings about baking is the holidays; I like to bake holiday cookies a couple of times a year.
     A recipe that I have recently found and have been saving for Halloween is Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies. These appeal tome on two levels, they are oatmeal cookies which are one of my favorite types of cookies and they are caramel apple which appeals to my childhood memories. I remember a time before the Tylenol scare of 1982 and the "razors in apples" scare that followed when my neighbors would hand out caramel apples and occasionally my mom would make caramel apples for special events. My next encounter with caramel apples was when Tootsie Roll came out with Caramel Apple Pops, they weren't really caramel apples but they were a great substitute. Now with this new recipe I have the memories of caramel apples and the deliciousness of oatmeal cookies in a healthier form.
     So, let's take a look at today's recipe.


                               Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Prep time   10 Min.     Cook time   20 Min.     Serves   48

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

3/4 cup finely chopped dried apple slices

3/4 cup caramel bits or 16 small soft caramel candies, chopped


Instructions

Preheat oven to 350f.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir well.

Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture; beat at low speed until just combined. Fold in apple and caramel bits.

Drop dough by 2 teaspoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten balls slightly with hand. Bake at 350f. for 9 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

This recipe yields 1 cookie per serving.


     These are delicious cookies that will quickly become a part of your halloween festivities. The one thing I want to clarify is that I use the apple chips that are partially dried and chewy not the apple chips that are fully dried out and crunchy.
As always, if you try them, leave a comment here to let me know how they turned out.


     Next week- Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala or Somewhere In Between.

Grilled Moroccan Chicken Kabobs or The Last Hoorah.

     Welcome and thank you checking out my blog, today's dinner is
Grilled Moroccan Chicken Kabobs.

     Over the last few months I've been posting a series that I've called the grill series. The main purpose of the grill series has been to give you some new and interesting dinners to get you out of the kitchen and into the backyard. The second purpose has been to give you new and interesting dinners to wow your family and friends with; summer is the time to invite people over for cookouts, give them something memorable to eat. The third purpose has been to challenge you men out there(grilling is manly) to go beyond the hamburgers, brats, and hotdogs and to step up your grilling skills. To these ends I hope that I've succeeded.
     As we move into October the weather is getting colder and the days are getting shorter, the kids are back in school and football season has started. It's time to put on warmer clothes, put away the lawn furniture, rake the leaves and get ready for winter. But, before it's too late, there's still time for one last hoorah.
     Grilled Moroccan Chicken is a skewer or shish kebab style dinner, for the sake of brevity I am going to use the term "skewer" to describe this cooking process (see semantics). Ever since man, or probably woman, discovered that it's possible to change foods by putting them over fire we have been skewering our food and suspending it over fire. When it comes to skewers there are two types, wooden and metal. Wooden skewers are the ones that we are most familiar with, these are generally single-use, lightweight skewers made of thin dowels or bamboo.
I like to use wooden skewers when I cook in the oven or when I'm making single serving snacks or appetizers like chicken satay. The two things that you have to know about wooden skewers are that they have to be soaked in water for 30 minutes before use and if you are using them on the grill you should wrap the ends in foil to keep them from burning. Metal skewers are re-usable, capable of handling large amounts of food, and are easier to work with over an open flame.
When cooking on a grill I almost always use metal skewers; I like how easy it is to thread food onto them, their cleanability and how easy they are to flip during cooking.
     Now that we have a little insight into cooking with skewers let's take a look at today's recipe.


                          Grilled Moroccan Chicken Kabobs

Prep time   16 Min.     Cook time   16 Min.     Serves   4

Ingredients

1-1/4 pounds Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 tablespoon unsweetened orange juice

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 sprays cooking spray

1 large zucchini, cut into 1-inch thick half-moons

2 small red onions, quartered through the root


Instructions

Mix the chicken, orange juice, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.

Off heat, coat grill with cooking spray. Prepare gas grill for direct, high-heat grilling or build a high-heat charcoal bed in the center of the coal grate on a charcoal grill.

Divide the chicken, zucchini, and onion among four large skewers, thread the meat and vegetables over the pointy ends and down the skewers.

Set the skewers directly over the heat and grill for 16 minutes, turning about every 4 minutes onto each of the other three sides, so that all four sides are well browned.

This recipe yields 1 skewer per serving.


     This is a great dinner for expanding your grilling skills and diversifying your menu so while we still have nice weather get out there, fire up the grill one last time and try this dinner out.
     As I said in last months grill series this is my last post in the grill series. For those of us that are year-round grillers I will post an occasional grill recipe. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading this blog and trying these recipes, I hope that you are enjoying them.
   As always, if you try this dinner, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out.


     Next week- Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies or Happy Halloween.

Seasoned Pork Tenderloin or Prepping For The Holidays.

     Welcome and thank you for checking out my blog, today's dinner is
Seasoned Pork Tenderloin.

     Because of the nature of the field that I work in I am constantly planning three months to a year out, I spend a lot of time planning, preparing, and testing for events that are months down the road. The reason for this is that when the time comes to do the actual event everything has to work the first time, every time. I don't get do-overs or second chances. Another example of planning ahead are the musicians that I work with, many of them that do holiday performances start planning and rehearsing in July and August. They take the time to organise their set lists and work through the arrangement well in advance of the point of no return. Where am I going with this? I'm trying to point out that the holidays will soon be upon us and now is the time to work through our new holiday recipes. Up until now I haven't discussed practicing recipes, but, with this one and any other recipe that you will be serving to guests try them out ahead of time to make sure you know what you are doing and how it should turn out. This way when you make it for guests you will be equipped to present a dinner that you can be proud of.
     Although I've made seasoned pork tenderloin a few times over the spring and summer this is really best suited for the holidays. As you start working through the recipe you will discover a scent that reminds you of fall-winter potpourri, as you take your first bite you might think to yourself "this tastes like Christmas". Marinading the pork tenderloin in the seasoning infuses it with a flavor and scent that will flood you with memories of holidays past.
     Now that we have a pro-active attitude toward prepping for the holidays, let's take a look at today's recipe.


                                  Seasoned Pork Tenderloin

Prep time   10 Min.     Cook time   60 Min.     Serves   8

Ingredients

2 sprays cooking spray

1/2 cup reduced-calorie pancake syrup

1teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2-1/2 pounds lean pork tenderloin, use two 1/1/4 pound pieces


Instructions

In a large zip-lock plastic bag, combine syrup, dry mustard, cloves, ginger, salt, cinnamon and pepper. Trim pork of all visible fat. Add tenderloins to plastic bag, squeeze out air and seal bag; turn to coat tenderloins. Place bag on a plate and refrigerate, turning bag occasionally, overnight.

Preheat oven to 400f. Line a roasting pan with heavy duty aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray.

Place tenderloins in the roasting pan and pour marinade over them. Roast, uncovered, until a meat thermometer inserted in center registers 160f., about 1 hour.

Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice pork and arrange on a serving platter.

This recipe yields about 4 ounces of meat per serving.


     If you do your prep work ahead of time and remember to put it in the marinade the night before you will find that this is an easy dinner to make. One thing that you have to be aware of is that early in the cooking process you will notice a slight burning smell. Don't worry, it's not burning, let it cook the full hour. This recipe serves 8 people, if you are cooking for a larger group and plan to double the recipe make sure you adjust the time accordingly and check it with a meat thermometer to make sure it reaches an internal temperature of 160f. As always, if you try this dinner, leave a comment here to let me know how it worked out.


     Next week - Grilled Moroccan Chicken or The Last Hoorah.