February 6, 2011 - The Onion Rings

Tried the Baked Onion Rings today from Eating Well. I modified the recipe as follows;
1. Used 1 T salt-free Cajun seasoning instead of the seasoning blend
2. 2 eggs and 1/2 cup milk for the three eggs(I only had two eggs)
3. I mixed the seasoning with the flour instead of the bread crumbs
4. I only used one large white onion since it's only the two of use
I used my salad spinner to remove the water from the rings after soaking.
I have a thumbs up from Tina, which is especially good since it is a healthy recipe. There was a slight raw flour taste and I need to get more seasoning on the onions. The crust was crisp and they were not greasy. Some Tabasco in the egg/milk mixture

February 3, 2011

Today was a "clean out the refrigerator" day.  I had leftover roast chicken and parsleyed red potatoes. 
I chopped some peppers and onions and sauteed them in olive oil.  Chopped up the potatoes and added them to the pan. Then de-boned and chopped the chicken and added that.  In went some of my Cajun seasoning, salt & pepper.  I had some large flour  tortilla shells which we put some grated cheese on, topped with the chicken & potato mixture and then topped it with more shredded cheese.  Put it in a 350 degree oven and baked them for about 15 minutes.  This was really tasty and a good way to use up leftovers.

February 2, 2011

Had a day off of work today so I decided to bake bread.  Apparently I was not the only one.  I used a recipe for Oatmeal Wheat Bread. My friend Patty also did some baking and used the Wholesome Wheat Bread recipe. I am going to try my bread for French Toast on Sunday.  I think it should work well.
For dinner I made some shrimp fra diavolo. I had some tomato sauce frozen that I used.  Not a spectacular dinner but not bad.

The Hidden Sodium in Chicken

I found this in January/February 2011 issue of Cooking Light. It's really is amazing that they do to our food.

http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/nutrition-101/sodium-in-chicken-00412000070041/

Canned Tomatoes

When purchasing tomatoes for cooking, look for canned authentic San Marzano tomatoes. You will pay a bit more for them, but the taste is well worth it.

Baking Bread - Internal Temperature

The internal temperature to see if bread is done;
Breads that contain fat -- 180 - 190 degrees
Dryer, crustier breads -- 200 - 210 degrees.

February 1, 2011

Chicken Chimichangas on the menu tonight.  As usual I gathered up what I had in the frig and went from there.  Diced some peppers and onion and sauteed them in olive oil.  Added some diced chicken breast and garlic along with 1 tsp of cumin and 1/8 tsp chipotle chili power  and some salt and pepper. 
Heated some refried beans in the microwave and grated some cheese.  Rolled the whole mess in large flour shells and fried in oil.  Make sure the frying oil is not too hot or they will burn before they are done.
I only made two since I'm trying to cook only what we can eat.