Baked Chicken Tenders

1 lb. BSCB (boneless skinless chicken breast), cut into strips

1 1/4 C. panko bread crumbs

1/2 tsp. season salt (such as Lawry's)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. lemon pepper

Salt

Pepper

dash of hot sauce

1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar

1/4 C. milk

1 egg

3/4 C. flour

Combine the bread crumbs, season salt, garlic powder, lemon pepper, and salt and pepper together in a pie pan. Next, in a small bowl whisk together the hot sauce, vinegar, milk, and egg.

To assemble the chicken: dredge the chicken in the flour, dip in the egg mixture, and roll in the bread crumbs. When all chicken is breaded place on a cookie sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven. Bake 15-20 until cooked through.

Serve with honey mustard sauce or ranch dressing.

Dredge the chicken in the flour

Finnish Christmas Cookies

Authentic Finnish Christmas Cookies

1 C. AP flour

1 C. quark

1 C. butter

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. water

1 egg yolk

1 (9 oz.) jar plum preserves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the flour, quark, butter, baking powder, and water in a processor or mixer until well blended.

Roll out the dough on a flour surface to roughly 1/4" thickness. Cut dough into squares, then make a 1 1/2" slit from each corner towards the center. Fill the center of each square with 1 tsp. of the plum preserves. Fold each corner towards the center to make a star. Brush with the egg yolk and bake for 8-10 minutes.

What is Quark? Well, it's a european dairy product that I describe as a cross between cream cheese and sour cream. There are multiple varieties and textures throughout Europe, but this was the only kind I found at Whole Foods. It was roughly $4 for eight ounces. It definitely gives these cookies a smooth, unique texture, that has me thinking up other ways to cook with it.

Also special to this recipes is the plum preserves. The cookies I remember eating were made with prunes, and I think you can imagine the difference in taste when you use the actual preserves. Maybe that's why the presentation is so beautiful? Perhaps to trick you into trying them? The preserves are more traditional, but were likely difficult to come by years ago.

This is a gorgeous, buttery smooth dough that doesn't seem to be affected as it warms to room temperature.

December Dinner Party

December was another delicious dinner party. Looks like I'm up next month, so I've got some serious work ahead of me to top this last one!

December Menu:

Pesto Torte

http://busycooks.about.com/od/appetizerrecipe1/r/pestotorte.htm

Cranberry-Pear Tossed Salad

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/cranberry-pear-tossed-salad/Detail.aspx

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic (see recipe below)

Cheesy Ranch Potato Bake

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/cheesy-ranch-potato-bake/Detail.asp

Ginger-Rum Carrots

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001923629

Popovers

Pumpkin Rum Cake

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001675069

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

2 (3-pound) whole chickens

8 fresh thyme sprigs

¼ cup butter, softened

1 lemon, halved

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

40 garlic cloves, unpeeled (about 3 bulbs)

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Garnish: fresh thyme

Rinse chickens, and pat dry with paper towels. Place 4 thyme sprigs in cavity of each bird. Rub each chicken with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Squeeze a lemon half over each chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Tie ends of legs together with string, tuck wing tips under. Place chickens, breast side up, in a well-greased shallow roasting pan.

Toss garlic with olive oil in a bowl. Scatter garlic cloves around chickens, snuggling them close to chickens.

Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thigh registers 180 degrees.

Remove chickens and garlic to a serving platter. Garnish, if desired. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Foodzie Box November 2010

Have I told you about Foodzie yet? It's this great little company based in San Francisco that works to bring artisan food to foodies like you and me! Does that make sense? Too bad if it doesn't. Well you can sign up to get a monthly package full of little treats. The items are typically smaller portions than if you purchase the items alone, but it's meant to get people to try these mom and pop products. Then if you like the stuff you can go buy more of it on Foodzie.com. I was impressed! I'd say you get 5-7 items each time, and it's only $14.99 each month. You know you want to sign up too.

These were amazing parmesan flatbread crackers. As soon as I tried them, I couldn't stop. So I immediately ordered more.

Thanksgiving 2010

Turkey Day 2010 was more interesting than normal. It turns out both sets of parents made plans with the step-family and my sister with her in-laws. What's one to do? Well, although I know everyone wanted me with them, I decided to venture out and spend it with friends this year. I liked it. But yes family, I missed you too :)

I was in charge of the pecan pie. Initially I was going to pick one up (why risk a food disaster?) rather than attempt making one myself. But somehow (perhaps with a little persuading) I took a stab at it.

Lesson learned, cook it a 15 minutes longer to ensure that the middle stays solid. It oozed when we first cut into it, but the days following all the filling had stayed in place. Strange. But still tasty.

*Don't forget to toast the pecans first! Also, cut the butter up into itty bitty squares, break apart if stuck together, and freeze for 20 minutes before processing in the dough - it's magic*

Pecan Pie (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

Dough:

1 1/4 C. AP flour

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

7 Tbsp. butter, diced into tiny cubes and frozen

1/4 C. ice water

Filling:

6 Tbsp. butter

1 C. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

3/4 C. light corn syrup

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

2 C. toasted, roughly chopped pecans

To make the dough, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until incorporated. Add the frozen butter bits and process until mixture is very crumbly. Mixture should be a little bigger than sand granules and feel cold to the touch. Once butter is crumbled correctly, pour in the ice water while the motor is running. Quickly pull together the dough and knead 4-5 times on the counter top until dough has a consistent texture and there are no dry spots. Flatten into a round disc and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours.

Let dough sit out for 10-15 minutes prior to rolling out to help prevent it from cracking. Roll dough into a 12" circle. Transfer to a 10" glass pie pan and trim the edges so there is a 2" overhang. Tuck the overhang under and pinch to form the decorative crust.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke a fork into the dough a few times to help prevent bubbles while baking. Using a large sheet of aluminum foil, press the foil into the shape of the pan so that it is in contact with all surfaces of the dough. This will help keep the dough from over-browning. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the foil, and bake another 10 minutes uncovered or until slightly golden. Remove from the oven and cool.

To make the filling, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Turn off the burner and add the sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar is absorbed then whisk in the eggs, corn syrup and vanilla. Turn the heat back on low and stir the mixture frequently until it becomes glossy and about 130 degrees (I go by the glossy measure). Stir in the pecans.

Pour the filling mixture into the pie shell and bake in a 275 degree oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Make sure the top is set or when the pan is jiggled ever so slightly that the filling underneath the pecans doesn't seem to be entirely liquid.

Allow to cool. I think eaten the next day is best - it will give it more of a chance to set up.