Appetizer #7 - Coconut Chicken Bites

 The Year of Appetizers

Appetizer #7 - Coconut Chicken Bites

    This recipe comes from 2007's The Taste of Home Cookbook, from Reader's Digest. I had to modify the recipe, because I once again, did not have all of the correct seasonings. I'll list what I used in italics and what the original seasonings were that I did not use. Even with my substitutions, I really liked these little bite-sized nuggets. They would be yummy with a hot honey sauce or a hot orange marmalade sauce. Instructions for the sauces will be below. 

P.S. Sorry for my plain-jane photo. 

Ingredients:

2 cups flaked coconut

1 egg

2 tbsps milk

3/4 pound boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into nugget-sized pieces

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp celery salt (If you don't have this, use regular salt like I did)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin (I used chili powder)

Oil for frying

Directions:

Finely chop coconut in a blender or food processor (This took awhile for me, because I tried using a blender and it did not work great). Pour coconut into a bowl and set aside. Combine egg and milk in a separate bowl until well combined. Pour flour into a small bowl and toss the chicken a few pieces at a time, in the flour. Dip floured chicken pieces in the egg mixture and then in the coconut. Place chicken pieces on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Fry a few pieces of chicken at a time in 2 inches of oil (heated to 375 degrees) for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. They should be golden brown. Drain fried chicken bites on paper towels and place in a bowl. Combine seasonings and sprinkle over chicken bites. Toss to coat chicken bites and serve warm with or without a dipping sauce. I actually opted to mix my seasonings in with the flour, before coating in the egg mixture and coconut. 

Dipping Sauce #1 - Hot Honey Sauce:

Heat 1/2 cup honey in a microwave until it is a little bubbly. Remove from the microwave and add sriracha sauce to taste.  Add more or less honey and sriracha. It really depends on how much sauce you want and how sweet or hot you want it. 

Dipping Sauce #2 - Hot Orange Marmalade Sauce:

Follow directions above, only use orange marmalade. 

Coconut Chicken Bites

Sopa Paraguaya (Paraguayan Corn Bread)

 Sopa Paraguaya (Paraguayan Corn Bread)

This dish from Betty Crocker's International Cookbook, published in 1980. I really liked this dish. You could eat this as a main dish or as a side dish like I did. This is like a casserole. I couldn't find a 2 quart casserole dish that the recipe called for, so I used a 3 quart dish and thought that size worked perfectly. I also didn't have all the seasonings in the recipe. I'd thought I had them! That's okay, because I just used more red pepper.  I also used Colby Jack cheese, not Monterey Jack cheese. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 cup cornmeal

2 tbsp margarine or butter, softened

3 eggs, separated

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground red pepper (I used 1 tsp, since I didn't realize that I was out of cumin and allspice)

1 can (8oz) whole-kernel corn, drained

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4oz)

1 small onion, chopped (I used 1/2 of a large onion)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 2-quart (I used 3-quart and it was perfectly fine) casserole dish. 

In a large bowl, stir boiling water into cornmeal. Stir until smooth, then blend in margarine/butter and egg yolks. Stir in milk, cottage cheese, salt, baking powder, spices, corn, cheese and finally the onion. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; fold into corn batter. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serves 9 to 12

Sopa Paraguaya aka Paraguayan Corn Bread

Sopa Paraguaya aka Paraguayan Corn Bread served with tilapia and grilled onion

Week 36 - Barley, Black Bean and Corn Burritos

 Barley, Black Bean and Corn Burritos

Week 36 of 52

Vegetarian Entree #5

    Let me start with the fact that you can make this Barley, Black Bean and Corn mix and make a burrito bowl like I did, or you can make burritos. Depending on your serving sizes, you could get at least 8 or 9  servings of two burritos each. With a couple of good sized scoops on bowl of rice, you could probably get about 8 bowls. I liked this recipe, as it was fairly easy to put together and it is a slow-cooker recipe.  The recipe comes from the Southern Living - Slow Cooker Cookbook published in 2002. Notes/Modifications in italics.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis (not drained)

1 cup uncooked fine barley 

2 cups vegetable broth (the recipe calls for chicken broth, but, um, that doesn't make it vegetarian)

3/4 cups frozen corn (whole kernel)

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (I used bottled lime juice)

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I didn't have cumin, so I used extra chili powder)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (Plus extra for decoration)

shredded cheddar or monterrey jack (Optional)

shredded lettuce (optional)

salsa (Optional; I used medium heat)

sour cream (Optional)

18 tortillas if you are making burritos

2 cups cooked white rice if you are making bowls

Directions:

Add the first eleven ingredients to a 3 to 4 quart slow cooker and combine thoroughly. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hrs or until the barley is tender. I cooked the full five hours. Stir in cilantro. 

Bowls: Place a couple of scoops of cooked rice into a bowl and top with the Barley, Black Bean and Corn mixture. Add spoonfuls of sour cream and salsa. Sprinkle cheese over top, followed by a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. 

Burritos: Heat tortillas evenly on both sides on low to medium heat on a cast-iron comal, griddle or skillet. Basically, whatever you use to cook pancakes, you can use to heat tortillas. You want the tortillas to be warm and flexible. If you overcook them, they'll get too crispy to roll. Heat tortillas one at a time. In the center of each tortilla, spoon some of the Barley, Black Bean and Corn mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and roll up. The recipe in the book says to make a bed of lettuce and lay the burritos on the lettuce, but nope, that is not for me. Top with salsa, sour cream and chopped cilantro. 

Barley, Black Bean and Corn Bowl

     

Week 24 - Mexi-Bean Ensalada (Bean Salad)

 Mexi-Bean Ensalada (Bean Salad)

Week 24 of 52

Salad #3

This recipe is from the Pace Picante Sauce - 40th Anniversary Recipe Collection - A Treasury of Tex-Mex Cooking cookbook, published in 1987. One big difference in my recipe, is that it turned out I didn't have cumin in my kitchen, so I substituted chipotle powder. I also believe I should have used less of the chipotle seasoning; I think I doubled it and it was a little overpowering. The green beans were perfectly cooked (if I may say so) and I would make this again, but would try it with cumin as suggested. 

Ingredients:

1lb fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces (I "guesstimated" mine)

1/2 cup diced red onion (I used 1/2 of a red onion)

1 medium red or green pepper, diced (I used green, because the store I shopped at didn't have red)

1/2 cup picante sauce (Pace is suggested and is what I used, but it does not have to be Pace)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (I used 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder)

1 clove garlic, minced (I used 1 teaspoon minced garlic from a jar)

Directions:

In boiling water, cook green beans about 8-10 minutes, until they are crisp-tender (I cooked them for 10 minutes). In a large bowl, combine your diced onion and dice pepper. Add beans. Mix and add picante sauce, oil, salt, cumin and garlic. Stir until well combined. Chill for several hours, stirring every so often. Toss salad again before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings. 

Mexi-Bean Ensalada