School is upon me and I am so entirely un-enthused. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some throughly enjoyable times in college with many fun friends made. But, I could not be more ready to be done. I will finish my course work in the summer thankfully and all that will be behind me, I hope ;-). In this final week of freedom before my last spring semester of college I am trying to enjoy every moment of un-burdensome, no homework time. This includes taking naps, drinking tea, catching up on house work when needed, and accomplishing as little as possible within those parameters. Cooking is also part of my relaxation plan and tomorrow I plan on trying my own recipe for Carne Guisada, which literally translates to meat in gravy. I don’t know of any mexican restaurant that offers it here in Denton, but back in San Angelo, Carne Guisada was part of figuring out the personality of a mexican restaurant. Everyone has their own idea of what it should be like and everyone’s grandma makes it better than yours type situation. But more on that situation later :D.
Today is the day for posting J’s favorite part of last weeks date night meal. I’m not much for following recipes unless it’s for baking, but here are my recipes for Oven Fried Chicken and Amaretto Pear Crisps. I hope you enjoy them as much as J and I did!
Oven Fried Chicken
2-3 lbs Chicken Breast or Tenderloin* (see note), cut into 3″ long strips
2 C Panko, or Japanese Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs
2 Tbs Honey
1/2 C Flour
1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Set up a three stations for breading the chicken. In one place the flour, in another the honey and eggs, and in the third the panko, pepper, and salt. Beat the eggs and honey until combined well. Begin by dredging the chicken pieces in flour until lightly coated, and shake off any excess. Then coat the chicken pieces in the egg/honey mixture. Lastly, place the chicken in the Panko and cover well so each piece has an even coating of Panko. Place breaded chicken pieces into a baking dish big enough to not have any pieces overlapping. Bake chicken for 15 min or until centers are no longer pink.
*I didn’t have any boneless, skinless breasts or thighs that night so I cut the breast and tenderloin off two chicken breasts with ribs I had on hand. Whatever you’ve got with ya, make it work!
J’s reaction to this dessert was to call all apples useless and pears to be the only dessert he ever wanted to see again. This will seriously knock you out with amazingness.
Amazing Amaretto Crisp (makes 6, 4 oz ramekins, so double this for a pie sized amount)
For the fruit:
2 Firm, Red Bosc or other Pear variety, peeled and cored
1/4 C Disarronno or other Amaretto Liqueur
1/2 C Sugar
2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 pinch kosher salt (trust me, it’s good)
Crumb topping, or the Crumblies as we call them:
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s Pear Crisp 2009)
3/4 C Flour
1/6 C Firmly Packed Brown Sugar* (see note)
1/6 C Sugar* (see note)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
5 1/3 Tbs Butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut pears into a small dice and add to a bowl with amaretto, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix together and set aside. In another bowl mix all dry ingredients* together. Slowly mix in melted butter with a fork and incorporate well until mixture crumbs resemble small peas. Divide pear mixture among buttered ramekins including juices that have accumulated at the bottom. Divide crumb mixture among ramekins. We like the crumblies a lot so we use all of them which means I pack them in a little bit, but if you prefer less crumb crust, feel free to adjust to your liking. Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 15-17 min or until crisp on top and bubbly around edges. Serve with vanilla ice cream and try not to have a heart attack from deliciousness overload!
*I, like any other sane person, do not possess a measuring cup that says 1/6 cup. To accomplish this amount I pack my 1/3 cup half way with brown sugar and top it off with the white sugar.
That sounds yummy!!!