NOT-Deep Fried Pickles & NOT-Deep Fried Buffalo Chicken Strips served NOT at a Pub night

M- MARCH, M-Moderation, M-Me getting food cravings!  The only way (I believe) to curb some of these said cravings is to give in a little, but what’s even better, is if you are able to cave in a little, curb that craving, however, not even HAVE to have the full fat – totally fried food that you love.  It could be the several years of Pittsburgh in me, or maybe it could be trying to relive some of those College Memories, BUT “Deep Fried Pickles” are something that as soon as I see them on a menu… I just HAVE to have.  (Don’t judge!!) haha , The only thing now is that since I’ve moved to the West Coast, seeing this delicacy *sigh* (again, no judging please) on a menu is few and far between.  Let ALONE the whole “fried factor” and the stuff about steering away from fried foods in general….  As I was pinning my way through Pinterest  (come see what I've found and pinned!)

I came across this wonderful picture and title “NOT-Deep Fried Pickles”, and I’m not gonna lie here folks… I seriously did the “OMG, HOLY…., YUM” in my head, and (of course “pinned it”) took and made up my mind right then and there… YUP, gotta make me some of those!  The recipe link clicks over to Chew Nibble Nosh over on Blogher… oh the fast growing world of blogs eh?!


Not-Deep Fried Pickes & Not-Deep Fried Buffalo Chicken Strips



OKOK, so, although personally, that would be more than enough for me, I figured why not make it a “NOT-at a  Pub Night” and toss in some “better for you” Buffalo Chicken Strips, and not to leave out the all important “side dip”, I whipped up a quick buttermilk dip to go with the above.  YUM YUM! 

NOT-Deep Fried Pickles

(Recipe adapted from “Chew Nibble Nosh” )

•  Pickles – enough to make about 12 sliced wedges
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Cajun Seasoning
• 1 tsp Seasoning Salt
• 1 ½ Cups of Panko Crumbs

- Preheat broiler to high and move oven rack to the level one down from the top.

- Line a baking sheet with foil and place a spray with nonstick spray.

- Remove the pickles from jar and lay out on a plate with some paper towel to drain/dry a bit before dipping

- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and the flour until smooth.  Stir in remaining seasonings.

- In a separate, shallow bowl/dish pour Panko breadcrumbs

- Set up a “production line” on your counter for ease, as if you cook anything like me, your fingers are going to get a little messy, and carrying these around the kitchen probably isn’t a good idea!

- Carefully dip each pickle slice in the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off.  Dredge the pickle slices in the breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere.

- Lay the pickles out on the prepared rack.

- Broil for 2-3 minutes (watch them carefully as the bread crumbs can burn easily!!).  Turn the pickles over and broil for another 2-3 minutes until golden

NOT-Deep Fried Buffalo Chicken Fingers

• 2-3 boneless/skinless chicken breast cut into strips
• 1 cup Buffalo Hot Wing Sauce (I used “Franks Hot Wing Sauce”)
•  1/4 cup Buttermilk
• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup Buffalo Hot Wing Sauce
• 1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Cayenne seasoning
• 1 tsp Seasoning Salt
• 1 ½ Cups of Panko Crumbs

- Place first 3 ingredients in a large freezer bag, mix well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight even better)

- Line a baking sheet with foil and place a baking rack on top of the sheet.  Spray with nonstick spray

- In a separate, shallow bowl/dish mix flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne seasoning, salt

- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites and hot wing sauce thoroughly.

- In a clean Large freezer bag, add Panko Bread Crumbs

- Set up a “production line” on your counter for ease

- Working down your “production line”, take 1 chicken strip at a time, and dip/coat into each bowl, ending with placing strip in bag with Panko Crumbs.  Now… shake shake shake! Make sure the strip is well covered with crumbs and lay carefully on prepared rack.

- Repeat with remaining chicken strips.

- Bake on centre rack in Preheated over at 425F for 15 mins, flipping once half way.  Enjoy!!

I made both of these on the same night, putting chicken in first, and cooking until they were pretty much ready – turning on the broiler, and placing the pickles on top rack (keeping chicken in oven) and broiled per directions above.  Plated them both, through in a buttermilk dip and added a side of carrots!  Who needs to pay pub food prices, when you can have a “Not at a Pub Night” in.  Now go crack open a beer!  Cheers!

Easy-Peasy Wonton Soup

March 1^st. WOW.  Spring is just around the corner…and then… its boating season… EEEK.  Where does the time fly?!  If you are anything like me, you’ve let yourself indulge a "little"… always thinking hmm.. I should really start cutting back.. I reaaaalllyyy need to shed a few of those winter pounds.  Haha..what New Year’s Resolution?!  Anyways… March 1, almost spring… I can hear Centsless calling.. and so, here’s to Easy-BETTER FOR YOU-Weeknight meals, and evenings of Bootcamp, Zumba and Jogging! 

With thoughts of hot summer sun and cool turquoise lakes I’m making it my mission to “lighten up “ a little.  NO – I’m not saying I’m going to do a crash diet or some weird cleanse… let alone even THINK about giving up ANYTHING (helllloooo pasta and bread), I just think I’m going to start balancing it all out.  I’m promising to get more active, and if there’s a way to lighten up week night dinners… by golly… I’m gonna try it out!   I still plan on having the odd treat here and there.. as everyone deserves a  little indulgence now and again, however… my word for the Month of March… “MODERATION”   This EASY-PEASY WONTON SOUP  fits that bill perfectly!    For those that count the number of ingredients before trying a recipe… lucky number 7 is all you need! It includes really only 1 item that you probably don’t already have in your kitchen (wonton wrappers) … however, once you start using these, my bet, you’ll keep a stack on hand!  There are hundreds of ways to use these, for example MMMmini Lasagna’s , so don't be hesitant to buy a package, you'll use them up!

Easy-Peasy Wonton Soup

• 4 Cups Chicken Broth (reduced sodium)
• 2 Cups Water
• 1/2 cup green onion (chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves (minced)
• 24 Wonton Wrappers
• 1lb ground chicken
• 2 tbsp Soy Sauce

(salt to taste if desired)

For the Chicken Broth:

- In a saucepan, combine Chicken Broth, water, ½ of the chopped green onion, and half of the minced garlic (reserving remaining onion/garlic for wontons). Add salt to taste.

- Bring to a boil, and reduce heat and let simmer on med-low while you prepare the wonton’s

For the Wonton's:

- Thoroughly mix ground chicken, remaining garlic/green onion and soy sauce in a small bowl.

- Taking 1 wonton wrapper at a time, place a spoon full of chicken mixture in center of wonton wrapper

- Lightly wet fingers with water, and lightly wet wrapper all around meat mixture to aid in sealing the wonton
-  Fold wrapper over meat mixture forming a triangle, pressing edges together to seal

- Lightly wet and fold corners of triangle again to centre, and pinch to seal

- Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers
- Bring a separate pot of salted water to boil, and carefully place wonton’s in, stirring gently once or twice to prevent sticking, for about 5 minutes. 

- Remove wonton’s from water, draining well, and place into serving bowls

- Carefully pour hot chicken broth over wonton’s and ENJOY!

Couple of notes…

*if you have left over meat mixture/wonton wrappers, you can make more wontons, and place on a plate or cookie sheet in a flat layer, and freeze.  Once they are frozen, transfer to a ziplock baggy and then you are half way to an even quicker meal next time you want soup!

*You can control how much soup you make by adjusting the amount of broth/water and number of wonton’s boiled at one time

*Leftovers make a great lunch!

My 1st Sourdough Bread and naming my sourdough starter...

Sourdough bread’s history is long and interesting, I’ve just begun to scratch the surface of the many ways to start, grow and use it in my daily baking and cooking.  So far, I’ve been more than impressed with the results.   I love seeing how I can make “something” out of practically nothing more than basic ingredients most people – even if their kitchen isn’t “stocked” have – as well as the fact that it’s….dare I say… EASY.   I’m LOVING the fact that I can produce fancy “bakery” style loaves to compliment a simple homemade soup, or produce an Artisan Looking loaf for when we have friends over for dinner.  OH – and let’s not forget to mention… it tastes awesome.

It started with the *NO-KNEAD BREAD*  Where after searching the web, I fell in love with sites like Breadtopia and Yeastspotting  I’ve also learned that there are some “secret” starters / recipes, that people are more than willing to share their starter… just not their actual recipe.  Now, playing with flour, and yeast (whether naturally leavened or store bought active quick rise) has become an addiction of mine!

This is the latest update from my new Sourdough ventures… as it’s the first loaf I made using a starter that was simple…as long as you remember to feed and water it.  It’s a growing, “living” (kinda weird eh?!) THING that resembles something like “THE BLOB”, I really do think I should name THE BLOB…  as I’ve grown kinda fond of it…. Hmmmmm.

Step One – Sourdough Starter (recipe adapted from Breadtopia)

I used one of Breadtopia’s recipes, and followed along with his basic method for managing the starter.

• 3 ½ tablespoon  whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup unsweetened pineapple juice (I used a “no-sugar added” one)

-  Whisk flour/juice in small plastic (clear) container until well combined

-  Cover and set aside for 48 hours at room temperature

-  Stir/whisk well  2 to 3 times a day

48 hours later….

• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons pineapple juice

- Whisk flour/juice into starter mixture

- Cover, and set aside at room temperature for another 48 hours – stirring 2 to 3 times a day

- At this point, you should see the start of some fermentation activity (BUBBLES).  If you don’t you may want to toss starter and try again

48 hours later….

• 5 ¼ tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons water

- whisk flour/water into starter, cover and set aside for 24hours. (Mixture should have bubbles/show signs of fermentation)

24 hours later....

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup water

- Add flour/water to starter mixture and stir well, at this point you should have a very healthy starter.  (if not, you may want to toss, and start again)

At this point do a little bit of research on how to maintain your starter.  Me, I’ve been “feeding” it on a weekly basis, and before I baked with it, I made sure I fed it twice prior to baking, to make sure it was as strong and as “healthy” as I could get it.  (still… haven’t figured out a name for my growing BLOB)

It was just over a week and a bit before I tried out my starter, decided to play a little with the fermentation / proofing a bit, the end result… a delicious loaf of Sourdough Bread, and one of the coolest parts – it’s STILL a NO-KNEAD bread!! Woot Woot!

Sour Dough Bread (No-Knead)

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups Bread flour
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup water (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup starter

*For this recipe, when it came time to actually bake the bread, I used a round heavy 3 QT Ceramic pot with lid, which is safe to use in a 500F oven. * (Winner’s had one for $15)

- Mix whole wheat flour, bread flour and salt into a large (non-metal) mixing bowl

- Mix water and the ¼ cup of starter into a separate bowl (I just used my 2 cup measuring cup)

- combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients  with a plastic (or wooden) spoon.  Dough should be sticky, however, pull away from sides of bowl when done.  *remember this is no-knead so you should be able to mix it well enough with just a spoon!*   If required, add a bit more water, or flour until dough looks like this:

Here’s the “tough” part….

- Cover with plastic wrap tightly (so dough doesn’t dry out) and put into fridge for 2 days (up to 4 days) Just leave it,  alone in the fridge to slowly rise/ferment further

2 days later…

- Remove dough from fridge, and let sit on counter for 1-2 hours until dough doubles in bulk

-Take dough out of bowl and turn onto a generously floured countertop

-carefully “push” out dough to form a rectangular shape.  (be careful not to play with the dough so much that it deflates)

-fold dough one side of dough into the middle, repeat with other side, then fold in half again

- Place in a proofing bowl (or I used a lightly oiled ceramic mixing bowl), cover and let rise again for an hour.

- After an hour, place the ceramic pot with lid (one that’s safe to withstand temp of 500F) into your oven, and preheat oven to 500F, let your dough continue to rest for another 30-40 minutes.

- Carefully and quickly remove hot pot from the heated oven, and using both hands, take resting dough and “flip” bowl upside down, so that the dough drops neatly into the hot pot.  Place lid back on pot, and put back in oven for 30 minutes at 500F

- Remove lid and reduce oven temperature to 450F, bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until crust is golden and bread sounds hollow when tapped.

- Remove finished bread from hot pot, and place on cooling rack.  You should be able to hear the crust crackling!

This bread was YUMMY with a little herbed butter (Italian seasoning, and 1 gloved garlic minced, and mixed into softened butter)   

Making this style of bread is teaching me patience; however, the reward is well worth it!  It also helps to know that TIME is really the “one” who’s doing all the work here….This makes it that much easier to wait!  From everything I’ve read, there are a billion variations.. I’m just getting started!

Then there’s this ongoing small issue I have… I STILL haven’t named my starter.  It’s alive..and healthy… in my fridge, happy to be taken out and feed once or twice a week…  hmmm…  Mr. Blob?? Bob the Blob?  I’ll need to work on that one….maybe over a piece of freshly toasted sourdough….