Fried Sole

Tonight's dinner features a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com, changed around a bit to make it my own. Jeff's reaction to this was little more than "wow," as he was too busy eating it and savoring every bite to say anything more.


1 egg
2 tbsp. prepared mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning (or some other kind of seasoning; this is what we had on hand and sounded good)
1 1/2 cup potato flakes
3 tbsp. Parmesan
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oil for frying
4 (6-oz.) sole fillets

In a shallow dish, whisk egg, mustard, salt, and Cajun seasoning. In another shallow dish, combine potato flakes, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning. In another shallow dish, put flour.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.

Dredge fillets in flour, then dip in egg-mustard mixture, then dredge in potato flake mixture. For extra crispy fish, dip in egg and potatoes a second time.

Fry in oil 3-4 minutes per side.

I found that this recipe made a lot of potato stuff, and not quite so much egg stuff, so you might want to increase the egg and mustard, and probably decrease the potato flakes unless you are intending to double dip.

Lemonny Peppered Beef Kabobs

We were excited to be able to use our recently-purchased kabob skewers. This is what we came up with.


1 lb. beef steak (we used bottom round, or something like that)
1 8-oz. pkg. whole mushrooms
1 medium onion
1 cup baby carrots
1 to 1 1/2 large tomato(s)

Beefy Pepper Marinade (from George Foreman Grilling Machine Cookbook):
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. honey
2 tsp. black pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Prepare marinade by mixing all marinade ingredients in a large bowl, being sure to completely dissolve honey; set aside. Prepare ingredients: Cut steak into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes; cut onion and tomato into large chunks; cut baby carrots in half widthwise. Add beef and mushrooms to marinade and stir gently to make sure they're all covered well. Marinate for about an hour. Thread all the meat and veggies onto skewers. Save the marinade to baste later.

Bake kabobs on roasting pan at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, then use the marinade to baste all the kabobs. Set oven to broil and cook an additional 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy. This made 8 large (10-12 inches?) kabobs.

Curry-Sauced Chicken

I was sort of running a little high on my calories for the day, and needed something low-calorie for dinner. Enter the Better Homes and Gardens Calorie-Trimmed Recipes cookbook. At only 171 calories per serving, this dish was deliciously satisfying.

3/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped apple
2 tbsp. sliced green onion
1 tsp. instant chicken bouillon granules (or 1 cube)
1 tsp. curry powder
1 small clove garlic, minced
Dash pepper
2 whole chicken breasts, skinned and halved lengthwise (we actually didn't have chicken breasts, I just used 1 leg quarter)
1 4-oz. can sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 a 10-inch skillet combine water, apple, green onion, bouillon granules, curry powder, garlic, and pepper; bring to boiling. Add chicken; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or till chicken is tender. Remove chicken to warm platter. Drain mushrooms, reserving 1/3 cup liquid. Combine 1/3 cup mushroom liquid and cornstarch; stir into pan juices. Cook and stir over medium heat till bubbly. stir in the mushrooms. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Makes 4 servings
171 calories per serving

S'More Parfaits

I get a weekly light dessert e-mail from Taste of Home. This week's looked too good not to try - S'mores and parfait mixed together? Sign me up!

2 cups cold milk
1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate fudge or chocolate pudding mix
2 cups coarsely crushed graham crackers (about 24 squares)
1 cup miniature marshmallows
4 tablespoons miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.

Spoon 3 tablespoons each into four parfait glasses. Layer each with 1/4 cup cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons pudding, 1/4 cup marshmallows and 1 tablespoon chocolate chips. Top with the remaining pudding and crumbs. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Yield: 4 servings.


You can also put it all in one bowl to create a dessert more like a trifle - works best with a clear bowl to see the layers. I don't have one like that, as you can see from the picture, but it tastes great all the same. Just layer 1/3 of the pudding, 1/2 of the cracker crumbs, 1/3 of the pudding, all the marshmallows, all the chocolate chips, the rest of the pudding, and the rest of the crumbs. Let set in the refrigerator.

Chalupa Quiche

What do you do with leftover chalupa? Well, for starters, you just reheat it and eat it just like you did the first time! Yummy! But when that gets old (which may take a while because it's so good), what do you do next? You make a quiche! This recipe can also be used with other leftovers - see bottom of recipe.

1 cup plain yogurt (or milk or cottage cheese)
1/4 cup water
2-3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 cup leftover chalupa

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until set.

Variations:
-To use up other leftovers, replace the 1/2 cup chalupa with 1/4 cup chopped cooked meat and 1/4 cup chopped cooked vegetables.
-The flour in the filling eliminates the need for a crust. If you prefer a crusty quiche, don't add the flour, add another egg, and pour everything into a 9-inch unbaked pie crust. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated 425 oven, turn oven down to 350 and bake additional 45 minutes until knife inserted comes out clean. I haven't tried this, but looking at other quiche recipes, it should work.

Chalupa

This is a recipe we had when I was growing up, and I always enjoyed it. However, I didn't take it with me when I moved out. So we were happy to find it on a bag of pink beans. It's just as yummy as I remembered, and easy to make.

1 lb. pink beans, rinsed and drained (pintos are an acceptable substitute)

3 lb. pork roast

7 cups water

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tsp. oregano

1 can chopped green chiles (4 oz.)

Corn chips

Put all ingredients except corn chips in dutch oven, electric crockery cooker, or heavy kettle. Cover and simmer about 5 hours (on high in the crock pot, probably about medium to medium low on the stove), or until roast falls apart and beans are done. Uncover and cook about 1/2 hour to the desired thickness. Serve with corn chips and pass condiments for choice of toppings: (chopped tomato, chopped avocado, chopped onion, shredded lettuce, grated cheese, hot sauce).

Savory Roast Vegetables

This is actually a combination of a couple different recipes, put together to make something new. (Michelle might recognize part of this recipe). This was our dinner tonight, and Zaylee can't get enough of it!
1 tsp. each:
black pepper
oregano
basil
paprika
salt
garlic powder
onion powder
chili powder
2 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 large sweet potato, cut into 1-inch strips
1 russet potato, cut into 1-inch strips
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup baby carrots

Preheat oven to 425.

Stir together spices. Toss with oil and vegetables in a large roasting pan. Roast in middle of oven 20 minutes. Turn vegetables with spatula and roast until tender and golden, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Creamy Fruit Dip

I thought this recipe up as a treat for Family Night.

1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1 8-oz. pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Assorted fresh fruit chunks or slices

In a small saucepan, combine milk and brown sugar. Heat and stir over medium heat, just until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool.

In mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sour cream, and powdered sugar. Add cooled milk and brown sugar mixture. Beat until thickened and creamy. Chill 3 or 4 hours. Serve with fresh fruit.