Taco Chicken Fingers or Salad: Two Ways to Serve

Taco Chicken Fingers or Salad: Two Ways to Serve

Taco Chicken Fingers: The Appetizer

  OR....

Taco Chicken Salad: The Main Course

Hi everybody :)

I'm finally coming down from my sugar-high from this post. Today I wanted to keep it light and simple. So I decided to do a recipe that you can serve up twice, in two different ways. One as a appetizer served with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and chips; that would be perfect for entertaining. The other as a main course salad with a salsa dressing.

These two recipes begin with chicken breast. The chicken breasts are cut into tenders, coated with a tortilla crust, baked in the oven and used as an appetizer or in a salad. 

This recipe comes from my cookbook collection and here's is how it's done;


Taco Chicken Fingers From CREATIVE COOK'S KITCHEN COOKBOOK

For Chicken Fingers
4  boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (about 1 1/4 - l 1/2 pounds) (I used three chicken breasts)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons milk (not shown in picture)
1 bag (9 ounces) tortilla chips
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
















For to Serve:
salsa
sour cream
guacamole
tortilla chips

Cooking The Chicken:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Cut each chicken breast half crosswise into 1/2-inch strips.

Chicken Tenders

In a large shallow bowl, whisk mayonnaise and milk until blended and smooth.

Milk & Mayonnaise

Place tortilla chips in a resealable plastic bag. Using a rolling pin, crush chips into fine crumbs.

Crushed Chips

In another large shallow bowl, toss 1 1/4 cups crushed tortilla chips with taco seasoning; mix well. Toss chicken strips first in mayonnaise mixture, then in crushed tortilla chips. 

Chicken with Coating - Uncooked

Tips: To maintain the tortilla crumb coating, refrigerate the coated chicken strips for 30 minutes before cooking.

Uncooked Chicken on Sheet

Place on prepared baking sheet (do not overlap).
Bake until just browned and chicken is cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Or...
Taco Chicken Salad From CREATIVE COOK'S KITCHEN COOKBOOK

For Individual Salads:
Taco Chicken Fingers (recipe above)
Salsa (I used 2 parts salsa)
Mayonnaise (I used 1 part mayonnaise)
Lettuce or Salad Mix (I used salad mix)
Tomatoes
Avocado
Cucumber
Mexican Blend or Cheddar Cheese (not shown in picture)
Tortilla Chips, broken into pieces (not shown in picture)

To Make the Dressing:
Mix salsa and mayonnaise in a small bowl until combine, set aside.

2 parts Salsa & 1 part Mayonnaise

  

The Dressing

Fill lettuce cups with taco Chicken Fingers, then top with diced tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, cheese, chips or whatever you like.

 
What I Did and/or Think:
I followed the recipe and tip for the fingers.

The taste was Excellent. The chips adhere very well and stay on fairly well after cooking so I was please. I LOVE Mexican-Styled dishes so this is definitely a REPEAT! or Esto es definitivamente un REPEAT ! ( in Spanish)  :)

For the salad, I combine the things I thought would make a great salad. Using the idea for the dressing, I   mixed it 2 parts salsa, 1 part mayonnaise and because I wanted a little kick to it, I use Pace Medium Salsa.

This was worthy of a REPEAT also.

ENJOY! Come again.....

Linked to:
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms: Melt-in-Your-Mouth Monday Recipe Blog Hop # 83
Jaime @ Mom's Test Kitchen
Flour Me With Love: Mix it up Monday!
Just Something I Whipped Up at Project Inspire (The Girl Creative)
Katherine Martinelli: Taco Blog Hop

Apple Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup: Breakfast Is Served

Apple Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup: Breakfast Is Served

Hi everybody :)

Welcome to another Breakfast Is Served Sunday, if you're just tuning in to my blog every Sunday I post a Breakfast Is Served, today you're in for a treat. I have not one but two recipes to share. YAH!  :) The last Breakfast Is Served is found here.

I decided to make apple pancakes and apple cider syrup for breakfast today because I thought it would be perfect for Fall. Here's how I made it:

For The Pancakes:

Apple Pancakes adapted partly Cook's Illustrated Cookbook
1 1/2 cups milk (use less milk for thicker pancakes more for thinner)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 - 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour (use less flour for thicker pancakes more for thinner)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (not shown in picture)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (not shown in picture)
3/4 cup diced peeled apple (1 apple) (I used Golden Delicious)
1-2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Whisk milk and lemon juice together in large measuring cup; set aside to thicken while preparing other ingredients. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl.

Dry Mixture

Add egg, melted butter, and apple to milk mixture and whisk until combined. Make well in center of dry ingredients; pour in milk mixture and whisk very gently until just combined (few lumps should remain). Do not over-mix.

Adding Milk Mixture to Dry Mixture

.











Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. When the pan is hot, turn it down slightly. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup of the batter onto the center of the skillet.  Cook pancakes until large bubbles begin to appear, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.

Pancake Before Flipping

Using thin, wide spatula. Flip pancakes and cook until second side is golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan as necessary. Makes about 8 medium pancakes, Serving 4 to 6

 








For the Apple Cider Syrup: 

Apple Cider Syrup: adapted Taste of Home
1/2 cup sugar
1  tablespoon cornstarch 
1/8  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8  teaspoon ground nutmeg ( I used apple pie spice)
1 cup apple cider or juice
2  tablespoons butter, cubed
1  tablespoon lemon juice
I added thinly slice apples and chopped toasted walnuts.

For the  Syrup:
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Sugar Mixture

Stir in cider until smooth. 

Sugar Mixture and Apple Cider

Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.

Adding Juice and Butter

 Stir in butter, lemon juice, and

Adding thinly sliced Apple

 



1 thinly sliced apple. Add toasted walnuts to the syrup and serve with pancakes. (1-1/2 cups syrup).

What I Did and/or Think:
I made the following changes I listed above; using apple pie spice and adding apple and walnut to the syrup.

The pancakes were light, fluffy and delicious. The syrup was lemony and delicious; was GREAT with the pancakes. This is definitely a REPEAT!

 ENJOY! Come again..... 

Linked to:   
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms: Melt-in-Your-Mouth Monday Recipe Blog Hop # 83
Just Something I Whipped Up
Flour Me With Love: Mix it up Monday!
Sundae Scoop @ I Heart Naptime
Jaime @ Mom's Test Kitchen
Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party @ AddictedRecipes
Must Try Mondays: My Favorite Finds 
Fall Favorites Link Party

Plate-Size Cookies, Resized

Plate-Size Cookies, Resized

Hi everybody :)

I woke up this morning with a serious sweet-tooth attack. This led me to my cookbooks. In a time like this the only cure is COOKIES. I love baking cookies more than anything else. My favorite cookie is Oatmeal.
So I started out looking for the BIGGEST oatmeal cookies I can find. One that's full of craisins, walnuts, coconut, and chocolate, all my favorite ingredients in an oatmeal cookie.

And I thought I might had succeeded.... 

Plate-Sized Cookie

until I had to reevaluate my choice....  (see What I Did and/or Think below)

Plate-Size Cookies adapted  The Fannie Farmer Baking Book

Ingredients
1 cup vegetable shortening (I used Butter-Flavored Crisco)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
1 cup raisins (I used dried cranberries or craisins)
1 cup grated coconut
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips)
3 cups uncooked oatmeal (not instant) (I used old fashioned oatmeal)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease your biggest cookie sheets.
Combine the shortening and sugar in a very large mixing bowl, and beat until thoroughly blended.

Beating Shortening and Sugar

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla and water, and beat well. Stir and toss together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Dough after adding the Flour

Add them to the first mixture and beat until completely mixed Add the nuts, raisins, coconut, chocolate morsels, and oatmeal, and stir until blended.

Cookie Dough

Using a 1/3-cup measure, scoop up pieces of dough and scrape them onto the prepared cookie sheets about 4 inches apart.

4 Cookies on a Sheet Pan

With your moistened fingertips, flatten each blob of dough into an even round about 4 1/2 inches across and 1/4 inch thick Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (watch them carefully), until the cookies have spread and are golden brown all over. Remove from the oven and let cool on the sheet for a minute, then using a wide spatula transfer them to rack to cool completely.

What I Did and/or Think:
I started off following the directions in the recipe using a 1/3 cup measure to scoop out the cookies, doing that I only cook 4 cookies at a time.  For a golden brown color I let my cookies cook for 9-10 minutes. I also use my Silpat Baking Mat. Cooking the cookies for 15 minutes as stated in the recipe cause them to be over-cooked. The cookies were great but they was thin, and being so big cause them to be difficult to move without coming apart.

They had to be resized. So I use my medium OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop to scoop the dough out between chilling it. Bake at 350 degree for about 8 minutes and PERFECT-O! I had nice chewy cookies although not plate-sized, but totally worthy of a REPEAT!

Regular-Sized Cookies

ENJOY! Come again....

Linking to
Not Your Ordinary Recipes: Foodtastic Friday
Whipper Berry: Friday Flair Link Party 
The Better Baker Weekend Potluck
Sweets for Saturday @ Sweet As Sugar Cookies
Show Your Stuff
Foodie Friday @ Simple Living