Keep It Simple, Silly!
We did, indeed, have dinner guests today! We really went from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C by the time the meal was served, but all things, including the guests, were in God's good timing!
Over the years of having guests in our home, I have learned to keep things simple, menu-wise. And, like my dear Mom, I am also learning that the more that I can do ahead of time, the less stress happens when the house is full of hungry people and I am trying to do 15000 things at once. I'm not very nice when I try to do 15000 things at once. People always used to ask me what they could do to help me; my reply was always "stay out of my kitchen". Sounds kinda snarky, now that I think about it. I think I would enjoy help more if our kitchen's floor space was bigger; even with our renovation, it's still a one-man spot. A two-man spot if it's Dean and I and we know what the other person is trying to accomplish.
Anyway......
My menu for today was:
1. Simple tossed salad (with baby greens for the lettuce because they look so pretty) and only 2-3 added vegetables
2. Dilled carrots. I am still using carrots from our garden and am determined to use the carrots up, instead of throw them away from spoiling in the fridge. I love dill weed with carrots. A splash of color and nice mild flavor to make the carrots a little more special.
3. Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
4. Honey Mustard Pecan Chicken (see recipe below)
5. Cream Puffs! Yup, I did it and they were marvelous! I served them with two different fillings - lemon filling and white chocolate/raspberry filling. Now that I've made cream puffs, I will definitely make them again for a nice light dessert that was economical. Next time I would only make one filling but I enjoyed the experiment of picking a flavor favorite. Surprisingly, lemon won today!
I picked up Ina Garten's recipe book "Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics" for $5.00 this week at El Tigre Gigante (title courtesy Dean). She reinforces the notion of keeping a menu simple with only one "star". I felt that this recipe was the "star" today and it is a really nice make-ahead option.
Honey Mustard Pecan Chicken
(serves 6)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp water
1 packet Shake and Bake (Regular or Extra Crispy)
1 cup finely chopped pecans
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Heat oven to 400 F.
Beat eggs and water in a shallow dish. Mix Shake and Bake with pecans in a separate shallow baking dish (a loaf pan worked really well). Dip chicken in eggs and then in coating mixture, turning to coat evenly on both sides of chicken breast. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet/broiler pan.
Bake for 18-25 minutes until chicken is done.
Honey Mustard Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup honey
3 dashes Tabasco sauce
6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Mix all ingredients together. Serve this sauce on or beside the chicken.
As far as making things ahead, I made the Sauce last night and refrigerated it overnight, helping the flavors to blend. I chopped the pecans and mixed them with the Shake and Bake last night as well, so that today I only had to coat the chicken and cook it. There was no gravy to make, no roast to carve, and the chicken was already in serving sized portions. That was nice.
The reward for my labors was having our guests rave over the chicken and go back for seconds. Makes me want to entertain more often. Maybe I should start planning now..... Who would like to come?
Over the years of having guests in our home, I have learned to keep things simple, menu-wise. And, like my dear Mom, I am also learning that the more that I can do ahead of time, the less stress happens when the house is full of hungry people and I am trying to do 15000 things at once. I'm not very nice when I try to do 15000 things at once. People always used to ask me what they could do to help me; my reply was always "stay out of my kitchen". Sounds kinda snarky, now that I think about it. I think I would enjoy help more if our kitchen's floor space was bigger; even with our renovation, it's still a one-man spot. A two-man spot if it's Dean and I and we know what the other person is trying to accomplish.
Anyway......
My menu for today was:
1. Simple tossed salad (with baby greens for the lettuce because they look so pretty) and only 2-3 added vegetables
2. Dilled carrots. I am still using carrots from our garden and am determined to use the carrots up, instead of throw them away from spoiling in the fridge. I love dill weed with carrots. A splash of color and nice mild flavor to make the carrots a little more special.
3. Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
4. Honey Mustard Pecan Chicken (see recipe below)
5. Cream Puffs! Yup, I did it and they were marvelous! I served them with two different fillings - lemon filling and white chocolate/raspberry filling. Now that I've made cream puffs, I will definitely make them again for a nice light dessert that was economical. Next time I would only make one filling but I enjoyed the experiment of picking a flavor favorite. Surprisingly, lemon won today!
I picked up Ina Garten's recipe book "Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics" for $5.00 this week at El Tigre Gigante (title courtesy Dean). She reinforces the notion of keeping a menu simple with only one "star". I felt that this recipe was the "star" today and it is a really nice make-ahead option.
Honey Mustard Pecan Chicken
(serves 6)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp water
1 packet Shake and Bake (Regular or Extra Crispy)
1 cup finely chopped pecans
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Heat oven to 400 F.
Beat eggs and water in a shallow dish. Mix Shake and Bake with pecans in a separate shallow baking dish (a loaf pan worked really well). Dip chicken in eggs and then in coating mixture, turning to coat evenly on both sides of chicken breast. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet/broiler pan.
Bake for 18-25 minutes until chicken is done.
Honey Mustard Sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup whole grain mustard
1/4 cup honey
3 dashes Tabasco sauce
6 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Mix all ingredients together. Serve this sauce on or beside the chicken.
As far as making things ahead, I made the Sauce last night and refrigerated it overnight, helping the flavors to blend. I chopped the pecans and mixed them with the Shake and Bake last night as well, so that today I only had to coat the chicken and cook it. There was no gravy to make, no roast to carve, and the chicken was already in serving sized portions. That was nice.
The reward for my labors was having our guests rave over the chicken and go back for seconds. Makes me want to entertain more often. Maybe I should start planning now..... Who would like to come?
I volunteer ;)
ReplyDeleteOkay, it's a deal!
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