GZ Tai-Tai

Shake and Bake Mix

 This recipe came to me from a High School friend's Mother. We have stayed in touch over the years.I have always scoffed at mixes that you buy because of the high salt content. Hubby came from a house hold that used lots of store bought mixes. When Linda told me about this recipe I thought it would be worth a try. Hubby loves it, he says it is much better than the store bought.

 You can follow the cooking instructions below, or do as I do, instead of using butter, I spray the pan with Pam or olive oil. Instead of basting with the butter I give a spray or two of the Pam or olive oil over top of the meat before placing in the oven.

I have even used it on fish and reduced to time in the oven to about 20-25 minutes at the 400F temperature.

I can get several uses out of this amount of mix. I just put what I need in a bag for each particlar meal.

 

Shake and Bake Mix

4 cups flour
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup bran flake cereal (crushed) Grape Nuts are great too.
2 Tbsp. parsley flakes
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 Tsp. ground pepper
1 Tsp. curry powder
1 Tsp. basil
1 Tsp. oregano

Mix together well. Store in an air tight container until ready to use.

 

When ready to use:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Put the amount of mix needed, for the meat you are cooking in a plastic bag. Place meat in bag and shake to coat. 

 

Chicken:

Shake 1 disjointed chicken in above mix.
Melt 1/4 cup butter in a shallow 9 x 12 baking pan. Place chicken skinside down and baste top with melted butter from the pan. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Turn skin side up, reduce to heat to 350 degrees and bake until tender, about 30 - 35 minutes.

 

Pork Chops:

Use the amount needed to cover moistened pork chops and
shake them in a plastic bag. Do the same with the chicken if using pieces.

 

 

Rosemary and Lemon Roasted Chicken

This recipe is great for a large group of people and so simple and delicious. Your guests will think you worked all day but that can be your little secret. I came across this recipe in Eat Drink Live, a book I received as a gift but had not really done much but thumb through. I use rosemary and lemon when I cook lamb, and beef. I use balsamic in a chicken dish I make that has garlic and prunes so I was intrigued to try this recipe. I tested it on the family and my son could not get enough, hubby was equally impressed. My changes were to go with boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken or chicken parts with skin, again watching the fat. Served with brown rice and a green salad we had a beautiful meal that guests would love too. The cook club ladies were amazed at how simple this was to make.

Rosemary and Lemon Roasted Chicken

4 lb. chicken pieces or 1 3 ½ - 4 lb. chicken I use boneless, skinless, chicken breasts less fat

3 lemons, cut into wedges

Leaves from a bunch of rosemary

3 red onions

3 oz large, pitted, black olives (approx. 12)

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Trim fat and skin from the chicken if any..

Put the chicken in a large bowl. Add the lemon and rosemary.

Cut the onions in half leaving the root end intact, then cut the halves into wedges. Add to the chicken.

Add the olives, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper, mix well to coat the chicken with the flavorings. Cover and let stand at room temp for an hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

Put the chicken and the marinade ingredients in a large roasting pan. Cook in 375F oven for 30 minutes then turn chicken pieces for even cooking, then cook 30 minutes more.

Remove chicken from the oven. Put chicken pieces and vegetables on serving dish. Pour the cooking juices over top.

Note: If using a whole chicken with skin or pieces with skin, you will need to discard the fat from the cooking juices. Because I use skinless breasts there is very little fat.

 

Mini Thai Burgers w/ Mango Salsa

I saw this recipe before summer in an Olive magazine. The original recipe was for full size burgers but I decided to make a small version to use as an appetizer. The Salsa is amazing and can be used as a side to grilled chicken breasts or a steamed fish if you are looking to switch things up a bit for another meal. I used two mangoes to make the salsa for the class, I think one mano would not be enough. This mini version is also nice with rice in keeping with the Asian theme to complete the meal.

Mini Thai Burgers w/ Mango Salsa

Olive oil

4oog extra lean minced pork or chicken

1 tbsp Thai red curry paste

½ red onion, grated

½ small bunch of Coriander, chopped

Mix together; the pork, curry paste, grated onion and coriander. Form into mini burgers. Brush the burgers with oil and grill or cook on each side until done.

 

For Salsa:

1-2 Mango, diced you may substitute Peach

½ red onion, finely diced

½ small bunch coriander, chopped

1 red chili, finely chopped

½ lime or lemon, juiced

Mix the salsa ingredients together and serve with mini Thai Burgers.

 

 

 

 

 

Foodie burned out, but not completely

I am a major foodie, but recently I have been burned out on the whole cooking and taking photos of what we eat. I am trying to find a balance with this blog. A balance that I will enjoy, cooking has always been a pleasure for me since I started making cookies when I was in pigtails.   When I do cook something good I will give you a  recipe but, I will not promise a photo every time, usually the photo is an after-thought and many times it is too late and the yummy dish is destroyed, with little left to photograph.
The other reason I have foodie burn out is... I am on a diet, Weight Watchers, and I find myself on the computer a lot logging my points and by the time that is done, I really don't feel like thinking about food or writing about food. Weight Watchers has been in my life before and I lost weight with it surprisingly in 2002.I have struggled with my weight since Rice Bowl was a baby, I was diagnosed with an under-active thyroid at that time. I guess you could say it has been about half of my lifetime that I have struggled with weight. I have accepted my lot in life and am happy with myself but as the years creep higher so seems the weight and I would like to lose some of those extra pounds again.
Living in China tends to be a bit more difficult  on the WW plan as there is no fat free sour cream, margarine or any of the other products that I was buying when I was doing Weight Watchers in the states. Trying to sort dinner out for the tastes of the whole family is a little bit challenging to say the least!

We had an awesome trip to Tokyo this past week and you can read all about it on GZ Expat . I will probably be experimenting with some Japanese recipes as I found it is quite easy on the WW points.

I leave you today with a not so good on the points Indian Curry that I made for dinner tonight. I had lots of points to eat tonight as I only ate fruit early in the day. Hubby requested a curry so we splurged!

No photo but very yummy.

The recipe is from a booklet for Mittal's Rashi spices. The booklet and spices were purchased by a friend when she recently visited India. She is one of the Hot Chillies cook club and she gave them to our cooking class and taught us the recipes in the booklet. Thanks Sandra you are lovely!