Baked (not fried) Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan is a hands-down favorite around here (only behind pizza, I would submit).  We'd been wanting to try a baked Chicken Parmesan for a while... and found this one to make after church today.  It's a winner!

3 chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat and sliced into cutlets
2 c marinara sauce, warmed
3/4 c mozzarella cheese, grated
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1 1/2 c Panko crumbs (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
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1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP salt
1/2 tsp pepper
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3 egg whites
1 TBSP water

Combine bread crumbs and olive oil in saucepan, and cook over medium heat until golden brown.  Allow to cool for a few moments, then add Parmesan cheese.

Combine flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish.  Set aside.

Whisk egg whites and water together in a shallow dish and set aside.

Dry chicken cutlets with paper towel and season with a bit of (additonal) salt and pepper.  Dip in flour mixture, and shake off excess.

Next dip in egg mixture, until all flour has been thoroughly moistened.

Next dip in bread crumb coating.  (You may need to press down on the cutlets to make sure that crumbs stick to them.)

Place foil over a baking sheet, then place a wire baking/cooling rack over the foil-covered sheet.  Spray rack with non-stick spray, and place coated chicken on rack.  Spray tops of coated chicken with non-stick spray.  Bake at 475° for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Add 2 TBSP marinara sauce to tops of each cooked cutlet, then top with cheese.  Bake for 5 more minutes.

Serve over spaghetti or pasta of your choice.

Comments from the cook:  We hardly changed anything from the original recipe, except for using a Parmesan-Romano cheese blend...which turned out to be amazing.  We served our chicken over spaghetti, and used extra marinara sauce to add more flavor.


Hope you love this as much as we did!

Recipe found at BrownEyedBaker.com, here.

Bacon Tomato Capellini

Holy grown-up bacon recipe! I saw this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, and thought it sounded amazing. Grown-up food with bacon as a main ingredient?! How could it fail, really? Turns out, it couldn't. A.MAZ.ING.

1 pkg (16 0z) bacon
¼ c bacon grease (from the bacon you cook)
1 large can (28 oz) diced tomatoes (we prefer petite diced)
¼ c fresh basil, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
½ bunch green onions, chopped
1 tsp salt (optional)
1 box (16 oz) capellini or angel hair pasta

Fry bacon in a large frying pan until done, but not crispy. When finished, allow bacon to cool on a paper-towel-covered plate. (Reserve 1/4 cup of bacon grease.)

When bacon is cooled, tear or cut it into small pieces. Set aside.

Pour tomatoes into large bowl. Mix fresh basil in. Set aside.

Put 1/4 cup bacon grease back in pan, and heat to medium. Add minced garlic and green onions. Once garlic has turned to a tan color, add the bacon pieces. Saute at low heat for 10 minutes.

Pour in the bowl of tomatoes and basil. Stir together and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt if necessary.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, boil pasta. Drain noodles and set aside.

Right before serving, toss bacon/tomato sauce with noodles. Top with fresh Parmesan cheese.

Serves: 6-8

Comments from the cook: I made this dish on Sunday, and it was enough to eat for 3 nights! It is an excellent leftover, and reheats very well.

I didn't have green onions on hand when I made this, so I just used a dash or two of onion powder as a substitute.

We loved this, and will definitely be adding it to our recipe arsenal!

Originally found here, on this amazing recipe website.

Brian's Pizza Hut Pan Pizza & Breadsticks

Sauce:
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
2 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp dry basil
1 tsp garlic salt

Dough:
1 1/3 cups warm water
1/4 cup non-fat powdered milk
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
1 TBSP granulated sugar
1 package dry yeast
2 TBSP canola oil (for dough)
canola oil (for pan)
cooking spray

Pizza toppings:
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni

Breadstick seasoning:
2 TBSP parmesan cheese
1 1/2 TBSP garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp onion salt

Combine sauce ingredients and allow to sit for 1 hr.

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in KitchenAid bowl (or mixer of your choice).

Add water and mix well using whisk attachment. Let rest for 2 minutes.

Add oil and stir again. Let rest 2 more minutes.

Now using the hook attachment, add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed.

Remove from bowl and knead by hand for about 1 minute. Put back in KitchenAid bowl and knead with dough hook on medium speed for 4-5 minutes.

Roll out to 1/4"-3/8" for one large pizza and one small pan of breadsticks. Turn large (14") deep-dish pizza pan over top of dough. Press down hard (cookie-cutter style) to cut the dough. Use knife if cut is not entirely clean.

Collect cuttings. Roll out to same thickness, and turn small deep-dish pan (round 9" cake pan will work) over cuttings to slice.

After cutting and before placing dough in pizza pans, spray sides of pan with cooking spray. Add a small amount of oil to the bottom of the pizza and breadstick pans. Original recipe calls for a large quantity (tastes better, but a lot more fat!), but a thin coating to cover the bottom of the pan is sufficient.

Add dough to both pans. Cover with foil. Place in oven heated to lowest setting ("warm", usually) and allow to rise for 1-1 1/2 hrs.

Add sauce and toppings as desired, and cook at 475° until outer crust is brown.

For breadsticks:

Sprinkle with seasoning, then cook at 475° until edges of crust turn brown.



Comments from the cook: We were on a real knock-off kick for awhile, and this has become one of our staple pizza recipes. While the crust is not quite as chewy as Pizza Hut's pan pizza, the taste is very similar.

One of the most important things about this recipe is the pan. You must (read: MUST) use a deep dish pan. Using a flat pizza pan obviously won't work, but you can get creative otherwise. We've made it in a 13x9 pan before (and it worked perfectly) and have made it in multiple 9" round cake pans before too.

Funny story. Brian and I had been married about a year, and went home to be with my family for Thanksgiving. They wanted him to make this pizza (my brother, Neil, is the 2nd biggest pizza fan ever...behind Brian, that is) and we needed a large deep-dish pan in order to make pizza for such a large crowd. So we set out to find one. We didn't find anything in the pizza pan section at Wal-mart, until my mom was walking away. There was a large metal deep-dish pan sitting there that was PERFECT for the job. We needed 2, but only found the one...and figured we'd just use cake pans for the rest. We got to the register to find out how much the pan was. It rang up $3. Score! Best part? The description was PET DISH. ha! Sturdy, metal, and perfect for $3. When we returned from vacation, we went and bought 2 for ourselves. Still use them to this day. :)

Originally found online and adapted by Brian, the pizza king.

Brian's Thin-Crust Pizza & Breadsticks

1 cup warm (but not hot) water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt

Add yeast and sugar to warm water. Stir until dissolved.

Add sugar/yeast/water mixture to a mixing bowl containing remaining ingredients (flour, salt, and oil).

Mix with dough hook on medium speed until dough forms a ball and no longer sticks to sides of mixing bowl.

Cover (moistening surface of dough with a bit of oil, if desired) and allow to rise for 1 hr 30 min.

Roll dough out.

Recipe makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas... or an extra large pizza and a small pan of breadsticks.

Bake crust only at 450° just until slightly browned. Add sauce and toppings, and return to oven until cheese is melted and pizza appears to be done.

For breadsticks:

Roll out, sprinkle with garlic salt, oregano, basil, and parmesan cheese. Add a bit of mozzarella if you're feeling crazy!

Comments from the cook: Another one of Brian's masterpieces! This recipe came from the same guy that gave him the awesome sauce recipe found in this recipe, and has been one of our favorites for a few years now.

And, beware...this crust can make a person fall in love with thin-crust!

Super-Thick French Toast

French toast:

3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 loaf french bread, sliced into 1" slices
cinnamon sugar mixture

Heat griddle to 400°.

Combine eggs and milk. Whisk together with fork until combined. (I used a pie plate to prep this in...)

Dip french bread into mixture one side at a time, saturating.

Sprinkle hot griddle with cinnamon and sugar mixture (just covering area that one bread slice will take up).

Place saturated bread directly over cinnamon sugar mixture.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of saturated bread.

Flip and brown both sides until thoroughly cooked.

Comments from the cook: I like cinnamon in french toast, but have never liked how the cinnamon sits on top of the egg mixture and doesn't coat evenly. Using a sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar (we have a small shaker of it) and applying it directly to the soaked bread was the perfect solution!

Top with syrup or real whipped cream and strawberries. Makes 10-12 slices.

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Butter syrup:

3/4 cup evaporated milk (fat free ok)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 TBSP butter
1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium high heat.

Heat at a rolling boil 2-4 minutes, until desired consistency is reached, stirring constantly.

Comments from the cook: Sometimes maple is a little strong for my tastes, so I wanted to try my hand at a butter syrup. I cooked my syrup on and off for about 4 minutes in hopes of getting the right texture. I boiled it, stirred it, took it off the heat to cool slightly, then would put it back on the heat when the texture seemed too thin. After several rounds of doing so, I overcooked it just slightly and my syrup was a little bit thicker than I was going for. But the taste was fantastic!

Our attempt to knock off the only-in-UT Kneaders french toast...and thus a CookieSheets&CakePans original!

Orange Chicken

(Made with fresh chicken breast chunks)

(Made with frozen tenderloin chunks)

Chicken and breading:

1 TBSP oil
1 egg
1/4 c flour
1/4 c cornstarch
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large fresh chicken breasts, cut into large chunks (Tenderloins will also work, but pieces will obviously not be as thick. Same goes for frozen chicken.)

Combine egg, oil, and salt and pepper in medium mixing bowl.

Add chicken chunks to mixture and stir together, making sure that all pieces are coated.

Add flour and cornstarch to mixture.

(Don't be fooled. These steps must happen in this order. And the mixture may not look right to you, but it works. Promise!)

Heat oil on stove. You'll need it to be medium high to high, but not the highest heat. It needs to be hot enough to crisp the outside, but not so hot that the outside gets charred and inside isn't thoroughly cooked. (Remember my outrageous paranoia about meat not being thoroughly cooked?!)

Cook thoroughly and set chunks on plate covered with paper towel (to allow excess oil to drain).

Sauce: (**Makes enough for 2 installments...so cut ingredient amounts in half, or go with these quantities and freeze the rest. Freezes like a dream!**)

1 1/2 cups water
4 TBSP orange juice
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1/4 cup plus 1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 rounded tsp chopped green onion
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3 TBSP plus 1 tsp cornstarch
4 1/2 TBSP water

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine all of the sauce ingredients, except the cornstarch and 4 1/2 Tbsp water. Stir often while bringing mixture to a boil. When sauce reaches a boil, remove it from heat.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 4 1/2 TBSP of cool water. Stir until cornstarch has dissolved. Pour this mixture into the sauce and set the pan over high heat. When sauce begins to bubble and thicken, remove it from heat.

Toss chicken chunks with half of the sauce (freeze the rest!) and serve over sticky rice.

Comments from the cook: Hello, and welcome to orange chicken heaven. Since we moved to Kansas, we haven't have access to Panda Express or the fab Chinese that we loved at Smith's in Utah. I stumbled upon this recipe, and my new-recipe-trying husband dove right in one night when I was under the weather. He touches the meat in this family (he really loves me), so he's technically the expert on this one. I've made the sauce, so I can take a LITTLE bit of ownership...

We use more orange juice than the original recipe calls for (quantities already adjusted above), and use all cornstarch instead of arrowroot. If you have it around, click on the links below to fancy up the recipe (then email me and explain to me what-in-the-world you're doing with arrowroot in your cupboards).

We have been searching for an easy orange chicken recipe for a while. Well, guess what? If you want good orange chicken, it takes a little work! Love, love, love this recipe. Am SURE you will too...

Endorsed by so-incredible photographer, Tara Whitney, on here (and she found it here). Some text taken from these websites.

Brian's Homemade Pizza

Sauce
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1 clove minced garlic
1 1/2 TBSP fresh basil, minced (or the equivalent of dried basil)
1 TBSP fresh oregano, minced (or the equivalent of dried oregano)

Simmer for 30 min, stirring occasionally.

Crust
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 TBSP yeast
2 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add sugar, salt, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix to form dough.

Add more flour (up to a 1/2 cup) if needed to pull together. Mix about 3 minutes.

Let rest for 10 minutes in bowl.

Flour your pizza peel and sprinkle it with cornmeal. Work the dough with your hands to stretch it before laying on your pizza peel. Roll it out a bit more if needed. Let it rest for another 10 minutes on the peel after you've rolled it out.

Add all toppings BEFORE transferring dough from pizza peel to hot pizza stone (heated to 450° in oven).

Cook for 12-15 minutes.

Comments from the cook: I married a man who CANNOT get enough pizza! The only thing he loves more than making it? Eating it! He has been adding recipes to his quiver for a while now. This crust is one we tried just over a week ago. We are in love with the taste, and it's a quick one!

Brian got this sauce recipe from a man that visited the bell-tower at BYU a few years ago. The man owned the first pizza delivery restaurant in SLC. While this was not the recipe he used in his restaurant (too time-consuming, says he!), it was his personal favorite. Brian and I have yet to find a sauce recipe that matches it.

Also, we use dried spices in the winter time. Fresh ingredients are best, but one must find alternatives in winter!

Originally shared by Erica and the unnamed bell-tower pizza man.