Aren't you happy it's Friday? I'd be willing to bet you are. I'm happy for you! Weekends are the best. Since I'm in nursing school, and I have clinical rotations on Saturdays, today is actually my "Tuesday," and Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my "weekends," which makes tomorrow my "Hump Day!," which gives me another reason to be happy. That was beyond confusing, so let's move on.
Last night, I cooked with/for a couple of my best friends, Caroline and Misty. Caroline prepared a delicious and creamy Butternut Squash Soup, which we decided was a little closer to a bisque than a soup. I practically inhaled it, and it paired oh so divinely with my Cheddar & Spinach-stuffed, Cajun Panko-encrusted Chicken {I realize that recipe title is way too long, but that's just how it's gotta be}. Here's a picture of our meal:
Doesn't that just make you wish you could jump through your computer screen and taste the yummy goodness??
Anyway, I adapted the chicken recipe from this one. Please make this. Please. It's so delicious. You could make it exactly like the recipe tells you, or you could make these changes like I did (either way, it's a win-win situation):
1. I used a shredded Sargento mix of cheddar cheeses, since my local Kroger was out of shredded pepper jack. You could really use any shredded cheese you have in your fridge.
2. I did not brush the chicken breasts with olive oil before breading. I just didn't think it was necessary. Either that, or I may or may not have just forgotten this step, and didn't want to admit it. The chicken turned out fine.
3. I replaced the breadcrumbs with panko. I love panko. It added a perfect texture to the outside of the chicken, in my opinion. So I think you should definitely try it! But again, it's delicious either way.
That's it! Now you're going to make it right? ("YES!" is the correct answer here.).
The other recipe I'm playing with today is a Cinnamon-Swirl Banana Bread.
Bananas? Good. Bread? Good. Cinnamon? Goooood. (If you can name what TV show I'm referencing, you will make me very proud, and we should be friends. That is all.)
I adapted this recipe from here. There's lots of wonderful recipes from this blog, so if you have some extra time, do some browsing.
I'm going to walk you through the changes I made. The only reason I made any changes at all is because I doubled this recipe, so I could put it into 3 smaller disposable loaf pans, instead of one big one. I needed one loaf for the new neighbors (can't wait to meet them!), one loaf for my nursing school clinical group brunch potluck tomorrow, and one for Dennis and me. {It's baking as I type, and the smell is intoxicating, by the way.}
So, here it is.
Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
Ingredients:
5-6 overly ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 tsp vanilla (I'm a vanilla fiend. if you're not into it as much as I am, cut it in half)
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
How To:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour 3 disposable loaf pans (the ones I got from Kroger were 8 x 3 7/8 in) Or do like I did, and use Pam Baking spray. It was easier. As she states in the recipe, you could really use any size loaf pan, and adjust the amount of ingredients and cooking time as needed.
2. Mix the bananas, butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Sprinkle baking soda on top of banana mixture. Then gently stir in the flour. Be careful not to overmix!
3. In a small dish, mix together the 2/3 cup sugar and cinnamon.
4. Add 1 cup of batter to each loaf pan, and gently spread to even out. Then, sprinkle about 1/8 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter in each pan. It's a pretty hefty layer of cinn-sug, so if it looks like too much, you're doing it right.
5. Proceed to add about 1/2 cup of batter to each pan on top of the cinnamon mixture. Divide evenly until all the batter is used up.
6. Then, sprinkle another 1/8 cup of cinnamon sugar on top of the batter in each pan again.
7. Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes, turning halfway (if your oven bakes as unevenly as mine). a toothpick inserted all the way should come out with only a few crumbs.
Holy yum, batman.
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