Beer Batter Fish and Baked Chips with Garlic Aioli

Monday the 31st was a national holiday here in the States. Memorial Day. In many ways it signifies the start of summer. As well as being able to break out the grill, having the day off. Luckily this past weekend the weather has been great in SoCal. Keyword of the day was relaxation. But more importantly to remember our fallen soldiers in the military. Now since I live in an apartment building where grilling is prohibited...total bummer. I can't wait for the day when I own my own house. Anyway... I wasn't in the mood to lug out ol' Georgie, so I went for one of my most recent cravings. Fish and chips. 

This recipe is a slightly improved version of my Guinness Batter Fish and Chips that I posted sometime last year. Made several tweaks here and there and what you got here is fantastic. I decided to serve it up with some garlic aioli, which is relatively easy to make and really good. I made the aioli and prepped my "chips" (aka home fries) the day before as I didn't want to spend too much time in the kitchen. I did a little search of various aioli recipes and the basic ingredients are garlic, egg yolk, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil. Some recipes use a hint of dijon mustard and vegetable oil. I mixed and matched and experimented until I found something much to my liking.

I cut the chips into near shoe-string thickness. I soaked the chips in some cold water spiked with some distilled white vinegar. It help keep the firmness of the potato as well as remove any excess starch. The recipe called for 3 russet potatoes. Depending on how you cut it, if it seems too much, you can freeze them for a later time. My fish of choice in this was cod, which is what is traditionally used. For the batter, beer of choice was none other than some Guinness Stout. Yeah...that's how I roll. When it came time to cook up the fish, rather than have to deep fry I decided to pan-fry the pieces. I tend to move away towards deep frying most of the time. Once in a while I'll make an exception.

So the day came and the cooking began. Pan-fry the fish while the chips cooked. Multi-tasking in the kitchen. The end result... a tender flaky fish with a nice crispy crust. The chips were herb-y and delicious. I made a small batch of tartar sauce as well, but I really like the malt vinegar and aioli combo for some reason. Oh...must not forget the side of lemon wedges. You can't have with without the lemon.


Serves 2-3

Beer batter Fish and (Baked) Chips with Garlic Aioli

Fish
1 to 1 1/2 Lbs  cod, haddock, tilapia (any fillet of white fish)
salt and pepper (for seasoning fish)
1 c flour
1 Tbsp paprika
1/3 c water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/3 c Guinness Stout
cornstarch
Canola or peanut oil

This can be done while the chips bake. The batter. In a bowl combine the flour, salt, pepper, water. Lightly stir to combine. Then add the Guinness. Mix well removing any clumps. Set aside and prep the fillets.

At this time preheat enough oil to cover the bottom of a skillet, at least 1/5-inch or more. You may cut your fish into sizable pieces. Season with salt and pepper and dredge the pieces in some cornstarch. Place the dredged pieces in the batter. When the oil is really hot, slowly and carefully place the fish and pan-fry for 2-3 minutes per side for 1/2-inch fillets. Cook until crispy brown. When cooked, place the fish on a paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Baked Chips
3 russet potatoes
4 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp dry basil
1 tsp paprika
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

peel and cut the potatoes to your desired thickness. (I chose to cut mine 1/8th-inch thick.) Place the sticks into a large bowl of cold water spiked with 4 Tbsp of distilled white vinegar. Cover with saran wrap and place in the fridge overnight or chill for at least an hour before cooking. This will help remove the extra starch in them.

Preheat your oven to 400˚F.

Remove the chips from the water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place into a bowl or large ziplock bag and add the salt, pepper, paprika, and olive oil. Toss together and coat evenly. Place the sticks on a parchment paper or silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until crisp (depending on thickness of potato).  For extra crispiness, you can place the chips into the broiler for a minute or two. When the chips are done baking, remove from the pan and season lightly with a little salt.

Note: you may freeze any uncooked potato for later use.

 tartar sauce on the left, aioli on the right

Garlic Aioli
3 garlic cloves
2 egg yolk
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 c extra virgin olive oil

Mince and mash the garlic with a pinch of salt into a paste-like consistency. You may use a mortar and pestle for this. Or mash the the garlic with the edge of a large knife.
Place the garlic paste in a bowl and add the egg yolks. Whisk together until combined, then add the lemon juice and dijon mustard. Next slowly, while constantly whisking, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil. When all the oil is added, whisk until it is slightly thick. (If not serving immediately, cover the bowl and chill in the fridge until ready)

Makes 1 cup


Tartar Sauce

2-3 c Mayonnaise or Greek Yogurt
1 Tbsp sweet relish
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp minced onion
1 tsp paprika
pinch of salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients together and stir well to combine.

Makes 1/2 cup


Serve together and enjoy with some malt vinegar, the aioli, ketchup, or your preferred dip.

Dip Creations

Last week I received some goodies in the mail. Thanks to the Tastemaker program from Foodbuzz, I received some samples of Tostito's new product called Dip Creations. In the package is three flavors, two of each.

2 Freshly Made Guacamole
2 Country Ranch
2 Garden Onion

Dips are fun. Great for parties or just by yourself as an afternoon snack like I did. As it just so happens, I had exactly 3 avocados waiting in my fridge, so it was perfect timing that I get to use one of the guacamole packets.

 

I like my guacamole in a mix of smooth and with chunky bits. So half of the avocados I blended in the food processor and the other half I did a rough mash. Added in the seasoning. I also like fresh tomato and onion in my guacamole to I chopped some up as well. 

Since i didn't have any cilantro or peppers the seasoning mix covered that. It had a nice tang and a hint of spice to give the guacamole a nice tiny kick. It's an easy way to jazz up an old chip favorite.

Easy Peasy Guacamole

2 medium to large ripe avocados
2 small tomato
1/2 medium sweet onion
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 packet Tostito's Dip Creations Seasoning Mix (Freshly Made Guacamole)

Scoop the avocado from its skins and throw out the seed. Mash (or blend in food processor) the avocados. Add in the lemon juice and Tostito's Dip Creation guacamole seasoning and mix well to combine.

Dice the tomato, remove the seeds. Then fine chop the onion. Add both into the avocado mix and fold the mixture until all is mixed.


Serve chilled with tortilla chips of bread.

Oven-Fried Cheese Fries with Sweet Relish Mayo

A few weeks ago, I had won a cookbook giveaway from Justin at JustCook NYC. It was for the new book by Ellie Krieger called "So Easy." For those who don't know Ellie Krieger, she's a nutritionist and author who's got some fantastic recipes that are healthy and so delicious. She has her own show on the Food Network called Healthy Appetite. I try to catch it when I can. Her recipes are definitely worth checking out. So when I received the book in the mail. I immediately tabbed off recipes that I wanted to try. It just so happens that I received it as I was preparing for Thanksgiving. Darn! I guess It would have to wait until I finally got rid of all those leftovers.

I remembered that I had some russet potatoes I left that I wanted to eat up. As the leftovers dwindled down, I thumbs through the book once again. I come upon a recipe for Parmesan Steak "Fries". I'm a sucker for some good fries. I tend to go for the slightly thin crisp fries. But I can go for the thick wedges as well. I cut the potatoes into 1/4 to 1/2 inch sticks and baked them. I didn't have any parmesan as the recipe called for. The only thing left I had in the fridge was some shredded cheese. I had to make due with that. Plus, I didn't feel like stepping out in the cold. I was too comfy in my warm home to set foot outside. What you get are some nice crisp fries with slightly melted cheese on top. I served these with a side of sweet relish mayo with a hint of heat.

Serves 2-4

Oven-Fried Cheese Fries with Sweet Relish Mayo 
adapted from "So Easy" by Ellie Krieger

3 russet potatoes - washed and unpeeled
2 Tbsp Canola Oil
cooking spray
1/2 shredded cheese - you choice
salt to taste
Sweet Relish Mayo (recipe below)


Preheat your oven to 450˚F

Spray a baking sheet with the cooking spray.

Cut the potatoes into 1/4-1/2 inch sticks and place them in a bowl and add the canola oil. Toss them together until the potatoes are coated with the oil.

Place the potatoes on the baking sheet and bake them for 30 minutes. Ans slightly crisp around the edges.

Remove the fries from the baking sheet and onto a plate and top with the shredded cheese.

Sweet Relish Mayo

2 Tbsp Mayo
1 Tbsp Ketchup
3 tsp sweet pickled relish
1 tsp hot sauce - or more for your preference

Combine ingredients for the dip together and set aside.

Spinach Dip

I love to get Trader Joe's brand of spinach dip. It's been a while since I've gotten it and I've been craving for some for quite sometime now. It just so happens that I had bought a bundle of fresh spinach from farmer's market, so this gave me the push to try making my own. Have I mentioned that I love spinach dip? I like to snack on it as a sandwich between some slices of toast or with some crackers.

It's a simple recipe. A lot that I have seen use mayo and sour cream. I used some plain yogurt instead of sour cream for mine. The rest of the ingredients are pretty straight forward. Mayo, water chestnuts, some dry herbs and fresh chopped spinach. You can use frozen, too. The key to this is to let it sit. Like you would for coleslaw. It's to help blend all the flavors together and really let marinate the spinach well. You want every sing nook and cranny of the spinach to really be fused with the flavors of the herbs, mayo and yogurt. It's definitely worth the wait. Trust me because the taste is amazing. Serve it on some bread or crackers. Perfect for parties and gatherings.

Makes roughly 4 cups.

Spinach Dip

1 lb fresh spinach or 1 pack frozen (rinsed and squeezed of excess water)
1 c light mayo
1 c plain greek yogurt
1small can water chestnuts (drained well and roughly chopped)
1 dry parsley
1/2 tsp dry oregano
1/2 tsp dry basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder


Combine all ingredients together. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Best if made ahead of time.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Tapenade

Remember a couple days ago, on the Production Eats post I mentioned something about wanting a second piece of that salmon with olive tapenade from when I worked on the show Bones. We'll here's that second piece. That's how much I wanted it.

I was still craving salmon when I ventured into the farmer's market over the weekend. Luckily, they had some sushi grade fillets over at the Dry Dock Fish booth. For this, I simply pan-seared the salmon in some butter and lemon juice, then placed it into the oven to let the inside cook slightly, but still keeping it slightly rare.

For the tapenade, I made two kinds. I made a simple ordinary black olive version and a sun-dried tomato version. I really liked the sun-dried tomato blended into the tapenade. I wasn't always a fan of olives and tapenade for that matter, but now I love them. So I guess I didn't need to get back in line for that second piece.

I served the salmon with some fresh slices of tomato over a small bed of lettuce. You can serve the tapenade as a appetizer as well on crackers or on crostinis

Serves 2-3

Pan-Seared Salmon with Olive and Sun-dried Tomato Tapenade

2 salmon fillets
3 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper
dry oregano
Juice of half lemon
Black Olive & Sun-Dried Tapenades (recipes below)

Preheat your oven to 375˚F

Season the salmon filets with salt, pepper, and oregano.

Melt the butter in a  oven-safe skillet and add the lemon juice. When the butter has melted. Place the filets. Sear each side for 1-2 minutes per side depending on thickness. Once all sides have been seared, place the skillet in the oven for 5-10 minutes to let the inside of the salmon slightly cook through.

Remove from the oven and serve. Top with some black olive tapenade or sun-dried tomato tapenade.

Tapenade

20 black or kalamata olives (pitted)
1/2 Tbsp capers
Juice of half lemon
1/8 c extra virgin Olive oil
pepper

Combine all ingredients in the food process and blend until a paste-like consistency.

Note: to make it into a sun-dried tomato tapenade, add a few sundried tomato that has been preserved in oil. The oil from the tomato will replace the 1/8 c extra virgin olive oil that is called for in the ingredients. Add more, if needed.

Baked Green Bean Fritters with Onion Dip

Fritter critter as I like to call these little thing.This is actually my attempt at making a baked version of some green bean fritters. I'm surprise that it actually turned out pretty good. It's like the green beans were roasted like it baked in the batter. Though, not the shape I would have liked and I do think that I made the batter was a little bit too thin also. I'd also chop up the green bean a little more rather than cutting them into 2-inch sticks. Don't worry I adjusted my recipe below in case you decide to give this a try.  It's pretty easy to make.

I paired it it an onion dip somewhat reminiscent of a french onion dip. I had sauteed some minced onion just close enough to where they started to caramelize, then I tossed them into some sour cream and added herbs as well.

Not necessarily a combination you'd find out there, but I really liked it.Another good snack or appetizer to add to the list.

Makes 13-15 fritters.

Baked Green Bean Fritters

1 lb green beans - fresh or frozen
Onion dip (recipe below)

Batter:
1 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 c milk
1 tsp garlic powder

In a bowl, combine the ingredients in the batter and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

If using fresh green beans, wash and remove ends. Chop them into half inch pieces.

Mix the green beans into the batter and pour onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Baked for 15-20 minutes or until the edges had turned a golden brown.

Serve warm.

Onion Dip
1/2 c sweet onion - minced
1/2 c sour cream
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dry parsley
1 tsp dry thyme
salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil

In a skillet, heat a little olive oil. Add the onions and caramelize them. You want them just until they reach a golden brown color. Remove from heat and let cool for a couple minutes.

In a bowl, mix together the sour cream, parsley, thyme, lemon juice. Then add thr onions. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Chill in the fridge if not serving immediately.

Shrimp Po' Boy (Little J Style)

 "I'm feeling shrimpy," I say to the Cynthia, the vendor at Dry Dock Fish at my local farmer's market, as she packs up the fresh shrimp I had just selected.  I guess some of you loyal readers may have notice that I have a little thing for southern cuisine. Once in a long while I'll take a trip down to the famed Los Angeles Farmer's Market and one the little food stalls I like to frequent is a place called The Gumbo Pot. Louisiana-style southern cooking. I usually get myself a shrimp po'boy (a sub-style sandwich) with a cup of rice and gumbo. Mmmm... I've been meaning to make a version of the po' boy for quite a while, but I've just never gotten a chance to.

So when I had purchased the shrimp that little voice in the head began to whisper, "po' boy, po' boy, po' boy." Sweet! You can read a little of the history of this delectable sandwich on its wikipedia page (here), which also known as a poor boy. As much as I love the traditional way of making the po'boy, I wanted to put a little twist to it. A California twist. Traditionally, it consists of deep-fried breaded meat or seafood with lettuce, tomato, and a remoulade sauce. My version consists of baked-breaded seafood, spinach leaves, tomato, and my own rémoulade.

I peeled and deveined the shrimp. If you can get them already shelled and deveined, go for it. It'll save you time. Covered them in flour, an egg wash and panko crumbs, you know my usually way breading, and baked in the oven for 10-13 minutes. While that baked, I made the simple rémoulade sauce and prepared the spinach, tomato and bread. For the sauce, I finally was able to use the Emeril's horseradish mustard I had gotten a few months back courtesy of Foodbuzz and Emeril. You can simply use dijon mustard and horseradish, if you can't find that brand. I also didn't have the traditional french bread rolls, so I used some good ol' sliced bread (i.e. Nature's Pride 12-grain bread).

For this, I brought out trusty ol' Georgie. But you can toast them like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. Here's a neat trick to get that pressed sandwich look from a skillet. Take a plate and place it flat on top of the sandwich. Put a 12 ounce canned good, of any kind, on the plate to apply pressure. This will give you that "pressed" sandwich look just minus the grill marks. Then flip the sandwich and do the same thing.

I assembled the sandwich. Rémoulade on both slices of bread, placed the spinach and tomato on one and 6 perfectly baked shrimp on the other. Place the tomato side to form the sandwich and grilled away. I had a couple shrimp left to I just ate those like a appetizer with some of the rémoulade sauce I had left, which can be used as a dip as well.  You can see a dollop of the sauce on that tomato slice inthe photos.

Come to think of it...in many ways, it looks like a panini, too. A panini-po' boy hydrid? Either way, this was so freakin' good! You can serve this with a side of chips, fries, salad or soup. Or even a cup of rice and gumbo. Anyway, I think I've babbled long enough. I'll let the recipe and photos speak for themselves. Bon appetite!!

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Shrimp Po' Boy (Little J Style)

1 lb shrimp - peeled and deveined (or your choice of seafood or meat)
1 c flour
1 egg
1/4 c milk
salt
pepper
paprika
1 1/2 c panko bread brumbs
extra virgin olive oil
2 medium tomatoes - sliced
8 slices of bread or 4 sandwich rolls (your choice)
Spinach leaves - rinsed and dried
re´moulade sauce (recipe below)


Preheat your oven to 350˚F

Toss the shrimp ina little drizzle of olive oil. Coating all of them.

In three separate dishes for the breading station.
1. flour, seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika.
2. egg and milk beaten together, season with a pinch of salt.
3. panko crumbs, seasoned with a little salt.

Bread each shrimp. 1, 2, then 3 in that order and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Baked for 10-13 minutes until tender and slightly white and pink. Flip when half way to give the other side an even cooking.

While the shrimp bakes, prepare the spinach leaves, tomato and rémoulade sauce (recipe below)

Prepare you grill, press or skillet.

Assemble the sandwich. Spread the rémoulade on both slices of bread. Place the spinach, then the tomato on one. When the shrimp is cooked, on the other 4-8 shrimp on the other half of the sandwich. Top with the tomato half and place on the grill or press. Cook until bread is toasted for roughly 5 minutes.

Cut the sanwiches in half on a diagonal and serve warm with a side of soup, salad, chips or fries.


For cooking on a skillet:
On medium heat, toast the sandwich like you would a grilled cheese sandwich for roughly 5 minute each side. To get the "pressed" look, place a plate flat over with a 12 oz canned good, of any kind on top to apply pressure.

Rémoulade Sauce:
2 green onion - chopped
1/2 c lite mayo
1 tsp sweet relish
1 tsp lemon juice
1 -2 Tbsp Emeril's Horseradish Mustard (you can substitute for 1 Tbsp dijon mustard and 1/2 Tbsp horseradish)


Combine the ingredients for the rémoulade together and set aside. Keep chilled, if not using immediately.

Avocado Sour Cream dip

Today will be relatively short. A really simple dip that uses only 3 ingredients. Two of which are in the name. It's got a nice lightly green color to it and it can be used as a sandwich spread. How about that? It's got a nice smooth and creamy texture to it with a lovely blend of the sour cream and avocado flavors. Yum! This is perfect for parties. If you put this out on a buffet table, you'd probably find me standing next to the bowl of this dip, nibbling away.

I served this with some garlic rosemary baked fries. Have it with some chips or bread.

Baked Rosemary Fries

Click here for my Baked Garlic-Rosemary Fries



Note: if not baking the fries right aways, keep them soaked in water spiked with a little white vinegar to keep them from browning.

Avocado Sour Cream Dip
1 medium avocado
1-2 Tbsp Sour Cream
juice of half lemon.

Combine all ingredients together. Mash the avaocado until creamy and leave a few chunks.

Serve them way while hot.

Easy Peasy Guacamole

Here's my little recipe for an easy peasy guacamole. Perfect for the upcoming labor day grillin' and chillin'. Which means summer is nearly gone and fall is just around the corner. But being in California, summer tends to overstay it's welcome by a few weeks. I'm seriously ready for some sweater weather. 

This old fashioned dip is relatively simple. Avocados, onion, cilantro, tomato, garlic, salt and pepper, lemon juice. You can substitute the cilantro for parsley for you non-cilantro lovers. Blend everything together and...viola...instant dip. See, it wasn't that hard to make. So step away from that store jar of guac and try making this for yourself. You'll be happy that you made your own. You can add jalapeños or any pepper, if you want to add some heat, too.

I served this with some baked pita chips that I made from using regular wheat pita bread that I toasted in the oven in 275˚F oven for 5 min.

Makes roughly 1 1/2 cups.



Easy Peasy Guacamole

1 ripe medium avocado - skinned and pitted
1/2 medium sweet onion - fine chopped
1/3 c fresh cilantro or parsley - fine chopped
1 small tomato - deseeded and chopped
1 garlic clove
Juice of 1 lemon
salt
pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend. Season with a little salt and pepper

If you don't have a food processor, finely chop the sweet onion, cilantro or parsley and garlic until they are nearly minced.

In a bowl, mash the avocado and add the sweet onion, cilantro or parsley and garlic. Mix well. Add in the lemon juice and season with a little salt and pepper.

Note: the lemon juice will help the avocado from turning brown. 

Mango Pico de Gallo (and a guest post)

Hey dudes and dudettes!! Before I get started, just want to let you know that I'm doing a guest post over at My Food and Life Encounters today. It's a completely different and new recipe, so stop on by and check it out. It's Sweet Potato Croquettes with Yogurt Sauce. (here)

Now on with today's recipe.

Today and tomorrow will be salsa. Woohoo!!!! I was in a salsa mood, so I decided to make two. I do like to dance the salsa, too. A little too much info there? Haha... Alright. Here's the first. Mango Pico de Gallo. It's got the base for your usual salsa, tomato, cilantro or parsley, green onion, garlic, jalapeno peppers. Then there's the star ingredient, the mango.

The reason I put parsley on the list is because some people aren't fans of cilantro. It just won't have that kick usually has, but parlsey is a great substitute for a milder taste. It's still taste awesome!

I used a food processor to finely chop all the ingredients. The knives I currently have a pretty old and the sharpness of them isn't worth risking my fingers make this. You can also just finely chop them. I put both methods in the instructions below.

I don't need buy that store jarred stuff. It's better to make salsas at home. Really easy too. A lovely mango flavor all around. Mmmm...I wish I had made a bigger batch. I have a habit of taking big scoops of salsa on one little tiny and sometimes flimsy piece of tortilla chip. But it's so good! Did I mention I love salsas?

I had these with some blue corn tortilla chips. Yum yum!

Makes about 2-3 cups.



Mango Pico de Gallo

1 ripe medium mango
2 medium to large tomatoes (remove seeds)
2 c cilantro or flat leaf parsley
1-2 jalapeno peppers
2 garlic cloves minced
4 green onion stalks
juice of 1 lime

Non-food processor method:
Finely chop the cilantro/parsley, jalapeno pepper, and green onion and place them in a large bowl.

Mince the garlic cloves and add them to the bowl.

Quarter the tomato and remove the seeds. Finely chop the quartered slices as well. Add them to the bowl, lightly mashing when to release some of the juices of the meat.

Cut out the bone from the mango and scoop out the meat. Finely chop it and add to the bowl. Squeeze in the lime juice and mix everything together until blended.

For Food Processor:
Place the cilantro/parsley, garlic, green onion, and jalapeno into the food processor and finely chop them. Remove and place into a bowl.

Then quarter the tomatoes and remove the seeds and pulse chop until is a mashed consistency. You'd still want some tomato chunks. Add the tomatoes into the bowl

Do the same with the mango. Remove the core and scoop the meat into the food processor and pulse chop until it's little pieces. Add it into the bowl.

Squeeze the lime juice and mix it all together.

This may be made in advance. Keep in the fridge, if not serving right away.

Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken Tenders

Yes!! Another excuse to bust out the George Foreman Grill. Even though the weather was telling me otherwise. I went behind Mother Nature's back and grilled up some chicken tenders. Take that June gloom!!!! I still had that big bag of chicken tenders from Costco. Amazingly enough, I've almost gone through the whole bag. There's probably a few pieces left.

I decided on a slightly Mediterranean flavor to my tenders. Added some herbs and spices to some plain yogurt and marinated the chicken for an hour.

I made a simple dijon-mayo dip to go along. I was planning on a peanut sauce, but I didn't have enough ingredients to pull it off. Still a nice meal.

Serves 2.



Grilled Yogurt Marinated Chicken Tenders

6 large chicken tenders
3 oz plain greek yogurt.
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry rosemary
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp paprika
1 garlic clove (minced)
salt
pepper

Combine the yogurt, oregano, rosemary, thyme, paprika and garlic.

Season both sides the chicken tenders with salt and pepper, then pour over the marinade onto each pieces. Coating each one with the mixture. Set aside for at least 30min to 1 hour. This may be done in advance.

Preheat your grill.

When the grill is ready, cook the tenders 3-5 min per side. Get a nice browning on the crust.

Remove from grill and let it rest for 5 min.

Serve with some Dijon-May Dip.


Dijon-Mayo Dip

1Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Lite Mayo
Juice of half a lemon

Combine all three ingredients.

Baked Onions with A Sour Cream Herb Dip

Another baked goodie of deliciousness. The onion ring. In this case, the onion wedge? Looked like a wedge when I cut it. Or onion petal? Whatever the shape may be, I think these are a little easier to eat than a ring. Scoops up the dip or sauce better, too. But I like both. I would have done rings, but at the risk of cutting off one of my fingers with old and slightly dull knives is not a good idea. A mandolin cutter is what I need. Or sharper knives. So wedges/petals it was.

To go along with the baked goods, I also made a sour cream herb dip. Looks like thousand island dressing but a little thicker. Recipe follows the baked onion section. The pinkish color comes from ketchup. Yes, ketchup. You read right. That red stuff kids love to cover their hotdogs with. The condiment that some wanted to qualify as a vegetable back in the 80's. (What were they thinking?) Anyway, it's good with chips, too. Maybe some Roasted Garlic Tortilla Chips.

:-)


Bake Onions

1 small sweet onion (quartered and separated)
1 egg (beaten)
1/2 c milk
1 c flour
2 c panko crumbs

Preheat oven to 350˚F

Breading method: 3 containers 1-flour, 2-egg with milk beaten and season with a little salt, 3-Panko crumbs.

Dip and coat each piece of onion in the flour, then egg mixture, then panko in that order.

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25min until lightly browned. Flip half way through.



Sour Cream Herb Dip

2 Tbsp Sour Cream
2 Tbsp Ketchup
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Dry Oregano
1 tsp Dry Basil
1 tsp Dry Thyme

Combine all ingredients together.