Name: Baked Chicken Francese
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Ingredients: 1lb chicken breast-for me this was 2 breasts; 1 Large egg (beaten); 1 cup panko crumbs; salt and pepper; 3 tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 Large shallot (minced); 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour; 2 1/4 cups chicken stock (homemade or low-sodium); 1/2 cup dry white wine (I use Chardonnay); 1/3 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons); chopped parsley

Baked Chicken Francese

April 24, 2018

Chicken Francese is usually sautéed with a buttery lemon sauce. My baked chicken Francese has a great lemon sauce, but it’s breaded then baked, not fried!

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Let’s not beat around the bush; breaded and fried chicken is pretty great. Agreed?
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss how messy frying is. If you are anything like me, you probably avoid frying at all costs because it uses so much oil and you end up with splatters everywhere. Lucky for me, I started bake-frying everything years ago and I haven’t looked back.

I mean, that’s not to say that I never fry anything. I’m not going to lie to you guys. Most days, though, I just don’t have it in me so I go for the egg and panko dip and give it a good spritz of oil and bake it till it’s crispy. What’s “it”? Well, it could be chicken, zucchini, eggplant…just about anything that you can fry.

Chicken Francese is one of Philip’s favorite dishes to order at an Italian restaurant. Traditional chicken Francese is dipped in an egg batter, sautéed, and served with a lemon-butter sauce…usually with some pasta side. To be 100% honest with you, though, I like the rice with my baked chicken Francese better…it’s a little less cumbersome on the plate.

Is that a weird thing to say?

Anyway, baked chicken Francese is as simple as:

Cut some chicken breasts in half
Pound the chicken to an even thickness
Dip the chicken in egg then in panko crumbs
Spray the chicken with a little olive oil
Bake the chicken in the oven until it’s crispy
Make a sauce of butter, chicken broth, a little flour, and some lemon
Serve it with your favorite sides

That’s it. You can pull this off on a weeknight no problem. What are you waiting for?

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate and The Weekend Potluck on Served Up With Love!

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Mary

Yield: 2-4 servings

Baked Chicken Francese

10 minPrep Time:

25 minCook Time:

35 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1lb chicken breast-for me this was 2 breasts
1 Large egg (beaten)
1 cup panko crumbs
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Large shallot (minced)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups chicken stock (homemade or low-sodium)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I use Chardonnay)
1/3 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
chopped parsley

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If you have a stoneware pan, preheat that too (if you don't have stoneware, preheat a baking sheet).
Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise, then cut the thicker into two thinner cutlets. Place the chicken on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet until the pieces of chicken are even thickness.
Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dip both sides of each piece of chicken in egg then into the panko until completely coated. Place on the preheated pan and spray with olive oil spray. Place in oven for ten minutes, then turn and bake for ten minutes more.
As soon as you place the chicken in the oven, melt one tablespoon of the butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sauté the shallot for about two minutes, then whisk in the flour and cook for about a minute. Add the chicken stock, wine, and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and return the liquid to the pan.
To finish, turn the heat under the sauce on medium-low. Melt the remaining two tablespoons of butter one tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/baked-chicken-francese/

Crispy Flour Tortilla Tacos

April 17, 2018

Crispy flour tortilla tacos take me back to my childhood, when I ALWAYS ordered Taco Light on family trips to Taco Bell. Winning!

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Back to Childhood!

When I was a kid, Taco Bell was sort of like an exotic version of fast food. That was back before there was a McDonald’s on every corner and Taco Bells were pretty scarce. I mean, I’m sure that there were more Taco Bells in the greater Chattanooga area than I realized, but as far as I knew there were only two.

On Saturdays, I always went to the bowling alley with my grandparents to watch my uncle Bobby with his Special Olympics bowling team. Afterward, we’d stop at the Taco Bell for lunch. Every time we went, I ordered the same thing: Taco Light.

I don’t actually know when Taco Light was discontinued. I remember, though, going in and not seeing it on the menu. I was terribly disappointed and had to move on to something else. I never forget about the Taco Light, though. It was larger than a regular taco, double the meat plus cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes. Those were not the things that were important to me, though.

What I cared about was the shell. Taco lights = crispy flour tortilla tacos. The shell was basically a taco-shaped version of the taco salad bowl. Per.Fec.Tion. Adult me had to figure out how to make them myself.
Frying a flour tortilla taco shell is not quite as easy as you might think. I had a few go-rounds when I was first testing this dish. All you need is some shallow oil, a pair of tongs, and a steady hand. To keep them from closing up too tightly for me to get the toppings in, I stuff paper towels in the shells while I finished frying.

I’ll be honest. These crispy flour tortilla tacos are not exactly Taco Light. The texture is a little different. I am sure that was some sort of magical food engineering sorcery. They’re close enough to perfect for me.

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Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate and The Weekend Potluck on The Country Cook!

Mary

Yield: 8 tacos

Tacos in Crispy Flour Tortilla Shells

10 minPrep Time:

30 minCook Time:

40 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
?-¼ teaspoon cayenne (optional)
pinch ground cumin
½ cup water
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
8 soft-taco/fajita size flour tortillas
4 ounces shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
sour cream
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes

Instructions

Brown the ground beef in a medium skillet over medium heat. Drain any fat. Add the cornstarch, chili powder, paprika, onion and garlic powder, salt, cayenne, cumin, and water. Stir and cook until thickened. Turn heat to low and hold over the heat.
Heat the oil in another medium skillet over medium heat. Line a plate with paper towels. Fold up 8 paper towels. When the oil shimmers, use tongs to hold the tortillas, one at a time, folded in half. Place into the oil, with the folded bottom first flat against the bottom of the skillet until brown. Turn and brown both sides. Place a folded paper towel into the fold of each taco shell and leave to drain on the paper towel lined plate until all the tortillas are cooked.
Fill the taco shells with the taco meat and top with desired toppings. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/crispy-flour-tortilla-tacos/

Sausage and Red Pepper Mini Quiches

March 12, 2018

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® community. This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and ConAgra Brands. All opinions are mine alone. #BreakfastGoals2018 #CollectiveBias

Sausage and red pepper mini quiches come together so quickly and they’re so easy to make…and delicious, of course. They’re great for brunch!

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How do you feel about brunch?

Are you a brunch person? For me, brunch = life. I mean, breakfast food is always perfect…am I right? How can you go wrong with biscuits and gravy? Bacon? Eggs? Sausage? Answer: you can’t. Breakfast foods are awesome any time of day. I mean, it’s not really universally accepted to eat spaghetti for breakfast, but it is totally universally accepted to eat pancakes for dinner.

The really great thing about brunch is that most of the time brunch foods are pretty easy to whip up but when you say that something is “brunch” it becomes totally fancy and special. I mean, serve up a mimosa beside just about anything and it’s fancy, right? Easy, crowd-pleasing, and fancy? Hello!

Quiche is one of my absolute favorite brunch foods. First of all, quiche is an awesome “clean out the fridge” food. Throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and add some eggs and you have an incredibly delicious and well-balanced meal.
Quiche = Girly Food? NAH.

The thing that always makes me laugh about quiche is that a lot of men think of it as “girly” food. I mean really, how can food be girly? And who really cares? What matters about food is that it tastes good. Honestly, I’m really not sure how food that includes pie crust (I mean, would you turn down apple pie?), cheese, and eggs should somehow only be consumed by women because it has a French name. Can we all just agree that that is silly?

Especially when the quiche in question is this sausage and red pepper mini quiches. With Odom’s Tennessee Pride® Country Sausage, roasted red peppers, and smoked cheddar cheese, these quiches are substantial…but baked in a muffin pan, it’s miniature in stature so everyone gets their own baby quiche…no annoying attempts to cut a slice out of a pie-shaped quiche, because we all know how annoying that can be.

My mom has bought Odom’s Tennessee Pride Country Sausage since I was a kid. Once, I bought another brand because the store where I was shopping didn’t have Tennessee Pride (tragic, I know). I should have made another stop (I could have picked some up at Walmart, which is where I got this), because I was sorely disappointed with the other brand. Odom’s Tennessee Pride Country Sausage always has the right balance of herbs and spices and it browns up perfectly. It’s just how sausage should taste to me. It’s perfect in this quiche with the smoked cheddar and roasted red pepper (which I roasted myself, but you can totally buy a jar).

These sausage and red pepper mini quiches are so easy to make…the whole thing comes together in about 15 minutes, and then they’re baked and ready to eat in 25. You could even make them the night before and stick them in the oven when you’re ready to bake…and this sausage and red pepper quiche is delicious hot or at room temperature.

These sausage and red pepper mini quiches would be perfect on your Easter brunch table!

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Mary

Yield: 8 mini-quiches

Sausage & Roasted Red Pepper Mini Quiches

15 minPrep Time:

35 minCook Time:

50 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

8 ounces (1/2 package) breakfast sausage; I used Odom's Tennessee Pride®Country Sausage mild variety
pastry for a single crust pastry (I used one crust from a packaged pie crust)
1 roasted red pepper (jarred, or make your own - see notes for directions), chopped
4 ounces smoked cheddar cheese (1 cup, grated)
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°.
Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage until browned.
Roll the pie crust into a rectangle and cut into 8 equal pieces. I don't get too precious with this - just estimate how big you think it needs to be for 8 mini quiches. Press the 8 squares each into a cup of the muffin tin.
Divide the sausage, chopped red peppers, and cheese among the 8 pastry crusts.
Whisk the eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl or large measuring cup. Divide the egg mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Notes

To make your own roasted red peppers, heat a broiler to high with a rack 6-8 inches from the broiler. Cut the sides off of a large red pepper. Place the red pepper skin side up on a baking sheet. Place under the broiler and broil until the skin is blackened. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 15 minutes then peel off any blackened skin.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/sausage-and-red-pepper-mini-quiches/

A picture of roasted red pepper and sausage mini-quiches stacked on a cutting board. One quiche is cut open, revealing the sausage and red peppers inside

Sriracha-Ranch Chicken Nachos

January 25, 2018

This post was sponsored by Cost Plus World Market. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Chattavore running!

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There’s nothing quite a like a huge platter of cheesy nachos to satisfy everyone’s tastebuds on game day! These Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos check off all of the flavor boxes!

What are your game day traditions?

Do you invite friends over, or do you go to them? Or maybe you congregate in a “neutral” location? I don’t know about you, but for me, the only game day tradition that matters is game day food. It’s certainly no secret that I could live the rest of my life eating snack and finger foods only, so tailgating food is my jam. And I’ll be honest – we are not people that watch football religiously, but we do love to watch the “big game”…and for me (surprise) that’s because of the snacks.

Do you prefer salty or sweet?

I tend to err on the side of salty rather than sweet, well, 95% of the time. And besides popcorn, there is really no better snack in my book than nachos. A trip to Chattanooga’s Cost Plus World Market, one of my very favorite places (follow this link to find your local store), delivered all the inspiration that I needed to create the perfect platter of nachos for an easy game day snack, down to the actual platter and a great galvanized tub to hold our beverages (scroll to the bottom for links to all products). Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos seemed like a pretty perfect place to start (did you know that Sriracha is almost as popular as ketchup in the U.S. these days? It’s a fact!).

Sriracha-Ranch Nachos are an Easy Crowd Pleasing Snack!

Some shredded chicken (however you want to do it – I just put some chicken thighs in the Instant Pot, but you could totally use leftover or rotisserie chicken), Sriracha, mayo, sour cream, and some Cost Plus World Market spices were all I needed for a tangy and spicy topping for my nachos. A creamy, peppery cheese sauce, a drizzle of lime crema, some Sriracha peas, and sprinkle of cilantro were all it took to perfectly finish off the Late July tortilla chips that I found at Cost Plus World Market. I piled the Sriracha-ranch chicken nachos on a big platter and served it with appetizer plates so everyone could help themselves.

Cost Plus World Market is Where It’s At!

I love to shop the food section of Cost Plus World Market, but it’s also one of my favorite places to shop for textiles and dishes. I found a great party bucket to fill with fun sodas, global beers (no complaint from Philip there!), and Clearly Canadian (CLEARLY CANADIAN!!!!!). They always have the cutest napkins, which I stock up on for my photos, and now they have Duralex shatterproof glasses, so I was able to replace the two that I somehow managed to shatter (only I could shatter shatterproof glass) in a freak vacuuming accident.

How do you celebrate the big game? If you need a new tradition, these Sriracha-ranch nachos are a perfect fit!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

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Mary
Yield: 6-10 servings
Sriracha-Ranch Chicken Nachos
15 minPrep Time:
5 minCook Time:
20 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients
2 cups shredded chicken, warmed
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried dill
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 2-ounce wedges Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese, grated (see note)
1/4 cup milk
2 bags Late July tortilla chips (I used Mild Green Mojo and Jalapeño Lime)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/4 cup Hapi Sriracha peas
Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, sour cream, mayonnaise, Sriracha, and herbs/spices. Set aside.
Place 3/4 of the cheese in a small bowl. Add the milk. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat until the cheese is melted and the milk is completely incorporated to make a cheese sauce. (See notes for alternative to this cheese sauce if you are not able to find Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese).
Pour the tortilla chips onto a large platter. Drizzle the cheese sauce over the top then distribute the chicken over the chips. Sprinkle with the reserved shredded cheese and microwave for one minute to melt the cheese.
Sprinkle the cilantro over the top of the chips. Stir together the sour cream and lime juice and drizzle over the top (I like to put it in a sandwich bag and snip off the corner to do this). Sprinkle the Sriracha peas over the top. Serve immediately.
Notes
If you can't find Northwoods Jalapeño Jack cheese, you can use regular pepper jack to make the cheese sauce. Grate 8 ounces of pepper jack cheese. Set aside 1/4 of the cheese to melt on top. In a medium skillet, melt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and whisk to combine. Cook for about one minute. Add 1/2 cup milk and whisk until thickened. Add the remaining pepper jack cheese. Add more milk to thin the sauce to your desired consistency. If needed, add salt to taste.
Nutrition
7.8.1.2
548
https://chattavore.com/sriracha-ranch-chicken-nachos/

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Easy Sausage Balls from Scratch + Video

December 3, 2017

These easy sausage balls from scratch are a classic party favorite without the need for boxed mixes! Scroll down for video!

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Christmas Food is the Best Food!

There are so many things to eat at Christmas. I could never pick a favorite. I mean, ranch Goldfish? My grandmother’s egg soufflé? All the cheese balls?? For Christmas dinner, we eat prime rib and twice baked potatoes. Can you see why I❤Christmas?

At every Christmas gathering (including my family’s Christmas breakfast) you are likely to find sausage balls. Little nuggets of breakfast sausage, cheese, and biscuit mix (aka Bisquick), these things are addictive. They’re low-calorie too, so you can eat as many as you like (⬅that’s a total lie). Truth be told, though, I don’t wait for Christmas to make sausage balls.We love to eat them for breakfast or for an occasional Saturday night snack (Saturday night is snack night in my house).

No-Bisquick Sausage Balls

I have nothing against Bisquick. My mom makes her sausage balls with Bisquick and Cheez Whiz (because Cheez Whiz helps them to mix up more easily) and those things are goooood. I’m a biscuit purist, though, so I don’t keep Bisquick or any other type of baking mix in the house, so I’d rather just make my own than go buy a box when I want to make sausage balls.

These take approximately one minute longer to make than sausage balls made with a baking mix (that minute being used, of course, to measure the ingredients) and they are every bit as delicious. So, whether you want to go the traditional route and use a baking mix or make these easy sausage balls from scratch, just make some sausage balls. It’s Christmas!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!

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Yield: about 60 sausage balls

Sausage Balls from Scratch

20 minPrep Time:

20 minCook Time:

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Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled
1 pound breakfast sausage (mild or hot, your choice)
1 pound cheddar cheese (2 8-ounce blocks), grated
milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. If desired, spray 2 sheet pans with cooking spray (I actually never bother).
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the sausage and cheese to the bowl along with a couple of tablespoons of milk. Using your hands, work the ingredients together until well-combined, adding milk a tablespoon at a time to moisten the mixture so that you can get all the dry flour (you can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to do this, but I just prefer to use my hands).
Portion the sausage ball mixture into tablespoon size pieces (I use a cookie scoop to do this) and roll into balls using your palms before placing them onto the baking sheets.
Bake the sausage balls until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes. Stack on paper towels for a few minutes to absorb excess butter. Serve immediately or at room temperature.

Nutrition

https://chattavore.com/easy-sausage-balls-from-scratch/