Tilapia Sammies

Tilapia Sammies
Originally found in Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book (p 23)

4 tilapia filets
all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 sleeve saltine crackers
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
1 cup sour cream (optional)
1 chipotle in adobo, plus 1 tsp sauce (optional)
Rolls

Preheat oven to 400 or broiler to high.

Season the tilapia filets with salt and pepper. Crush the crackers and mix with the paprika and cajun seasoning. Set up three dishes on the counter; in one, place the flour (enough to cover the bottom well), in the next, the eggs, and in the third the cracker mixture.

Dredge each filet in the flour, then in the eggs, and then coat liberally with the cracker mixture. In a saute pan, heat a small amount of oil, then place the filets in the pan. Cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through (about 3-4 minutes). Meanwhile, cut the rolls and heat in the oven until slightly toasted.

Optional sauce: Mince the chipotle well, then mix it with the sour cream.

Place a filet on each roll, and spread the sour cream mixture on the tops. Eat with lettuce, tomato, onion, avacado, etc, as desired.

My Notes:

Without the sauce, this is pareve. And yummy. I misread the recipe and didn't put enough of my cajun seasoning in, so I thought they were a little bland, but the sauce more than made up for it. I think I love these now.

Rachael's recipe also calls for limes, and I substituted cajun seasoning for seafood seasoning because I thought it sounded good. It also has a recipe for citrus honey slaw, but being that I'm not big on cole slaw, I skipped that.

Indonesian Chicken in Peanut Sauce

Indonesian Chicken in Peanut Sauce
Originally found at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 cup water
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp white wine vinegar

Place chicken, carrots, onions and garlic in slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together water, peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger and hot pepper flakes. Pour into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours (high for 2 hours) or until vegetables are tender and the chicken juices run clear. Add vinegar. Cover and cook for 10 more minutes. Serve over rice.

My Notes:

I didn't see the water when I initially found this recipe (because it wasn't listed in the ingredients, only in the text), so my solution was very thick. It still worked marvelously. I made this in my 4 quart slow cooker, so keep that in mind when figuring out how much to put in there. I also used onion flakes and dried garlic instead of fresh, mostly because I really hate chopping onions. It still came out beautifully. It was a little thick, and looked kinda gross because everything took on the same brown hue, but the chicken was super tender and it was all peanut goodness.

I will definitely be making it again.

Taco Dip!

Taco Dip
Originally found at A Year of Slow Cooking

1 packet of taco seasoning
1 cup of cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 can refried beans (about 2 cups if you make them yourself)
1 can black beans

Mix everything together in a small crockpot or casserole dish. Heat on low for 1-2 hours, until cheese fully melts.

My Notes:
I made this for a potluck last night, and it was a huge hit. People went back multiple times. I used vegetarian refried beans, which aren't technically kosher, but I guess there are kosher varieties available. No picture because I forgot before it all disappeared :)

Apple Cake

Apple Cake
Originally found at My Recipes

1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 4 large), peeled and cut into thin wedges
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Stir together butter and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl until blended.

3. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture, stirring until blended. Stir in apples and 1 cup pecans. (Batter will be very thick, similar to a cookie dough.) Spread batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

4. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack (about 45 minutes).

5. Soften cream cheese to room temperature. Stir in vanilla extract, then slowly add in powdered sugar until creamy and smooth. Spread onto cooled cake.

My Notes:

Original recipe called for nuts, but my roommate is allergic to them, so I made do without. I also used Fuji apples instead of Granny Smith, since they didn't have any more Granny Smith apples at the orchard when I went. Any baking apple should work just fine.

My other roommate is in love with it. She says that despite my complaints that I can't bake, I really can. My response was that I can make cakes and cookies just fine, but anything that requires yeast never turns out right for me. Ever.

The batter is very liquidy, and as it is made up of mostly eggs and butter, it doesn't set up as well as some cakes might, so it will be sticky. It's good, though. Nice and moist, even days after it's made.

The butter and frosting make it dairy. I'm partial to my cream cheese frosting, so I'm sticking with that, but go ahead and modify if you think you have a frosting that will work better.

Almond Joy Cookies

Though not my best recipe, this cookie has been entered into the Culinary Smackdown Battle - Cookies competition. Go check out some of the other awesome and creative cookies!

Almond Joy Cookies
From Grandma's Kitchen

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coconut extract
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 pkg (5 oz) chocolate pudding mix
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 pkg (12 oz) chocolate chips
2 cups shredded coconut
2 pkgs (2 oz) sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325. Cream together sugar and butter in a large bowl. Mix in vanilla, coconut extract and eggs. Stir in flour, dry pudding mix, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips, coconut, and almonds. Drop dough by tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 13-16 minutes, or until outside has firmed up. Cool 1-2 minutes on pan, then remove to cooling rack. Makes 5 1/2 dozen.

My Notes:
I did not use all the chocolate chips and almonds called for in the recipe. In fact, I used less than half of each (though more than half my batch I didn't put any almonds in because my roommate is allergic to them). They were still delicious and I felt there was more than enough chocolate chips in each cookie (so many that they weren't sticking to the batter very well).

My roommates both loved them. I loved them, and so did one of my classmates who I originally baked them for. So, all around, excellent cookies.