Baked or Fried...That is the Question

I've always been more of a meat and potatoes kind of girl...don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed salads but was never a huge fan of cooked veggies.  Then I met Aaron, he loves veggies, his favourite, asparagus, which of course is one veggie I wouldn't touch, I mean people call it ditch weed for crying out loud and my dad always called it dog pee sticks.  The good wife that I am though I started looking for ways to make it that would entice my palate to eat more of it, and go figure, I've found a few ways that I'll actually have seconds of:) 

One of my favourite ways is to marinade the asparagus in Thousand Islands and then throw it on the grill, my friend/wife, it's a long story, don't ask, Jenn showed me this and it's another reason I love her.  It's so crunchy and, well, grilled...grilling makes everything better.  As much as I love to BBQ, I'm not a fan of doing it in 4 feet of snow with a wind chill of 20 below, I'm exaggerating a bit but you get the point, it's just not going to happen so I've had to come up with some alternate methods.  I tried roasting it under the broiler with the dressing but that came out a soggy mess, however, doused in EVOO and sprinkled with a lot of garlic powder is pretty awesome. 

For tonight, I wanted to try something different, something crunchy, tasty and outside the box.  This is where my iPad, some paper, a pencil and creative thinking comes into play.  You know what asparagus kind of looks like, green french fries, that's right I'm making asparagus fries, and while I'm all creative and stuff, I'm going to do some baked in the oven and some pan fried to see which method works better for me...if I'm lucky, they'll both be awesome and I won't have to fight with Connor to eat his veggies!!

Crispy Asparagus Fries
(adapted from How Sweet it Is & Baker Lady)

1/2 lb Asparagus
1 Egg, slightly beaten
1/4 c. Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1/4 c. Plain Bread Crumbs
1/3 c. Panko Breadcrumbs
1/8 c. Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Dried Tarragon
Pinch of Onion Powder
2-3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste

I started by preheating the oven to 425F.

Next, I set up the asparagus assembly line using shallow bowls.  In bowl number one was the flour and I seasoned it with some salt and pepper, bowl number two was the beaten egg and finally in bowl number three was the plain breadcrumbs, panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, tarragon, onion powder and some salt and pepper.

I trimmed the bottom inch or so off the asparagus and gave it a quick wash and then I  just shook it off a bit, you want some of the water to stay so the flour will stick. 

Into the flour

 

First, I rolled each piece of asparagus in the flour, coating it as much as I could and then gave it a good roll in the egg.  Then it went into the breadcrumb mixture, and I rolled it around really well and pressed the breadcrumb mixture in as best I could.

 Bread Crumb Mixture

 For the asparagus that's going in the oven I took a shallow baking sheet and placed a wire rack on top that I had given a quick spray with olive oil.  I placed the asparagus on the rack and popped it into the oven for about 15 minutes.

Ready for the oven

 

Next up was the asparagus to be fried.  I heated a large skillet over medium high heat and added the EVOO.  When it was nice and hot, it shimmers a bit when it's ready if that makes sense, I added the asparagus but only as much as it would hold in a single layer.  I fried them, turning them when they were golden, about 4-6 minutes.

 Into the Frying Pan

Baked

 

Fried

Once they were done I served them up with Epicure's awesome Roasted Garlic Aioli and they were awesome:)  We all liked both equally, even Connor and I would definitely make them again. 

On top of the awesome Crispy Asparagus Fries we had Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with Herbed Ricotta and a concoction of Sprouted Rice and Quinoa with Toasted Almonds and Veggies that I came up with today. 

This has toasted almonds and sauteed celery,
carrots, green onions and garlic in it...
so good and good for you too!!

My only problem...does your kitchen look like this after dinner too...lol

 



Beans, Burns & Chicken

Tonights dinner menu was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  I decided that I wanted to try some new recipes that I've never made before and was hoping to get a winner out of at least one of them, I think all three placed on the podium and I would definitely recommend them. 

Fresh Basil, Parsley & Thyme for tonight's dinner:)

Here's a look at tonight's menu:

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Herbed Ricotta, from Rachael Ray's website, this recipe was also featured in the February 2012 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray.

Garlic, Basil & Parmesan Quinoa, from Sarah's Cucina Bella, a great blog for healthy eating.

Green Beans with Prosciutto, from Deliciously Organic, one of my favorite blogs to find inspirational recipes and information about eating healthy. 

It's been a pretty long day, Aaron & I were up late last night watching Sons of Anarchy...I'll admit it, I'm hooked on this show, so I'm not going to give you a step by step of all three recipes.  That being said, I did take some decent pics, well decent for me anyways, so I'll give you the quick breakdown of the chicken and since I know I'll be cooking them again I'll do the quinoa and green beans another day:)

Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Herbed Ricotta

1/2 c. Ricotta
Salt & Pepper
3 tbsp Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 small Garlic Clove, minced
1 tbsp Finely Chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
A few leaves of Basil, chopped
A couple sprigs of fresh Thyme, finely chopped
4 small pieces boneless, skinless Chicken Breast, butterflied

I cheated a bit here, since it was just Connor, January & me, I used 2 Chicken
Breasts cut in half & then butterflied...not as nice presentation wise, but it worked.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling
4 Thin Slices Prosciutto Di Parma
Splash of White Wine
1 tbsp Butter

To start it off, preheat the oven to 400F.

Put the ricotta in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, parsley, basil and thyme.

 

Next up, spoon some of the ricotta mixture onto each of the butterflied chicken pieces and fold it in half.

 

Drizzle each chicken piece with olive oil and then wrap it with a slice of the prosciutto.

 

Now drizzle some olive oil in an ovenproof skillet and heat over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken pieces and brown them, turning once for about 4-6 minutes.

 

 

Toss the pan into your preheated oven and finish cooking the chicken for about 12-15 minutes or until you reach an internal temperature of 160F.

 

**Carefully** remove the pan from the oven and plate the chicken pieces.  Add a splash of wine to the pan to deglaze it and then toss in the butter and swirl it around.  Pour this over the chicken before you serve it.

 

I wish I had some pictures of the last step but this is where the "burn" part of the title comes in.  As I was pouring the wine and tossing in the butter, I had January hanging off my leg and Connor sitting in the living room yelling for me.  Needless to say, I grabbed the pan...yes, I grabbed the pan that I had just pulled out of a 400F oven.  I won't tell you what came out of my mouth, lets just say I owe money to the swear jar.  I'm so thankful to my Gramma Smith for giving me an aloe vera plant this summer, it came in handy tonight!!

 

THANKS A MILLION GRAMMA!!

After finally putting dinner on the table and sitting down to eat I thought to myself, this had better be one super, fan-freakingtastic dinner...thankfully it was:) January inhaled her dinner, seeing as she has an appetite like me, it didn't surprise me but Connor loved the chicken and even ate the green beans and quinoa with no major hassles, which if you know Connor, dinner time can be a little time consuming some nights so this was a nice change. 

 

These pictures really don't do any justice, all my pictures were coming out way to dark, my camera was dying and I'll be honest, my finger hurt and I just wanted so sit down and eat so I'm making do with what I have:)