Saturday, November 5, 2011

Stoner Cooking

Mitzi's Chicken Fingers http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Mitzis-Chicken-Fingers

Chicken fingers came about in the late 1970s, when American poultry processors began marketing the small, flat tender, or tenderloin, from the underside of the breast as a separate cut. A miniature breaded cutlet, the chicken finger—likely named for its shape, akin to human digits—became a popular way to use the new cut. Paired with a sugary sauce (honey mustard, barbecue, sweet and sour), they proved to be the perfect utensil-free food for picky children, and by the mid-1980s, it seemed, there wasn't a kids' menu that didn't feature them—as tenders, or worse, as nuggets, made from artificially bonded meat trimmings. According to market research from the Mintel Group, chicken fingers were the third most popular item on American menus in 2010, behind steak and Caesar salad...

SERVES 6

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:
1½ cups mayonnaise
¼ cup honey
2 tbsp. roughly chopped dill
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. dry mustard powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE CHICKEN FINGERS:
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3"-long-by-1"-wide strips
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper
1½ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
1 cup flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups finely ground fresh breadcrumbs or panko
Canola oil, for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the dipping sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise with the honey, dill, mustard powder, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, and stir together until smooth; set honey-dill dipping sauce aside.

2. Make the chicken fingers: In a medium bowl, toss together chicken, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard; set aside. Place flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes; set aside. Pour oil to a depth of 2? into a 6-qt. Dutch oven; heat over medium-high heat until deep-fry thermometer reads 325°. Working in batches, coat chicken in flour, shake off excess, and dip in eggs; coat in breadcrumbs. Fry chicken until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining chicken. Serve with dipping sauce.

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Sonic Drive-In Signature Burgers
By Todd Wilbur
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Sonic-Drive-In-Signature-Burgers-Recipe.html

Recipe Type: Entree
Calories: 1180
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Driving through Louisiana in 1953, Troy Smith discovered a hamburger stand that had installed an intercom system to speed up ordering. Troy thought the idea of ordering food from parked cars would be perfect for his Top Hat Restaurant in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He borrowed a bunch of cars from a friend who owned a used car lot and parked the cars in a row as a guide to form stalls around his restaurant. He wired an intercom system to the stalls and renamed his drive-in "Sonic" with the slogan "Service with the Speed of Sound." The new concept was a smash, and revenues for the redesigned hotdog and hamburger stand doubled during the first week.

This recipe includes three terrific clones for the top-selling signature burgers served at Americas largest drive-in chain: the all-American Sonic Burger, the smoky Hickory Burger, or the spicy Jalapeno Burger.

Sonic Burger
1/4 pound ground beef
1 large plain white hamburger bun
butter-flavored spray or melted butter
salt
ground black pepper
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
3 dill pickle slices (hamburger slices)
1 tablespoon chopped white onion
1/3 cup chopped iceberg lettuce
2 tomato slices

Hickory Burger
1/4-pound ground beef
1 large plain white hamburger bun
butter-flavored spray or melted butter
salt
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Kraft Hickory BBQ Sauce
1 tablespoon chopped white onion
1/3 cup chopped iceberg lettuce

Jalapeno Burger
1/4-pound ground beef
1 large plain white hamburger bun
butter-flavored spray or melted butter
salt
ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
6 to 10 bottled jalapeno slices (nacho slices)
1/3 cup chopped iceberg lettuce

Sonic Burger

1. Shape the ground beef into a patty with approximately the same diameter as the bun. Cover the patty with wax paper and freeze it.

2. When you're ready to prepare the burger, preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.

3. Spray some butter spray or spread a thin layer of melted butter on the top and bottom bun halves. Lightly brown the bun in the skillet or on the griddle, then set it aside.

4. Cook the beef patty in the hot pan, and lightly season it with salt and pepper. Cook the beef for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until done.

5. As the patty cooks, build the burger by first spreading the mayonnaise over the browned face of the bottom bun.

6. Arrange the pickle slices on the mayonnaise.

7. Sprinkle the chopped onion over the pickles.

8. Arrange the lettuce on the onion.

9. Stack the tomato slices on the lettuce.

10. When the beef is ready, stack it on the lettuce, and top off the sandwich with the top bun. If you'd like the bun warmer, microwave the burger on high for 10 to 15 seconds.

Makes 1 sandwich.

Hickory Burger

1. Shape the ground beef into a patty with approximately the same diameter as the bun. Cover the patty with wax paper and freeze it.

2. When you're ready to prepare the burger, preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.

3. Spray some butter spray or spread a thin layer of melted butter on the top and bottom bun halves. Lightly brown the bun in the skillet or on the griddle, then set it aside.

4. Cook the beef patty in the hot pan, and lightly season it with salt and pepper. Cook the beef for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until done.

5. As the patty cooks, build the burger by first spreading the BBQ sauce over the face of the bottom bun.

6. Sprinkle the chopped onion over the sauce.

7. Arrange the lettuce on the onion.

8. When the beef is ready, stack it on the lettuce, and top off the sandwich with the top bun. If you'd like the bun warmer, microwave the burger on high for 10 to 15 seconds.

Makes 1 sandwich.

Jalapeno Burger

1. Shape the ground beef into a patty with approximately the same diameter as the bun. Cover the patty with wax paper and freeze it.

2. When you're ready to prepare the burger, preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat.

3. Spray some butter spray or spread a thin layer of melted butter on the top and bottom bun halves. Lightly brown the bun in the skillet or on the griddle, then set it aside.

4. Cook the beef patty in the hot pan, and lightly season it with salt and pepper. Cook the beef for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until done.

5. As the patty cooks, build the burger by first spreading the mustard over the face of the bottom bun.

6. Arrange the jalapeno slices on the mustard.

7. Arrange the lettuce on the jalapeno slices.

8. When the beef is ready, stack it on the lettuce, and top off the sandwich with the top bun. If you'd like the bun warmer, microwave the burger on high for 10 to 15 seconds.

Makes 1 sandwich.

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Chia Superfood Recipes
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/14/chia-superfood-need-to-try-now

You’ve probably heard of chia. If not, catch up fast, because chia can give you more energy than you’ve ever experienced, boost strength and endurance, induce weight loss, and level blood sugar.

Here’s a recap: Long before there were telephones or the internet, during the days of the Aztec empire, tribes could only communicate via runners, men who literally ran from one tribe to the next. But how did these men who ran for days on end survive? Legend has it that these men subsisted on chia, an ancient herb making new waves in nutrition circles because of its superfood status.

Chia, the Mayan word for strength, is a flowering plant native to Mexico and Guatemala. Though commercially harvested for its seeds, its sprouts are perhaps better known from the Chia Pet, a small porcelain animal that sprouted chia for hair.

More commonly, the sprouts are consumed like alfalfa sprouts — in salads, sandwiches and other dishes — but it’s the seeds that are the real nutritional superstars.

Why is it a superfood?

Chia seeds have:

-2 times the protein of any other seed or grain.

-5 times the calcium of milk, plus boron, which is a trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones.

-2 times the amount of potassium as bananas.

-3 times the reported antioxidant strength of blueberries.

-3 times more iron than spinach.

-Copious amounts of omega-3 and omega-6, which are essential fatty acids (one ounce of these power-packing seeds contains more than eight times the amount of omega-3 fatty acid found in a similar measure of wild salmon).

With all this nutritional goodness, it’s no wonder that some medical studies have shown important cardiovascular and other health benefits from consuming chia. Despite some promising results, however, research on chia is still largely lacking and more work needs to be done until anything can be said conclusively.

Chia Recipes

Hearty Chia Breakfast Eggs:
This makes a very satisfying, tasty and nutritious breakfast. The egg/chia mixture has a consistency similar to couscous when cooked.

Ingredients per person

* 1 egg

* 1 tablespoon of chia seeds (preferably white)

* Half a small onion

* A handful of baby spinach

* A splash of milk (about a dessert spoon)

Method

1-Whisk the egg and milk, and soak the chia seeds in the mixture for 15 minutes.

2-Chop the onion finely and gently fry in a non stick frying pan with a little butter or oil until soft and slightly brown.

3-Add the egg/chia seed/milk mixture to the pan and stir until set.

4-Add the baby spinach leaves and stir the mixture until leaves are slightly wilted.

5-Season to taste (it's great with a little sea salt and ground black pepper), serve and enjoy.

Merry Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups of apple juice

* 1 cup of mixed berries, frozen or fresh

* 1 tablespoon of chia seeds

Method

1-Soak the chia seeds in the apple juice for 10 minutes or so.

2-Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

To make a creamier smoothie, add 2 tablespoons of yogurt or half a banana.

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