Recipe – Page 2 – Hoots of a Night Al

Healthy Baked Fish & Chips

March 9, 2016 1 Comment

A little over a year ago, Louis and I visited England (you can read about our trip here), and while there, we ate fish and chips for basically every meal. No regrets. However, with our 2016 goal of becoming healthier, I can’t exactly fry up fish and french fries anytime we crave it. My solution? Bake it!

For the fish, you will need:

1/2 lb of cod (cut into 2 equal portions)
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (I typically use Ragin’ Cajun, but feel free to use your favorite!)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, beaten
2 cups cornflakes, crushed

For the “chips,” I use my Simple Homemade Baked Fries recipe. You can find that here. I bake my fish and chips together in the oven at 425 degrees. I put the potatoes in first, prep my fish, and put the fish in for the last 20 minutes.

To prepare your fish, crack two eggs and beat the egg whites. Next, use a blender or food processor to crush 2 cups of cornflakes. These don’t need to be extremely fine, but definitely make sure there are no large chunks. Finally, thoroughly mix together your flour, Cajun seasoning, and salt. Place the egg whites, flour mixture, and cornflakes each on a separate dinner plate or shallow dish.

Dip the fish into the egg white, then dredge it in the flour mixture, dip into the egg white again, and finally coat all sides with the ground corn flakes. Don’t be discouraged if the flour or cornflakes aren’t sticking all over your fish. Feel free to use your fingers to press the coating on to help it stay better.

I bake our fish on a wire rack on a foil-lined baking sheet. This helps prevent the fish from getting soggy on the bottom and allows it to bake evenly all over. Make sure to spray the wire wrack with nonstick cooking spray as well. You don’t want to lose any of that delicious crunchy coating when you take it off!

As I mentioned above, the potatoes need to be baked for 30 minutes, and the fish needs to be baked for 20 minutes, both at 425 degrees. I typically put the potatoes in, prep my fish, and pop it in the for the last 20 minutes. I’ve cooked several filets of cod for 20 minutes at 425 degrees, and they’ve all been totally cooked at that point! You want your fish to be white and flaky and have an internal temperature of at least 135 degrees.

I think a delicious dinner of fish and chips can’t get much easier than this! Everything can cook at once in the oven, and you don’t have to deal with the mess and extra calories of frying anything! I hope you enjoy this tasty, healthy meal as much as we do!

Recipe

15-Minute Chicken Tacos

March 3, 2016 4 Comments

Y’all, these chicken tacos have been the #1 item on our meal rotation lately, so let me tell you why. They’re delicious, make great leftovers, are easy to make, and only need six ingredients! Do I have your attention? Read on for the quick, delicious recipe.

One of the best things about these tacos is how quick they are to prepare! They’re perfect for nights that we work out when Louis gets home, because after our run, I can still have dinner ready in under 30 minutes without any previous prep! They don’t even need to marinate like most other recipes I’ve found.

You will need:

1 lb White Chicken Meat
1 Medium Onion
3 Garlic Cloves
1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper (freshly ground)
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Slice the onion. Mince the garlic. Combine those ingredients with the spices in a mixing bowl and stir until everything is evenly coated.

Heat a cast-iron skillet* over medium heat with just enough olive oil to cover the bottom. Dump all of your combined ingredients into the skillet, and wait to hear that satisfying sizzle.

Keep an eye on the chicken, stirring every couple of minutes to ensure nothing is burning. Continue cooking until the chicken is no longer pink and the onions are translucent. In total, this should take about 10 minutes.

That’s it! After that, prepare your tacos however you enjoy! I prefer crunchy corn shells with shredded cheese. Louis loves them on corn tortillas with my homemade salsa and a squeeze of a fresh lime.

This recipe makes about ten tacos, so we always have leftovers, which are just as delicious the next day.

I hope you enjoy these tacos as much as we have!

*Our cast-iron skillet was the best investment we’ve made for our kitchen! We use it to cook so many recipes, and I know we’ll have it for years to come. I’d totally recommend buying one if you haven’t yet

Food, Recipe

Simple Ginger Dressing

January 29, 2016 4 Comments

Have you ever been to a hibachi style restaurant and received the onion soup and salad before the magician of a chef comes out and starts slinging fried rice everywhere and making onion volcanoes? (That will probably all sound very odd if you’ve never been to a hibachi restaurant…) This dressing recipe tastes just like the dressing on those salads! It’s a simple oil-based dressing that works great on salads or as a marinade.

My favorite thing to enjoy it on is a simple salad of romaine, carrots, purple onion, and shrimp. However, my parents marinate their shrimp with this dressing to grill, and if we had a grill, I have admit, that would be my favorite way to utilize it! It makes a great sauce for cooked shrimp as well.

This dressing is as easy as tossing all of your ingredients together and blending them up!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

It is best to blend all of the ingredients except for the oil, and then continue blending while slowly adding in the oil. I typically store my ginger dressing in a mason jar or cruet. Since it’s oil based, I usually don’t refrigerate this dressing. I think that makes it much easier to mix up when you want to use it, as the ingredients will always settle and separate.

I hope you love this dressing/marinade/sauce as much as I do if you decide to make it! If you do, please let me know how you enjoy it most, so I can try it that way, too!

Enjoy, and happy cooking!

Food, Recipe

Easy Yummy Pizza Rolls

November 12, 2015 7 Comments

“I don’t want pizza tonight.” SAID NO ONE EVER. We love pizza over here, and lately, we’ve been enjoying it in the form of homemade pizza rolls! They only require a few ingredients, take less than 30 minutes to make, and taste great! Keep reading for the easy recipe.

Open and roll out a tube of Pillsbury Pizza Crust-Thin Crust. Make sure to get the thin crust, so your pizza rolls don’t turn out too thick! (Duh. In case you didn’t know what the word thin meant.)

It’s best to roll out your dough onto some floured wax paper, so it doesn’t stick. Cut the dough into triangles (I usually get 6 out of one tube.) Fill your triangles with whatever ingredients you’d like, and roll them up! We always just use pepperonis and mozzarella because we’re simple folks. 🙂 You could also throw in Italian seasoning, mushrooms, onions, spinach…whatever you want!

Once you roll up your pizza…uh… rolls, place them on a foil-lined baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Finally, brush them with melted garlic butter. Place them in an oven that has been heated to 425 degrees and cook them for 10-15 minutes. Make sure the cheese is melted and the dough is fully cooked to a golden brown.

While your pizza rolls are cooking, warm up your favorite pizza sauce in a ramekin. We’ve been enjoying the Classico Traditional Pizza Sauce lately.

Before you know it, your pizza rolls will be ready for you to enjoy! Dip them into the sauce and dig in. I hope you think they’re as delicious as we do! Let me know if you try any other variations!

P.S. If you’re more of a “traditional” pizza person, check out my Homemade Pizza in Less than 1 Hour post!

Food, Recipe

Seasoned Garlic Roast Chicken

October 6, 2015 5 Comments

Chicken is a staple in our weekly meal rotation, but I’ve only ever cooked chicken breasts or chicken strips. I’ve heard that cooking bone-in chicken parts (thighs, wings, etc.) yields juicier and moister chicken, but cooking a whole bird has always intimidated me. I guess it doesn’t take much for me to be intimidated? Hah. This week though, I decided to face my “fears,” and go for it!…And I’m so glad I did.

I couldn’t find a recipe that looked like exactly what I wanted (you know based on all my experience of never having cooked a chicken), so I sort of made up my own. First open your chicken, remove the innards (I squealed unpleasantly and immaturely the entire time I did this.), rinse well under water, and pat dry. Place the chicken on a baking sheet lined with heavy duty aluminum foil. Cut up 1 to 1 1/2 sticks of salted butter and allow it to soften. While your butter is softening, slice the top inch off of a head of garlic and rub the exposed cloves all over your chicken.

Slice the top inch off of 2-3 more heads of garlic and deposit them into your chicken’s…butthole? Rear cavity? Hahah. I’m sorry. I felt wildly inappropriate anytime I did anything in this “area” of my little chicken and laughed awkwardly the entire time. Liberally season the inside of the chicken with seasoned salt, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper, as well.

When your butter is softened, add in 2-3 Tablespoons of seasoned salt (I used Lawry’s), and Kosher Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (I probably used 1-2 teaspoons of each). Stir the seasonings into the butter until they’re well mixed in and it looks like the sickly orange color below. It will look better after it’s cooked…promise. Spoon the butter mixture onto your chicken and smooth it all over including any crevices (like the “armpit” beneath the wing). I felt like I was frosting a hideous cake, and that’s basically how it looked when I was done! I’m a wizard in the kitchen, what can I say?

Cook your chicken in the oven for around 1 hour at 425 degrees. My chicken was just over 3 pounds, and it was fully cooked after an hour at this temperature. If your chicken is closer to 5 pounds, it will probably take around an hour and a half. Be sure to check that your chicken’s internal temperature is 165 degrees to ensure it’s cooked completely. The seasoned butter should have created a beautiful brown skin all over the exterior.

Once you’ve confirmed your chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the oven, loosely cover it with foil, and let it rest for at least ten minutes. After what will feel like forever, you can finally carve into your little birdie and enjoy the moist, juicy meat! I was amazed at how easy this was, and I felt silly for being so intimidated! Louis has coined this his new favorite meal that I make, so I’m marking it down as a success!

Another perk of cooking a roast chicken at home is that you get to smell the delicious scents wafting throughout the house! I had Christmas music playing while I cooked, so it felt just like the holidays to me. (Even though we eat turkey not chicken….eh. Poh-tay-toh, Poh-tah-toh.) While the chicken is in the oven you can use that hour to whip up some garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, or a yummy salad to accompany it. I hope this encourages anyone else who is nervous to try out a new recipe! Happy cooking! (Not really, I hate cooking, but as it’s a necessity of daily life, might as well make the best of it 😉 )

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next »