Eggs

I love eggs. Scrambled, hard boiled, over easy… doesn’t matter. We had breakfast for dinner the other night (one of my favorites), complete with biscuits, bacon, and scrambled eggs.

[Allow me to take a minute here and explain that YES that is a canned refrigerated biscuit you see in the photo… although I would have gladly made buttermilk biscuits from scratch, one of JW’s favorite things in the world is canned biscuits. So… every so often I oblige.]

Scrambled eggs are one of those things that should be easy that isn’t necessarily. Up until recently, I was always in the “low, slow heat, stirring frequently” camp. But I came across an article not too long ago that changed my thinking. They said no, in fact you should scramble eggs over a hotter temperature – medium to medium-high – and don’t stir too much, just every so often. I tried it and wow! SO much better! It’s not that the others were bad, per se, it’s just that the consistency was different. This way you actually end up with fluffy chunks of egg you can stab with a fork, instead of having to scoop up all the little egg bits.

Stabbable fluffy chunks are definitely preferable to scoopable little bits.

Maybe everyone else knew this but me. Maybe I’m slow to get on this wagon (this is very likely true). Either way, it sure has made a difference in breakfast time around here, regardless of whether that happens to be 7:00 AM or 7:00 PM.

On a different note, I have a new camera! It came in the mail yesterday… SO EXCITED!! I can’t wait to start using it. I just have to figure it out first… 😉

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Panko Baked Chicken with Asian Dipping Sauce

If you’ve never used panko crumbs for breading, you’re totally missing out. These Japanese breadcrumbs are light and airy and give a crispy coating even to things that are baked instead of fried – which makes them perfect for this crispy baked chicken recipe.

The chicken was basic and good; the most important thing is to coat the meat well and not overcook it. I especially loved that they are butterflied, so they are thinner and you get a much better breading-to-chicken ratio.

But the dipping sauce? Out. Of. This. World. If you don’t make a lot of Asian recipes, you may need to pick up one or two ingredients, but it’s well worth it. And then, of course, you have them for use in future recipes 🙂

I’d love to use this sauce to dip other meats in, to give them an Asian flair. I think it would be good on just about anything. It is thin, a bit sweet, and reminds me of the sauce served with Chinese dumplings.

We served this with a cold Asian pasta salad, and it was delightful… stay tuned for that recipe!

I found this recipe at Annie’s Eats, but it originally came from Jaden Hair’s The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. For more of Jaden’s recipes, check out the Steamy Kitchen Blog.

Panko Baked Chicken w/ Asian Dipping Sauce

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 tbsp. sake (or rice wine vinegar)
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tbsp. mirin

For the chicken:

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2-3)
• Nonstick cooking spray

To make the sauce, combine the soy sauce, orange juice, sake, sugar and mirin in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 6 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 475˚ F.  In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  In a second bowl, lightly beat the eggs together.  Place the panko in a third shallow bowl or pie plate.  Place a wire rack over a baking sheet and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

Butterfly the chicken breasts into halves so that you have 4-6 pieces total.  Lightly season both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.  Using tongs and working with one piece of chicken at a time, dredge the chicken in the flour mixture to coat both sides.  Shake lightly to remove any excess.  Then dip into the eggs and shake gently to remove any excess.  Finally place in the panko, turning to coat well.  Transfer to the prepared wire rack.  Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.  Once all the chicken pieces are in place, spray lightly with cooking spray.

Bake for 11-15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the bread crumbs are golden.  Let rest a few minutes before serving.  Serve with the teriyaki dipping sauce.

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