Mozzarella Sticks and Jalapeno Poppers!

I saw this recipe for Mozzarella Sticks and I was like, wait if that works for mozzarella sticks then I think it should work for jalapeno poppers. And it did! Such a fun, easy treat!

Delicious!

Inspired from: http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2010/05/panko-mozzarella-sticks/

What you need:

• String Cheese cut in half
• Jalapenos halved, de seeded and membranes taken out, cut in half again (so they're bite size!)
• Cream cheese
• Bowl of flour
• 2 eggs and a bit of milk mixed together in another bowl. 
• Panko crumbs and some parsley flakes in another bowl
• Marinara sauce for dipping if you like that sort of thing

Directions:

For the jalapeno poppers, spread a very thick layer of cream cheese on the jalapeno slice. Roll either the jalapeno/cream cheese mixture or the cut in half string cheese in flour. Then dunk it in the egg/ milk mixture. Then roll it around in the crumbs. 

Next, and this is very important, put them on a pan and throw them in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. This makes it so they don't fall apart when you fry them and so the cheese doesn't cook too quickly and melt out.

Heat a 1/2 inch or so of oil in a pan. Drop in the poppers or mozz sticks and cook until browned on one side. Roll them over and cook until browned around (hehe browned around). Put them on a plate with a paper towel and then enjoy!

Weeknight Buttermilk Chicken

Ok, Eric is still talking about this. It was yummy! It was super flavorful, and VERY moist.

Once again, I will write in what I did and what I would do different next time. I read a bunch of posts for this recipe as well as 3 others I found that were similar and kinda married them together.

Original Post:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/weeknight-buttermilk-chicken/82504.html

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, cut up into 10 pieces (she suggests using whatever you have or is in sale...you could do all legs, thighs, etc. I chose to do my boneless chicken breasts because I knew my girls would love that)
• 2 cups buttermilk-She suggests to save $$ you can do MILK plus vinegar/lemon juice (1 TB Vinegar or lemon juice for every cup of milk, let sit 5 to 7 minutes before adding anything-I did it with the vinegar and it was great)
• 1-3 tablespoon red hot pepper sauce. I did 1 TB Tabasco and 2 TB Franks and thought that was good.
• 2 teaspoons salt, and then another 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions

Marinate the chicken in a mixture of the buttermilk, pepper sauce, and 2 teaspoons of the salt in a large glass bowl. Let sit for 8 hours or overnight in the refrigerator, turning the chicken pieces over at least once. Once ready to cook, remove the chicken from the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and blot the excess liquid with paper towels. Mix the flour, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, breadcrumbs, granulated garlic, paprika, and black pepper in a large bowl. In a large frying pan, heat 1-inch of oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, toss the chicken in the flour, making sure the chicken is fully coated and dry. Fry the chicken 3 minutes on each side. Then transfer each piece of chicken to a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack and bake until the internal temperature is 170 degrees F, about 15 more minutes.

Next time I do it, I will keep the flour seperate from the mixture and add another 1/2 PANKO crumbs. Then, I will do a flour, then egg then breadcrumb/seasoning mixture. I think it will make it even more crispy and yummy.