Shaken Baken Blog

If you've been following the blog, you will know most of my posts are about comfort food.  Food that makes me extremely happy to indulge.  Well... I mean that's all food. But growing up in a big family, our meals were filling and made us say "mmmmmm"... One of my favorite family dinner staples  is a Hearty Pork Stew  or "Neck Bone Soup".  Filled with tender neck bones, potatoes, sweet corn and a hint of tomato. Another soup that could last for days if you make a big ol' pot like mine. All this flavor with minimal ingredients  that you can pretty much throw in together and let it cook down.   My mother and grandmother were not huge onions and garlic fans. (Craziness right?)  But there is so much flavor in the neck bone stock...you won't miss them. You can spice it up, add more herbs or use stew beef if you prefer. One more thing: Add cornbread and you are home! For an even heartier soup, serve over white rice... Looks kinda like Gumbo doesn't it?

If you've been following the blog, you will know most of my posts are about comfort food.  Food that makes me extremely happy to indulge.  Well... I mean that's all food. But growing up in a big family, our meals were filling and made us say "mmmmmm"... One of my favorite family dinner staples  is a Hearty Pork Stew  or "Neck Bone Soup".  Filled with tender neck bones, potatoes, sweet corn and a hint of tomato. Another soup that could last for days if you make a big ol' pot like mine. All this flavor with minimal ingredients  that you can pretty much throw in together and let it cook down.   My mother and grandmother were not huge onions and garlic fans. (Craziness right?)  But there is so much flavor in the neck bone stock...you won't miss them. You can spice it up, add more herbs or use stew beef if you prefer. One more thing: Add cornbread and you are home! For an even heartier soup, serve over white rice...

Can you achieve this beautiful deep golden color  without deep frying? Absolutely! The right blend of seasonings, lightly dredged in flour and baked in the oven,  with a fraction of the fat? You can so do this!!! The key to the big flavor is to season the chicken AND the flour. (I know you know this.) 4 -  1/2 Pd Chicken Breast - Bone in (These things are huge so they go a long way...) 2 TBS canola/ or vegetable oil (if you use olive oil make sure it's light for frying) 2 TBS butter Seasoning Bag  (omit or add whatever you like)  measurements are approximate. (STICK A FINGER IN AND TASTE YOUR SEASONING TO ADJUST) Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp Seasoning Salt - 1 TBS Garlic powder - 1tsp Paprika - 1  tsp Flour Seasoning All purpose Flour - 1 cup Seasoning salt - 1 tsp Paprika - 1 tsp Bread crumbs  - 1 TBS Wash and trim excess fat off of chicken breast. Pat dry. Combine seasonings for seasoning bag. Put chicken in a Ziploc bag or large bowl. Add seasoning and let sit for at last 30

Can you achieve this beautiful deep golden color  without deep frying? Absolutely! The right blend of seasonings, lightly dredged in flour and baked in the oven,  with a fraction of the fat? You can so do this!!! The key to the big flavor is to season the chicken AND the flour. (I know you know this.) 4 -  1/2 Pd Chicken Breast - Bone in (These things are huge so they go a long way...) 2 TBS canola/ or vegetable oil (if you use olive oil make sure it's light for frying) 2 TBS butter Seasoning Bag  (omit or add whatever you like)  measurements are approximate. (STICK A FINGER IN AND TASTE YOUR SEASONING TO ADJUST) Salt - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/2 tsp Seasoning Salt - 1 TBS Garlic powder - 1tsp Paprika - 1  tsp Flour Seasoning All purpose Flour - 1 cup Seasoning salt - 1 tsp Paprika - 1 tsp Bread crumbs  - 1 TBS Wash and trim excess fat off of chicken breast. Pat dry. Combine seasonings for seasoning bag. Put chicken in a Ziploc bag

                                                      Photo Courtesy of Red Lobster When I have the time to hang out with my family, one of our favorite dinner hangouts is..."Red Lobster".  kids, crab legs, biscuits. What else right?  They have this drink called the Mango Mai Tai. It's sooo good. It's cool, fruity and not too much alcohol...I read the ingredients on the menu to see if I could try to make it at home and it was simple... Pineapple Juice Orange Juice Mango Rum  Grenadine Syrup Thats it. So the following weekend I decided to try it.  After a 90 hour work week, I deserved it. Here's what I used: Malibu Mango Rum (sweet and delicious) Dole Orange Pineapple Juice Rose's Grenadine Syrup Plenty of ice Shaker Pour the mango rum and the Orange pineapple juice over ice, shake and pour. Add a few drops of Grenadine and there it is.  Because the Malibu Rum is sweet you can add quite a bit to the juice mixture. I like more juice than alcohol, but to each his

                                                      Photo Courtesy of Red Lobster When I have the time to hang out with my family, one of our favorite dinner hangouts is..."Red Lobster".  kids, crab legs, biscuits. What else right?  They have this drink called the Mango Mai Tai. It's sooo good. It's cool, fruity and not too much alcohol...I read the ingredients on the menu to see if I could try to make it at home and it was simple... Pineapple Juice Orange Juice Mango Rum  Grenadine Syrup Thats it. So the following weekend I decided to try it.  After a 90 hour work week, I deserved it. Here's what I used: Malibu Mango Rum (sweet and delicious) Dole Orange Pineapple Juice Rose's Grenadine Syrup Plenty of ice Shaker Pour the mango rum and the Orange pineapple juice over ice, shake and pour. Add a few drops of Grenadine and there it is.  Because the Malibu Rum is sweet you can add quite a bit to the juice mixture. I like more juice than a