There are few foods I like better than warm oatmeal walnut bars fresh from the oven, oozing chocolate when you cut into them. The only problem is that they are so tasty — and just as addictive as my blond brownies — that is is hard to save enough to take to whatever event I decided to bake them for.
Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Combine oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well-blended. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
Spoon and spread dough in greased 15x10x1-inch pan. Bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to counter and let cool.
I wish I could tell you the name of the recipe book I found this in, but it’s old and the front and back covers have long since been lost. Regardless, it is an easy dish that has become a popular choice in our house. Evey time I say I’m not sure what to make for lunch, my brother tells me to bake chicken divan. There’s rarely left overs here, but it does heat up well the next day.
In other news, there’s a Scarlet Pimpernel Quotation Challenge and Giveaway running now until Feb. 14 on Musings of an Introvert for the Anthony Andrew’s blog hop. If you’re interested, make your way over there and see how many quotations you can complete.
Chicken Divan
If using brown rice, start it cooking about the same time as the chicken
Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until done.
Spread sauce evenly over the chicken and vegetables
Meanwhile, place vegetables with water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Let cook for a couple minutes. Drain vegetables.
Place vegetables on the bottom of a 9×13-in. baking pan . Top with cooked chicken. Mix cream of chicken soup, curry powder, and mayonnaise. Spread over chicken mixture. Top with cheddar cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes at 350°F. Remove foil and book another 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting brown and sauce is bubbling around the edges. Serve with rice.
I found this amazing recipe here: Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken Breasts. I thought it would be harder to make, but it’s really very simple. To make it even easier, I’ve found that you can just use chicken tenders instead of slicing chicken breasts in half or pounding them thin.
The original Honey Garlic Sauce was a bit too sweet for our tastes, so I amended the recipe slightly. That’s the version I’m posting here.
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut or pounded into half-inch thick pieces. (I typically use chicken tenders and cook two for each person.)
canola oil for frying
Breading
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons black peppercorns
3 Tablespoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
This chicken smells so good frying
2 teaspoons ground thyme
2 Tablespoons paprika
Wash
1 egg
2 Tablespoons water
Sauce
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Put the sauce in a deeper pan than you think you’ll need, or it might boil over
¾ cup honey
¼ cup rice wine
¼ cup soy sauce-free
1 Tablespoon tapioca starch
1 teaspoon black pepper
Sift together the breading ingredients. (Note: This flour and spice mix is enough for two or three batches of this chicken. Leftover mix can be stored in a Ziploc bag in the freezer).
Whisk together the eggs and water. Dip chicken tenders in the flour and spice mixture. Dip chicken into the egg wash and then again into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact.
I let the chicken drain on a wire rack over a glass cutting board for easy clean-up
Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. Carefully regulate the temperature so that the chicken does not brown too quickly (just below medium heat works well). Fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy. The chicken is thin enough that this should cook it through. Once cooked, drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes.
In a medium saucepan add the 2 tbsp olive oil and minced garlic. Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Add the honey, soy sauce and black pepper. Simmer the Honey Garlic sauce together for 5-10 minutes, being careful not to let it foam up over the edges. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
Dip the cooked chicken in Honey Garlic Sauce and serve over rice or noodles.
I have a confession to make: for many years I made chicken fried rice using a boxed dinner because I was intimidated by this dish. It seemed like it would be so simple, but when I tried one recipe I found online it was a soggy mess that tasted like licorice because of the Chinese five-spice. Just recently, I finally found another recipe to try (this one a simple side-dish), and I expanded it into this chicken fried rice. The secret to avoiding sogginess is to use rice that has been sitting in the refrigerator for a day or so, which gives it a chance to cool and dry-out a little. I still don’t feel I’ve quite mastered the art of keeping the egg on only one side of the skillet while scrambling it, but at least when we want fried rice we’re not eating dinner out of a box any more.
4 cups cooked white or brown rice (day old or leftover rice works best)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon rice wine
3/4 teaspoons ginger
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Heat 1 teaspoon sesame oil and 1 teaspoon canola oil in wok or large skillet. Fry chicken in hot oil until cooked through. Remove when done.
Add 3 Tablespoons sesame oil to the wok and heat over medium heat. Add the peas, carrots, onion, and garlic. Stir-fry until tender. Push the mixture off to one side, then pour eggs on the other side of the skillet and stir-fry until scrambled.
Add rice and stir. Add soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, and pepper. Stir to blend. Continue stir-frying until thoroughly heated, then serve.
This is my favorite cookie. You need to plan ahead a little, since they will not bake right if the dough isn’t chilled first, but otherwise they are very easy to make. The recipe is from a close family friend, who was kind enough to bake them for me on a frequent basis when I was a child, and then gave me the recipe when I started baking in my own kitchen.
Mix butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and beat to incorporate eggs. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine. Chill dough thoroughly, at least 1 hour.
Remove from refrigerator and roll into balls the size of a walnut. Roll each cookie in mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon.
Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until light brown but still soft, 7-9 minutes at 375°F. Do no over-bake.
When served with a few pieces of chicken, this brown rice pilaf is one of my favorite meals. The original recipe (the origin of which I have lost track of) called for long grain or basmati rice — I’ve always used the brown rice that we keep on hand to serve with stir-fries. It has to cook longer than the original 15-20 minutes, but it’s healthy and it tastes good. There are several variations you could try on this recipe, though I like the one with basil and carrots so much that I haven’t played around with it too much. I have kept substitutions suggested by the original recipe in parenthesis if you want to experiment with some of them.
¼ cup shredded carrots (can substitute mushrooms, sweet peppers, or zucchini)
Add liquid, carrots, and basil
¼ cup rice wine (can substitute apple juice, dry white wine, or water)
¼ teaspoon dried basil (can substitute oregano or thyme)
½ cup slivered almonds (can substitute green onions, chopped walnuts, or pine nuts)
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan. Add garlic and uncooked rice. Stir in hot butter for 3 minutes. Slowly add chicken broth, then stir in carrots, wine and dried herb.
Bring mixture to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Add slivered almonds and serve.
For the chicken, I pour some rice wine in a baking dish, add garlic and basil, then add the chicken. Shake some basil and garlic over the chicken and top with mozzarella cheese or crushed garlic and cheese croutons
1 cup whole wheat flour
Like An Anchor 