Happy Birthday Tommy!

 

 

Today is my brother Tommy's Birthday. He lives on the other side of Houston close to Galveston so I don't get to see him like I would love too.

 

Tommy is a lot younger than me but out of all my brothers I have to say he and I are more a like than the others. He is a sweetheart and I hope he is having a very special day.

 

Tommy loved to ride horses and would ride with us on trail rides.  He not only loved horses he liked riding in rodeos. In his younger days he stressed me out by riding Bulls. I always feared for his life and with good reason. On one ride he was thrown off and landed on his neck. Not knowing that his neck was broken his friends picked him up and took him to the emergency room where we found out he had a broken neck. For months he laid up in one of those huge contraptions where he could not move for over 8 weeks. 

 

Praise God he was healed completely and now celebrating another Birthday. Happy Birthday Dear Tommy!

 

Last Friday I fell on my stairway inside this ole farm house. Thank goodness I did not roll down the stairs because I did enough damage just falling. I am pretty sure I did not break anything but since the fall I have not felt good.  Lot's of headaches and the pain in my back and shoulder are bad but this too shall pass in a day or two. Just wish I could stay on my feet better.

 

Tonight I wanted something different for dinner so I decided to fix the can of Salmon I had in the cabinet. I love salmon croquet's so could not wait to chow down on them. Well I am mixing the croquet's up and I can't figure out why their so mushy.

 

I dip them in flour still wondering why their not right. Well I start laying them in the hot grease to fry and that's when I realize what I had forgotten.  I forgot to crumble up crackers for the recipe. OH Man I was sick that I forgot the main ingredient.  lol

 

Sometimes I wonder seriously about myself and why I do what I do. Needless to say they weren't very good.

 

I did try this delicious dish the other day and managed to not goof it up. Thought you might want to try it for a different way to fix chicken breast.  I found it a while back and just now remembered I had it.

 

 

 

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken Breasts

 

4  large boneless chicken breasts
 

Place the chicken breasts between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and using a meat mallet, pound the meat to an even 1/2 inch thickness. Alternatively, you can slice the breasts by placing them flat on a cutting board and using a very sharp knife to slice them into halves horizontally.

Sift together:

2 cup flour
4 tsp salt
4 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground thyme
2 tsp ground sage
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper 


NOTE: This flour and spice dredge mix is sufficient for two batches of this chicken recipe. You can store the leftover mix in a Ziploc bag in the freezer for the next time you make this recipe...and there will be a next time.

Make an egg wash by whisking together:

4 eggs
8 tbsp water

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dip the meat in the flour and spice mixture. Dip the breast into the egg wash and then a final time into the flour and spice mix, pressing the mix into the meat to get good contact. 

Heat a skillet on the stove with about a half inch of canola oil covering the bottom. You will want to carefully regulate the temperature here so that the chicken does not brown too quickly. The thinness of the breast meat practically guarantees that it will be fully cooked by the time the outside is browned. I find just below medium heat works well. I use a burner setting of about 4 1/2 out of 10 on the dial and fry them gently for about 4 or 5 minutes per side until golden brown and crispy.

Drain on a wire rack for a couple of minutes before dipping the cooked breasts into the Honey Garlic Sauce. Serve with noodles or rice.

Honey Garlic Sauce

In a medium saucepan add

2 tbsp olive oil
3 – 4 cloves minced garlic

Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic but do not let it brown. Add:

1 cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper

Simmer together for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Watch this carefully as it simmers because it can foam up over the pot very easily.

 

 

Hope all of you are well and staying warm. We are still having some pretty warms days. Thank goodness for that because I checked emails yesterday and my utility bill was way over four hundred dollars. I of course nearly freaked out.  It's been a while since my electric bill has been this high so something is not right. Tomorrow I will call them and see if they can send a guy out here to check things for me.

 

When I first moved out here my bills were this high so my landlady insulated the house. I think the windows and doors let in too much cold air but have had no luck convincing them to fix this problem.

 

Before I close tonight I wanted to thank you for all your lovely comments about me making the move to Georgetown. I have read and reread your thoughts and I do appreciate each and every one.  Since they have offered me a trail period there I will give it a try. Not sure if I can do it but won't know unless I try it.

 

Do take care of you and know I think of you often and hope to visit your sites soon.

 

Sweet Dreams

Maggie