Thursday, November 10, 2011

Family Menu: Chicken and Potatoes

We try to avoid fried food at our house, but sometimes I give in and oven fry chicken and potatoes, which is far from health food, but it tastes wonderful. I put together this coating for chicken last week, and remembered to jot down the measurements. The spicy potatoes are something I do more often, but tend to change the spices each time. It's a very flexible recipe, as you'll see.

Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients:
3-4 pounds chicken pieces
1 tbsp. stick margarine
2/3 cup Bisquick
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1/4 tsp. garlic pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove fat from the chicken, rinse and don't pat dry. Set aside. Melt the margarine in a baking sheet by placing in the oven. While it's melting, place the Bisquick and seasonings in a pie plate or bowl and mix with a fork. Coat each piece of chicken by rolling both sides in the dry mixture. Place on the pan with the melted margarine skin side down. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the chicken tests done, turning over after about 20 minutes.

Notes: I fit it all into one pan but sometimes the pieces are bigger and I use two pans. If you do this then put 1 tbsp. margarine in each pan to melt. Baking time will vary depending on how big the pieces chicken are.


Spicy Potato Wedges

Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
6-8 medium potatoes

In a ceramic or metal bowl mix the ingredients except the potatoes. Set aside. Scrub the potatoes clean. Cut the potatoes into wedges. They don't have to be the same length, but try to keep them all the same thickness. Arrange in a single layer in a 9 x13 pan, or two if needed. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning once.

Note: I used about 6 white potatoes, that were medium in size. Red potatoes also work well for this recipe.

On OFL we have more chicken recipes:

~Brenda

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Holiday Entertaining: How Much Do I Need?

One of the biggest concerns for most people when entertaining is "How much food and drink will I need?". No one wants to run short, but on the other hand, you don't want to over buy either. The following will give you an idea of what you need to figure, depending on the number of guests.

Meat: Deli or other sliced meat
4 guests-3/4 to 1 pound total
8 guests- 1 1/2 pounds
16 guest-3 pounds

Cheese: Cubed or sliced
4 guests - 6-8 ounces
8 guests- 1 pound
16 guests- 1 1/2 pounds

Salads: Pasta, Coleslaw, Spinach etc.
4 guests-1 pound
8 guests-2 pounds
16 guests-4 pounds

Chips: Tortilla, Potato, Pita chips etc.
4 guests-4-6 ounces
8 guests-8-12 ounces
16 guests-1 pound

Rolls: Any type of rolls or slices of French/Italian bread
4 guests-8-12 total
8 guests-16-20
16 guests- 3 dozen

Cookies/Bars/Pieces of Cake
4 guests: 8
8 guests: 1 1/2 dozen
16 guests: 3 dozen

Punch/Juice/Iced Tea etc.
4 guests: 48 ounces
8 guests: 96 ounces
16 guests: 1 1/2 gallons

Coffee or Tea
Figure 2 cups per person

There are variables that may need to be applied to your get together. I would consider kids around ten and up as an adult. Some will eat more and some less, but it will most likely even out. If you have quite a few kids coming to your get together I'd double the cookies and bars. If there are a lot leftover send each child home with a small plastic bag of cookies. I try to keep the plastic holiday treat bags on hand during the holidays.

TURKEY SERVING GUIDE
I love turkey and can never have too much leftover, so I always buy more than what I need. This guideline will help you figure what size you'll need to serve as a general rule.

8-12 pound turkey: 2-4 people *see note below
12-16 pound turkey: 5-7 people
16-20 pound turkey: 8-10 people
20-24 pound turkey: 11-13 people

If you have more than 13 people you'll most likely want to either cook two turkeys. I've also served turkey and ham for a large number of people.

Note: A whole turkey breast is a great alternative when there are only 2-3 people for a holiday meal. There isn't any dark meat, but if it's cooked in a crock pot the meat stays moist, and it's usually on sale throughout the holiday season.

On OFL we have some nice recipes for Autumn Butters:

~Brenda