Dinner: Baked Popcorn Shrimps

Its been a month since my last recipe. I really need to get myself in check with this.  That is just not acceptable. My husband has been a champ during my busy work season and taking care of dinner so it minimizes the amount of time I spend in the kitchen.  However, things are hopefully calming down and I can get a few recipes I’ve been wanting to try done.  Baking should be my priority with the lovely Pinocchio Baking Through Disney thing coming up soon. However, I decided to defrost some shrimp a few days ago and make something cool with it.  My initial thought was fried rice but then I was cleaning the cupboards and found a box of Corn Flakes Crumbs.  Its my replacement for Panko bread crumbs and remembered that I had gotten those to make some popcorn or breaded whatnots and didn’t end up doing it. So here we are with the next cooking adventure: Popcorn Shrimp!

Let’s check it out, shall we?

Popcorn Shrimp

You can find the lovely recipe over here:
http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/skinny-baked-popcorn-shrimp-recipe/
I found it via Pinterest (as usual).

What is absolutely fantastic about shrimps in general are that they are really quick to cook.  That also means that this recipe takes more time for preparation than the actual baking time in the oven. I’m all for that!

However, this was more of an inspiration recipe because I ended replacing a few of the ingredients or omitting them in general due to allergy restrictions.

• Panko breadcrumbs replaced with Corn Flakes Crumbs
• Parmesan cheese omitted (due to lactose-intolerance)
• Italian seasoning instead of Cajun

As for the baking time, it said to do 3 mins and flip over and 3 mins. I did 3 mins and then another 5 mins and kept it in the oven a tad longer, maybe a few minutes, just to make sure the shrimps would be cooked through.  Its more of a safety precaution.  I had tried one at the 6 minutes recommended bake time and it was just perfectly cooked through.

Baked Popcorn Shrimp is definitely different.  I forgot to garnish it with lemon juice which might have balanced the taste a little. I like the Italian seasoning but it did have a mild bitter herb taste, which is where I think a cajun flare might have helped it.  Maybe the smoked paprika might have been a good one to use also.  However, this recipe had all the crunches and the bread coating was amazing.  I’ve never cooked with Panko breadcrumbs but this one I used is pretty great.

For a quick and crunchy side for your dish, this recipe does the trick. Even if you want it as an appetizer, it would do also with a lovely little dip.

Do you like shrimps (or other seafood)? How do you like to cook it? 

Dinner: Pork Chops & Potatoes in Tomato-Basil Sauce

We’re back again with another recipe.  I don’t do a whole lot of improvisation but you know, buying groceries are expensive and I’m trying to use what I have at home to work something out.  One thing my house has a lot of is potatoes.  My friend gave me a ton so now we’re working hard on finishing it all up.  We tried to mix things up a little last weekend and ended up with this little pork chops and potatoes dish.

Super uncreative name but here we go…

Pork Chops and Potatoes in Tomato-Basil Sauce

Ingredients

6-8 pork chops
(you  might want to use a bigger oven dish than this one)

5-6 medium potatoes

1-1/5 cups tomato sauce
(we used Classico Tomato-Basil and Sundried Tomato mix)

minced garlic
Italian seasoning

bay leaves, to garnish

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven at 400F.
2. Layer pork chops at the bottom.
3. Pour the sauce over the pork chops.
4. Layer sliced potatoes on the top.  Try to keep it basted in the tomato sauce.
5. Season on top with minced garlic and Italian seasoning. Put the bay leaves on top, if you choose to.
6. Place it in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes. Be sure to check whether the pork chops and potatoes are cooked through if you need to add a little more time.

I like quick dinner solutions.  Usually anything with baking is quick because preparation is about 15 minutes or something. Cutting the potatoes take the longest.  Unless you want to peel it, then it’ll take even more time.  Mine was in there for a little extra time so it ended adding a little bit of crispiness to the top of the potatoes.  It worked out pretty well. Honestly, I had my doubts especially because it didn’t look that appealing but the results worked good.  The pork chops flavored well with the tomato sauce.

For something thrown together with leftover sauces in the fridge and adding some meat and veggies, it was a really good mix. I was pleased with the results.

If I were to change it up, I suggest to use less pork chops and layer with more thinly sliced potatoes and only one single layer. Just little tips to think about when putting this together if you give it a go. Any sauce works as long as you like it.  If you change the sauce, you should go with some matching seasoning.

How do you like to make pork chops? What do you suggest to use up those potatoes?