Supper Club Second Course - Baked Chicken Strips, Thick and Velvety Spicy Tomato Soup, Crostini
Here are the recipes for the second course of the Supper Club meal we hosted on Saturday. After our appetizer heavy first course, we were ready for something a wee bit more substantial.
Baked Chicken Strips
Makes 4 Servings
1/2 cup whole-grain breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
[1] Preheat oven to 375°F.
[2] In a shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese, zest, paprika, and salt.
[3] In another shallow bowl, mix lemon juice and 1 tbsp water.
[4] Coat a baking pan with cooking spray.
[5] Dip chicken in liquid mixture, then in breadcrumb mixture, coating entire breast, and lay on the baking pan. Repeat with remaining breasts.
[6] Drizzle chicken with oil.
[7] Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (no longer pink inside).
xhollydayx found this recipe via Self Magazine some time ago. This was the third or fourth time that she'd made them and by now she had it down to a science. Nothing fancy, but absolutely delicious. These went fast, and rightfully so.
Thick and Velvety Spicy Tomato Soup
Makes 4-6 Servings
1-2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium to large golden potato, diced into small cubes
1 medium yellow onion diced
2 TBSP garlic, minced
3.5 C strained tomatoes (or 1 26oz can crushed tomatoes - but you’ll need to puree longer for a smoother soup) [we used the canned ones]
3 C veggie broth
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
*optional heat: minced habañero (omitted for Supper Club)
[1] Sauté potato, onion, garlic, and hot pepper (if using) with 2 teaspoons salt over medium heat, until onion begins to become translucent - about 10 minutes.
[2] Sprinkle in herbs and stir to combine. Add in crushed tomatoes and 2 C veggie broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft and cooked through.
[3] Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth, adding in the last 1 C broth to assist in the blending.
This came from The Innocent Primate Vegan Blog. We were looking for a nice but different tomato soup, and adding potatoes certainly seemed different. We made two batches in side-by-side pots, and everything tasted fine, but I couldn't help but notice that:
[a] The soup had a strong resemblance to tomato sauce. It didn't taste like sauce, but the texture was dead on, which was disconcerting.
[b] The soup was super filling. I had warned the attendees that later courses were going to very filling indeed and that they should save some space. A number of people sent back half-filled bowls; I'm not sure if this was because of the warning or because they didn't like the soup all that much.
Oh well, you can't win all the time. This soup won't get made again by me, but it certainly wasn't a disaster.
Crostini
Makes about 32 crostini
1 loaf French bread, ends trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (purchased from Michelle's Bakery)
Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
[1] Preheat the oven to 400*F (205*C).
[2] Arrange the bread slices on the baking sheet and generously brush with olive oil. Turn the slices over and repeat brushing with olive oil.
[3] Bake for about 6 minutes, turning the baking sheet around in the oven halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. Bake until the croutons are lightly browned. Cool crostini completely before serving.
[4] The recipe doesn't actually say this, but I assume the salt and pepper goes on the bread at some point.
Our original thought was to have some sort of 'grilled cheese' equivalent with the tomato soup, but we decided that we didn't really want to spend that much time in front of a stove during the earlier courses. We went with these instead. Originally we planned to make multiple batches, but we ran out of cookie sheets and there did not seem to be a shortage of food so we just skipped the extra trays. This is not to imply that there was anything wrong with the crostini; they just got last in the shuffle with everything else being thrown around. Despite the lack of care lavished on them, I noticed that they disappeared very quickly.
I found this very basic recipe on a site called CooksRecipes.com. It was very simple and to the point. I'd make it again; the hardest part was slicing the bread, and I skipped that hassle by asking the nice people at Michelle's Bakery to run the french bread through the slicer for me. They were happy to do so.
Tomorrow: Macaroni & Cheese
Baked Chicken Strips
Makes 4 Servings
1/2 cup whole-grain breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
[1] Preheat oven to 375°F.
[2] In a shallow bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese, zest, paprika, and salt.
[3] In another shallow bowl, mix lemon juice and 1 tbsp water.
[4] Coat a baking pan with cooking spray.
[5] Dip chicken in liquid mixture, then in breadcrumb mixture, coating entire breast, and lay on the baking pan. Repeat with remaining breasts.
[6] Drizzle chicken with oil.
[7] Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (no longer pink inside).
xhollydayx found this recipe via Self Magazine some time ago. This was the third or fourth time that she'd made them and by now she had it down to a science. Nothing fancy, but absolutely delicious. These went fast, and rightfully so.
Thick and Velvety Spicy Tomato Soup
Makes 4-6 Servings
1-2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium to large golden potato, diced into small cubes
1 medium yellow onion diced
2 TBSP garlic, minced
3.5 C strained tomatoes (or 1 26oz can crushed tomatoes - but you’ll need to puree longer for a smoother soup) [we used the canned ones]
3 C veggie broth
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste
*optional heat: minced habañero (omitted for Supper Club)
[1] Sauté potato, onion, garlic, and hot pepper (if using) with 2 teaspoons salt over medium heat, until onion begins to become translucent - about 10 minutes.
[2] Sprinkle in herbs and stir to combine. Add in crushed tomatoes and 2 C veggie broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft and cooked through.
[3] Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth, adding in the last 1 C broth to assist in the blending.
This came from The Innocent Primate Vegan Blog. We were looking for a nice but different tomato soup, and adding potatoes certainly seemed different. We made two batches in side-by-side pots, and everything tasted fine, but I couldn't help but notice that:
[a] The soup had a strong resemblance to tomato sauce. It didn't taste like sauce, but the texture was dead on, which was disconcerting.
[b] The soup was super filling. I had warned the attendees that later courses were going to very filling indeed and that they should save some space. A number of people sent back half-filled bowls; I'm not sure if this was because of the warning or because they didn't like the soup all that much.
Oh well, you can't win all the time. This soup won't get made again by me, but it certainly wasn't a disaster.
Crostini
Makes about 32 crostini
1 loaf French bread, ends trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (purchased from Michelle's Bakery)
Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
[1] Preheat the oven to 400*F (205*C).
[2] Arrange the bread slices on the baking sheet and generously brush with olive oil. Turn the slices over and repeat brushing with olive oil.
[3] Bake for about 6 minutes, turning the baking sheet around in the oven halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. Bake until the croutons are lightly browned. Cool crostini completely before serving.
[4] The recipe doesn't actually say this, but I assume the salt and pepper goes on the bread at some point.
Our original thought was to have some sort of 'grilled cheese' equivalent with the tomato soup, but we decided that we didn't really want to spend that much time in front of a stove during the earlier courses. We went with these instead. Originally we planned to make multiple batches, but we ran out of cookie sheets and there did not seem to be a shortage of food so we just skipped the extra trays. This is not to imply that there was anything wrong with the crostini; they just got last in the shuffle with everything else being thrown around. Despite the lack of care lavished on them, I noticed that they disappeared very quickly.
I found this very basic recipe on a site called CooksRecipes.com. It was very simple and to the point. I'd make it again; the hardest part was slicing the bread, and I skipped that hassle by asking the nice people at Michelle's Bakery to run the french bread through the slicer for me. They were happy to do so.
Tomorrow: Macaroni & Cheese