You know, people often stop to ask me, “Mary, what’s the surest way to a man’s heart?”, and I always respond, “A sharp knife and a tire jack to crack open the rib cage!”
Then, based on the look on their faces at my answer, I realize they aren’t talking about do-it-yourself open heart surgery and are actually talking about food. Which is good, because I know more about food than open heart surgery, anyway.
And so begins the first in an irregularly posted series of favorite recipes, The Kitchen Report, With MaryC.
Tonight’s recipe will be a welcome addition to the kitchen of any fan of the Twice Baked Honey Chicken dish which was served proudly by the famous Largo supper club at it’s original location of Fairfax.
Oh, the fun times we had in that dark little club, shoulder to shoulder with fans of alternative comedy and music, hoping the dish would get to our table before the show began. Ah, memories.
Anyway, once I had eaten the famous dish, I was determined to figure out how to make it. Early attempts did not go well. I found out I really don’t understand the cooking term, “twice baked”, because when I did it, all I got was “burnt beyond recognition”.
Enter into my kitchen (of all things), Weight Watchers. Well, to be more specific, Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook, a magazine-like edition from 2006 which is no longer in print. In that magazine thing, was a recipe for Honey-Pecan Chicken Breasts. I’m not a fan of pecans, but the rest of it sounded pretty good, so I decided to make it-sans pecans, of course.
I read the directions, gathered the ingredients, and (to paraphrase Largo entertainer extraordinaire, Paul F. Tompkins) I made that thing, and it was delicious. In fact, it was the VERY same dish I had come to love at Largo!
And now you too, can have that fabulous dish at home, and it will probably be on your dinner table way faster than if you had it at Largo’s.
Bon Appetite!
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Twice Baked Honey Chicken Breasts
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons of honey
3/4 of a cup of crushed Kellogg’s Cornflakes (Available in the same aisle of your store where they keep the Shake n Bake. Oh, and I tend to just pour out the crushed cornflakes on a paper plate. I don’t really measure it. But that’s just me. I’m a rebel like that)
4 (6 oz) skinless, boneless, chicken breasts. (Actually, that’s not a hard and fast ingredient. You can just use two. Same diff.)
Cooking Spray
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Combine soy sauce and honey in a shallow bowl. Set aside. Pour crushed cornflakes out onto a paper plate.
3. Dip chicken breasts into soy sauce and honey mixture; dredge in crushed cornflakes, pressing cornflakes onto chicken if necessary. Place chicken breasts on a foil lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
4. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes or until chicken is golden and done.
(h/t to Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook)
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I like to serve this dish in the classic Largo fashion: a side of mashed potatoes and a green salad:
I am mystified by this sort of thing. (A “recipe,” it’s called?)
Is there actually a process whereby amateurs (rather than the highly-trained professionals employed by large, benevolent corporations like Nestle, Oscar Meyer, & Chef Boy-ar-dee) can prepare food for themselves in their residences?
A quick scan reveals this could be a messy process. Is it advised to do this in the bathroom, to make cleaning up easier? Or do you just put plastic all over the living room, as I imagine you have to w/ the tire jack & sharp knife deal?
Does the “cooking spray” cover up the odors of rotting meat that I assume will fill my pad if I were to try this?
Left by M. Bouffant on November 2nd, 2009