Pecan Crusted Chicken

You can’t get any better than this! Delicious – check, Easy – Check, & Healthy – Check! This is an easy and fast meal, perfect for those busy nights I'm sure we're all having this time of year. It has few ingredients, is easily prepared, and done in about 30 minutes. I hope you enjoy this delicious recipe!

Pecan Crusted Chicken
Ingredients:
Two eggs, well beaten
Four boneless Chicken Breast
Salt and Pepper
2 T. Butter
Priester’s Pecan Meal


Directions:
Salt and pepper each chicken breast to taste. Coat with egg then roll in Priester’s Pecan Meal. Melt butter in skillet, heat to medium, place chicken in pan and cook 8-10 minutes per side until done. Be careful to keep pan on medium heat, if you cook on too high temperature, pecans will burn. Serve with your favorite honey mustard sauce.

posted by The Pecan Diva @ 9:14 AM

Pecan Banana Pancakes Recipe

Pancakes are a meal that can be served for breakfast, brunch or dinner. Our family often enjoys “Pankcake Night” at least one night out of the month (okay…maybe more). Everyone patiently awaits the warm, buttery pancake to hit their plate. Then everyone passes around the pure maple syrup to top their pancake.

Recently, I found a delicious recipe for Banana Pecan Pancakes. Making them from scratch isn’t all that difficult and all the pleased responses are worth it! Everyone enjoyed the tasty combination of fresh bananas, crunchy pecans and warm maple syrup. All I can say is try this recipe for yourself and see how much your family will love them too!

Banana Pecan Pancakes
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely ground (not chopped)
1 tbsp toasted pecans, chopped
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 bananas, peeled and sliced in 1/4-inch circles
Maple Syrup

In a large mixing bowl whisk the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until well combined. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir until the lumps are gone. Fold in all the pecans and only 3/4 of the melted butter, whisk until batter is smooth.
Heat a griddle over medium low heat and brush with some melted butter to coat. Using a ladle or small measuring cup pour out individual pancakes onto griddle. Cook pancakes on the first side until they are just set, then carefully place sliced bananas on top. 3-4 slices per pancake. When tiny bubbles appear, flip pancakes, coating each pancake spot with more melted butter so the bananas won’t stick to the griddle. Cook until golden.

Serve with some warm maple praline syrup. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Note: this recipe has been slightly modified from the recipe shown on foodnetwork.comRecipe Courtesy of Foodnetwork.com

posted by The Pecan Diva @ 10:36 AM

Congratulations to Our Recipe Contest Winner!

The Winner of our Annual Holiday Recipe Contest is Diane Keasler of Satsuma, AL. Here is her recipe for a delicious Pecan Wafer Pound cake . It was quite difficult to pick a winner and we had lots of input from many tasters of all ages. Congrats, to our winner and special thanks to all the people who took the time to post their delicious recipes.

Pecan Wafer Pound Cake
1 box vanilla wafers (crush using rolling pin or food processor)
1 cup butter or margarine (softened at room temperature)
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
½ cup milk
1 -7 oz. package flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Grease and flour bundt cake pan.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees

Cream together sugar and butter
Add eggs one at a time – blending well after each egg
Alternate adding milk and vanilla wafer crumbs – blend well after each
Fold in coconut and pecans
Pour batter into pan and bake for 2 hours at 275 degrees.
Allow cake to cool completely before removing from pan.
It's one of my family favorites every holiday! Enjoy!

posted by The Pecan Diva @ 11:11 AM

Chicken Salad with Roasted Tomatoes

Yield: 2 Servings

½ cup pecans, finely chopped and toasted
½ cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons butter
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tablespoons olive oil½ pound cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 cups mixed greens
Red onion slicesCucumber slices
2 ounces blue cheese
Ranch or balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix together pecans, panko, salt, cayenne and black pepper.

Melt butter and oil in ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge chicken in pecan panko mixture. Sauté in skillet until brown on bottom – about 2 minutes. Turn chicken over and place skillet in oven. Bake 15 to 18 minutes until cooked through. Set aside. Slice when cool.

Lower oven temperature to 350°F. Arrange tomatoes on baking sheet and toss with olive oil. Bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

To assemble, divide greens between two plates. Arrange red onion, cucumber, roasted tomatoes and chicken over greens. Top with blue cheese, if desired. Serve with ranch dressing or balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Recipe courtesy of the National Pecan Shellers Association.

posted by The Pecan Diva @ 12:03 PM

Pecan Praline Cheesecake

When I recently came across this recipe for Caramel Pecan Cheesecake in one of my favorite cookbooks, I knew exactly who I would be inviting to share this delicious dessert. My oldest son is a huge cheesecake fan. I knew the combination of his favorite ingredients caramel and pecans; would be hard for him to resist a visit to his momma’s house. How could I resist making this? With pecans, caramel and cheesecake all rolled up into one; there was no way that I could. One thing I really liked about this recipe is that it was so easy to make and turned out so good! The caramel and pecan flavor combo was simply amazing! My son thoroughly enjoyed this cheesecake and I will be sure to make it many times.

Now I would like to share this recipe with you.

Pecan Praline Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 ¼ c. crushed graham crackers
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. pecan meal
½ c. melted butter
24 oz. softened cream cheese
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 (5 1/3 oz.) can evaporated milk
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 ½ c. toasted pecan halves

In small mixing bowl, combine cracker crumbs, granulated sugar and finely chopped pecans. Stir in melted butter. Press in the crumb mixture over the bottom and 1 ½ inches up the sides of a 9 inch spring from pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat together cream cheese, 1 c. brown sugar, evaporated milk, flour, and vanilla. Add eggs; beat just until blended. Pour into baked crust. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Loosen sides and remove from pan. Cool completely; arrange pecan halves atop cheesecake.

Topping:
1 c. dark corn syrup
½ c. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 ½ Tbsp. vanilla

Before serving, combine corn syrup, cornstarch and brown sugar in small saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool slightly. To serve, spoon some of the warm sauce over the pecans on the cheesecake.

posted by The Pecan Diva @ 3:20 PM

Caramel-Pecan Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped pecans


• 1 (18.25-oz.) package yellow cake mix


• 2 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats


• 3/4 cup butter, melted


• 1 (11.5-oz.) package milk or semisweet chocolate morsels


• 25 caramels


• 1 tablespoon water

Preparation

1. Place pecans in a single layer in a 13- x 9-inch pan.
2. Bake at 350° for 4 to 5 minutes or until toasted, stirring occasionally. Remove nuts from pan.
3. Line bottom and sides of pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides; lightly grease foil.
4. Stir together cake mix and oats in a large bowl. Stir in butter with a fork until mixture is crumbly and dry ingredients are moistened. Press half of oat mixture evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate morsels and toasted pecans evenly over oat mixture in pan. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture.
5. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
6. Microwave caramels and 1 Tbsp. water in a microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 minute or until caramels are melted. Drizzle evenly over warm bars in pan. Let cool on a wire rack 1 hour or until completely cool.
7. Lift baked bars from pan, using foil sides as handles. Place on a cutting board, and cut into 24 bars.

Recipe Courtesy of southernliving.com

posted by The Pecan Diva @ 4:37 PM

Tailgating Time

Football……Food…….Fun


September brings cooler weather, beautiful skies and of course football.
Here in the south football season is what we look forward too after summer
vacation. And what would a Saturday of football be like without wonderful food.

If you hit the campus to tailgate or just enjoy watching a game on TV, the
food served is always important. I know everyone has their favorites but
maybe you can try some of our favorites this year.



Ribs with Peach Grilling Sauce

Ribs (2-3 slabs)
Priesters Peach Grilling Sauce
Brush ribs with ½ bottle of Peach Grilling Sauce
Place ribs on a baking pan and bake on 350 degrees
For 30-45 minutes.
Remove ribs and brush the ribs with the remaining Peach Grilling
Sauce and cook on medium on the grill for 20-30 minutes longer.

The ribs will have a wonderful flavor, not spicy but a unique taste.


Baked Potato Salad

6-8 potatoes (baked in the oven until soft)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
Chopped dill pickles (add as many or few as you like)
6-8 pieces of precooked bacon (chop into small pieces)

Take skin off of potatoes and cut up in small pieces, add all other
Ingredients and mix well. You can add more mayonnaise and sour cream
for your taste.




Pecan Shrimp Spread

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 ½ cup chopped boiled shrimp

Mix together all ingredients. Chill
Serve on crackers.




Macaroni Pecan Salad

1/3 cup salt
2 ½ gal. boiling water
3 lbs. elbow macaroni
¾ cup vinegar
1 ½ cup salad oil
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 ½ cup chopped ham
¾ Cheddar cheese strips
1 cup chopped green peppers
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup chopped green onion

Add salt to boiling water. Gradually add macaroni so that water continues to boil.
Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain in a colander. Rinse with cold water and drain again. Chill

In a large bowl, combine vinegar, oil, paprika, salt and pepper; mix well. Add cooked macaroni and toss lightly. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Add ham, cheese, green pepper, pecan and green onions to chilled macaroni. Cover and chill thoroughly to allow flavors to blend. Better if made a day ahead. Serves 20 to 25 people.





Pecan Cheesecake Brownies

1 pkg. Duncan Hines Brownie Mix
2-8oz. pkgs. Cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs (total in recipe)
½ cup water
1 cup chopped pecans

Cheese Layer: Allow cream cheese to soften at room temperature. Mix cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla in small bowl until well blended. Set aside

Brownie layer: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie mix according to chewy fudge package directions. Add pecans to the brownie mix. Spread brownie batter into greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and top evenly with cheese mixture. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

posted by The Pecan Diva @ 4:56 PM