Panko Crusted Cod Fillets

Panko Crusted Cod Fillets
boneless, skinless cod fillets
all-purpose flour
old bay seasoning blend
eggs
milk
panko bread crumbs
oil

Set up a "pane" station - flour, egg and breadcrumb station meant for breading foods.
Have your fish fillets at one end.
Mix together the flour and seasoning and set in one container.
Beat the eggs with a little milk and set in a second container.
Place the panko in a third container.
Have any empty container or tray at the other end for the breaded fish.
I like to use shallow, long containers for pane, especially with fish fillets. This allows you to oat multiple fillets at once time and evenly coats them. It is particularly handy if you have containers with lids. This does take up a lot of counter space, but it the most efficient way to do it.

Place several fillets in the flour and shake to coat the flour to cover the fillets (this is when you can slap a lid on the container and gently shake back and forth. Don't get too crazy though, fish is delicate).
Shake the excess flour off the fillets before placing them in the egg mixture.
Turn the fillets to coat completely in egg (I don't recommend the lid method here).
Allow excess egg to drip off before placing fillets in the panko, and again, shake to coat the fillets with the crumbs, turning them over as needed.
Place fillets on prepared tray.

To cook: Heat the oil in a pan until smoking, then sear fillets (do not crowd them, cook in batches, if needed) on both sides. They will only take a minute or two on each side until they are golden.
Transfer to a baking sheet and finish in the oven until cooked through.

Emerald Mint Truffles

These are secretly healthy truffles – but you won’t even notice. Mint is the prevalent flavor in the truffles, and chocolate in the coating. Most people assume the green color is due to the mint, but these truffles have no food dye in them, they get their color and creamy texture from avocado. Coconut oil and maple syrup are both better-for-you alternatives than butter and refined sugars, but they don’t impart strong flavors of coconut or maple here.

Emerald Mint Truffles

TRUFFLES

¼ cup avocado, well mashed or puréed until smooth

3 Tablespoons coconut oil

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

¼ teaspoon mint (peppermint) extract

CHOCOLATE COATING

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

TRUFFLES: Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Place mixture in the freezer for a few hours until firm. Roll into balls or portion with a small ice cream scoop. Chill until firm. Makes about eight truffles, depending on size.

COATING: Whisk all together well. Use to coat truffles. This makes enough coating for all the truffles, but if you want to show off the green color, make half a batch and leave half the truffles uncoated. 

Breaded Rice Balls

I wanted to make a different kind of starch dish for a side. I was growing tired of potatoes (of any shape, flavor or form) and I didn't want a sauced pasta. Rice sounded good, however I didn't want to go with the typical risotto, pilaf, or steamed rice. So I came up with this rice ball recipe, sort of based off a pommes duchesse recipe that is breaded and fried. They are quite flavorful and crispy on the outside but soft and tender on the inside, and fun and easy to eat. For more flavor, stir some grated cheese such as Parmesan in with the rice or place a small cube of cheese such as mozzarella in the middle. Variations are endless of course, type of rice (brown, wild), type of liquid (broth, coconut milk), herbs and spices, and type of coating (panko, sesame seeds cracker crumbs), and type of cheese or other add-ins (bacon, anyone?). 
I had a little extra rice at the end and breadcrumbs that would not hold in balls, so I placed it in a casserole dish and baked it along with the balls for a more flavorful pilaf-style rice dish.

Breaded Rice Balls
1 tablespoon oil
1 small onion, small dice
2 cups white rice
4 1/2 cups water
salt
garlic powder
ground black pepper
1/4 cup minced chives
2 large eggs
dry breadcrumbs

In a large saucepan, sweat the onion in the oil until translucent. Add the rice and stir for a few minutes until coated with oil. Add in the water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is cooked. Remove lid and allow any excess moisture to evaporate, set aside to cool slightly.
Stir in the garlic, pepper, chives, and eggs, mix well.
Roll the rice into small balls, then coat in the breadcrumbs.
Place rice balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400◦F for about 20 minutes until golden and crispy. They can be spritzed lightly with oil before baking for an extra crispy coating. Alternately, they can be deep-fried. Makes 30-40 golf-ball sized.

Bread Coated Haddock

Pan-fried fish, and haddock in particular, is an old, delicious stand-by. Usually the fish is dipped in a flour and/or egg mixture, then coated in some type of tasty, crispy coating. Breadcrumbs are very popular, as are panko breadcrumbs, crushed cereal, crushed crackers, nuts, and seeds and mixtures with herbs and spices. However, did you ever think of coating the fish (or chicken or pork for that matter) in something different? Have you ever considered using an actual slice of bread, instead of breadcrumbs? I sure hadn't, until I saw it on a cooking show on tv the other day. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If you make your own homemade breadcrumbs, it is less work as the bread doesn't need to be ground into crumbs. It has the same flavor and similar texture. I was intrigued as to whether this idea would really be successful, as it was on the show. So the next time we had haddock, I suggested my father try it.

We used a slice of (gasp) store-bought sandwich bread, which is soft and easy to work with. My father flattened it out, then put it onto the fish. He only placed it on top so it coated one side, then pan-fried it as usual.
The result? Although only one side of the fish is coated, the bread is thicker than a layer of breadcrumbs would be, so it really only needs a single side coating. The other side, which is fried directly in the hot pan, developed a nice sear with a tasty crust. The bread was so crispy and golden and just delicious. Frying flattened bread with fish juices really makes a gourmet version of toast. The only complaints I would have, which could easily be fixed with some alterations, would be that the bread doesn't have as much flavor, as it is not seasoned as breadcrumbs would be. Seasoning the fish, spreading a mixture on the bread, or serving a sauce over top would easily solve this. The second problem is the bread doesn't stick to the fish as well as breadcrumbs would, but we will need to experiment with pre-dipping ingredients to solve this. 

Crispy Cod

Recently we tried a different type of fish for supper. We tried some cod, however, I didn't really want to just use the typical breadcrumb coating we use for pan-fried haddock. Now could we plank it and grill it as we do salmon. After searching through some suggested recipes for cod and other similar fish, and discovering we didn't have cornmeal, cornflakes, or panko bread crumbs on hand, I came up with this, untypical coating - crisp rice cereal. It's similar to using bread crumbs, or cracker crumbs, or crushed cornflakes. So, we tried it. 
The procedure:
cod fillets
all-purpose flour
beaten egg
salt & spices
lightly crushed crisp rice cereal

Dredge the cod fillets in the flour mixed with desired herbs and spices, then the egg, then the cereal. Place on a lined baking pan and bake at 375◦F for 15-25 minutes until cooked through, and fish flakes easily with a fork. The amount of baking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets. Once they are cooked, brush the tops with a little oil or melted butter if desired (or leave plain) and broil them for a minute or two for an extra-crispy top coating.

The result? A nice change from regular breadcrumbs - crispy on the top and a moist coating on the bottom. The flavor was different, but not really reminiscent of breakfast cereal. The coating doesn't have the usually problem of slipping right off either, due to the flour, egg, cereal process. And the flavor may be altered depending on what herbs and spices are added to the flour.

Breaded Chicken Breasts

Breaded Chicken Breasts: A simple, quick, easy, and relatively safe option for supper. They go well with a variety of different side dishes, almost anything goes. Serve them with any kind of vegetables, and pasta, rice, potatoes, or simply bread. Breaded chicken breasts can be baked, pan-fried, deep-fried, sauteed, or broiled. Simply choose the cooking techniques that suits the amount of time you have and the other dishes you are preparing. For a dish this simple, there are actually a surprisingly high number of different recipes for the coating. How many layers should it have? What is the best type of breadcrumbs to use? What else should I add? The way we do our chicken breasts is fairly simple: dip them in a little beaten egg, and roll them in seasoned, dry breadcrumbs. Place them in a casserole dish and bake. That's it! No extra spices, coatings, or preparation techniques.

Common Dredges (the "glue" for the coating) are: egg, water, milk, buttermilk, ketchup, mustard, sauces.
Common Coatings: flour, breadcrumbs, Panko, cracker crumbs, cereal crumbs, chip crumbs.
Common Seasonings (to add to the dredge or the coating): salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, chili powder, basil, chives, mustard, vinegar.Common Toppings: tomato sauce, cheese, ratatouille, salsa.

Some people swear by the three-coating technique ;flour, then egg, the breadcrumbs. We have tried this and found that yes, it does produce a crispier coating, but the coating does not stick to the chicken as well. Some people say to spray the chicken with cooking spray or drizzle with melted butter for a crispier coating, but this does not improve the crispness significantly and increases the fat content in a relatively nutritious dish.