CRISPY COCONUT CHICKEN

I forgot how awful the picture was for this recipe! I just made it for a banquet this weekend too, and should have snapped a new picture of it for the blog. Oh well, next time.
I get asked for this recipe all the time. It's so delicious, moist, sweet. A real keeper! This recipe is already posted here on my blog, in the Hawaiian section, but very few can find it. So I decided to bring it to the front for those that asked about it this weekend. You can also use this same recipe to coat shrimp.

CRISPY COCONUT CHICKEN FINGERS

1 cup Angel Flake Coconut
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1" strips
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter or margarine

Dipping Sauce

1 cup apricot preserves
2T Dijon mustard

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix coconut, flour, salt, pepper and garlic pwder in medium bowl. Dip chicken strips into egg, then coat with coconut mixture. Place in a shallow baking pan; drizzle with melted butter. Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through, turning once. Serve with Apricot Dipping Sauce (mixture of apricot preserves and Dijon mustard) or Honey mustard.

Rice pilaf with Macadamia nuts

Yesterday, we had the leftover Island pork that my daughters & daughter in law made for the banquet they catered on Friday night. It was yummy, but I was anxious to taste the sauce when it was freshly made. So tonight I made the chicken version! Island chicken. It's the same recipe as the Island pork, but you use chicken in place of the pork!

Here it is fresh out of the oven. I used leg & thigh quarters w/ skin on. I loved the taste of this! A couple of things I might change next time though are: to use boneless, skinless chicken breasts, instead of skin on dark meat. I also might cut down on the brown sugar just a tad. If you like the sweet Asian dishes, then leave it just like it is. For me personally, I just thought it could have had a bit less of a sweet taste. I have to be honest and tell you that my "meat and potatoes" hubby said this is a "chick dish!" haha He ate 3 pieces, and even said it was good. But he more prefers the Szechuan style (hotter dishes) of Asian cooking, as opposed to the sweet dishes. Still a VERY YUMMY dish. I drizzled the sauce over the rice and WOWZERS was it ever good! I absolutely LOVED the crunch of the macadamia nuts in the rice!!


Rice Pilaf with Macadamia nuts

Ingredients
1/3 cup (1/6 lb.) butter or margarine
3/4 cup (4 oz.) salted roasted macadamia nuts, very coarsely chopped
1 onion (1/2 lb.), chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 2/3 cups short- or medium-grain white rice
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Procedure
1. In a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add the macadamia nuts and stir until slightly darker brown, about 3 minutes. Scrape from pan into small bowl and set aside.
2. Add remaining butter, onion, and garlic to pan. Stir often over medium-high heat until onion is limp, about 5 minutes.
3. Add rice and stir often until grains turn opaque, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the broth and pepper. Heat to a simmer. Pour the mixture into a shallow 2 1/2- to 3-quart casserole; cover tightly.
5. Bake in a 375° oven until rice is tender to bite, 40 to 45 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with nuts and parsley. Give it a stir and serve immediately.

ISLAND PORK

I have Arlene to thank for this one!! I was scheduled to cater a sweetheart banquet this past weekend. I was so excited to have another event to cater! Then wouldn't you know it, I was laid up for 2 solid weeks with a sprained back! PAINFUL! So the task fell to my precious daughters and daughter in law. I sent my recipes and notes with them and didn't have a worry in the world that they wouldn't be able to accomplish it. And do you know, they didn't call me even ONE time to ask for help! The nerve! haha Anyway, I digress. I had posted a few months ago about an international dinner we had at our church. I hosted a Hawaiian table, and made all Hawaiian recipes. Arlene then wrote and told me about a delicious dish that her Pastor's wife from Japan used to make, called Island chicken. I made a mental note to try it sometime. As this banquet approached, I began putting the menu together. When I heard it was a Luau theme, I went back to my old post to read again and was reminded of Arlene's chicken recipe. I had found pork roast on sale for .99 / lb and purchased it ahead of time with the intention of making some sort of pulled pork. I began to roll around the idea of using pork in place of the chicken in the recipe. So I purchased the ingredients and sent the girls off with a brand new recipe that I hadn't even tried myself yet! Why do I do that to myself? It just sounded like a real winner! Nothing in it sounded weird or yucky. They all came back with rave reviews about it. And Arlene you were right - my son said, as soon as he walked into the building he could smell this wonderful Asian food aroma! They said it just wafted everywhere! I made them promise to bring back some left overs so I could try it. That's on the menu for Sunday dinner tomorrow! ISLAND PORK 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 Tbs. cornstarch 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 tsp. minced ginger 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 Tbs. vinegar 1 Tbs. oil 1 lg. can pineapple chunks, drained 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 green pepper, sliced into strips 3 lbs. Pork roast Mix first 7 ingredients together. Stir in fruit and veggies. Place pork in 13x9" dish. Pour sauce evenly over top. Cover and bake @ 375 for 3 - 4 hours or until internal temp reaches 220° Baste pork occasionally. You want the pork to fall away from the bone, so you can shred it. Serve over rice. Remove meat from bones and shred with forks. Pour sauce over meat and keep warm until serving time. You can serve it immediately, but letting it sit for a while makes a world of difference!

TROPICAL DREAM CAKE

A friend gave me this recipe about 10 years ago and it has been a real "keeper!" This cake is SO moist! The pineapple syrup just sinks down into the holes in the cake and it soaks in and wow... you have to try it to believe it! It's kind of like a "poke" cake, but BETTER!

TROPICAL DREAM CAKE

1 white cake mix + ingredients to prepare it

1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple w/ juice
1 cup brown sugar
cinnamon

1 lg instant vanilla pudding + ingredients to prepare it
1 large Cool Whip
Optional: Shredded coconut

Bake white cake according to pkg directions. While cake bakes, make the syrup. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the crushed pineapple w/ juice, brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Cook over med heat until it boils. Simmer until it thickens a bit. Poke holes all over baked cake with handle of wooden spoon. Pour the pineapple syrup mixture slowly and evenly all over the top of the cake, making sure it sinks into the holes. Smooth it over evenly with the back of the spoon. Prepare instant vanilla pudding according to pkg directions. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to thicken a bit. Pour evenly over top of cake and spread smoothly with back of spoon. Chill completely in fridge. Spread Cool Whip evenly over entire cake. If desired, top with shredded coconut. If you aren't a fan of coconut, then garnish it with sprinkles of cinnamon.

HAWAII - International Dinner

Have you ever been involved in an International Dinner? They are SO much fun! We have one every year during our Missions Conference. This year, we had a table decorating contest along with it. It was neat to see the people go all out on their tables. We are starting to have as many men involved in it, as we do ladies. And that's exciting! This year, I chose Hawaii. It's not a different country, but it is certainly a different culture. I had fun. I didn't win the table contest, but it wouldn't look very fair if the preacher's wife won, now would it? haha

The first recipe I want to share with you is the Volcano punch. That is the purple liquid on the end of the table there, it's in a clam shaped bowl. It was to die for!! I only bought enough to make 2 punch bowls full, and people were waiting in line for it. It was so different and so good. You simply MUST try it at your next function!

VOLCANO PUNCH

3 cans frozen fruit punch concentrate
1 64oz-can pineapple juice
1 can cream of coconut
2 2-Liters ginger ale
ice cubes

In a large punch bowl add the 3 cans of frozen fruit punch concentrate. Keep one of the empty frozen juice cans. Fill the can with water 6 times and add to punch bowl. Add pineapple juice, one bottle of ginger ale, and ice cubes then stir. Then add as much of the 2nd bottle of ginger ale as possible leaving at least 3 inches from the rim of the punch bowl and stir again. Pour in the can of cream of coconut on top. Will serve 40-70 people.

* I didn't have a punch bowl big enough to make the entire batch at once, so made it 1/2 at a time.

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I flew solo on my table this year, so didn't get a good pic of it before all the dishes of food got set on it. But you get the idea.

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The next recipe is Hawaiian Shrimp - and man alive were they ever good! I will definitely be making these again. These are the kabobs that you see in the light blue bowl. My dh grilled these for me, but next time, I'll just do them under the broiler. They are quick and easy!

HAWAIIAN SHRIMP

2 lbs fresh shrimp -- peeled & deveined
40 ounces pineapple chunks in juice -- canned (RESERVE JUICE!)
1/2 lb bacon slices -- cut in 2" pieces
2 red peppers -- cut in 1" pieces
1/2 lb mushroom caps
1 pint cherry tomatoes
8 ounces sweet and sour sauce
16 skewers

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Combine vegetables with shrimp on skewers
and place in shallow pan. Mix sweet-and-sour sauce with reserved pineapple
juice and pour over kabobs. Grill or broil kabobs for 3 to 4 minutes on each
side or until cooked. Baste often with sauce. Super easy!

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The next one is Crispy coconut chicken. This turned out so delicious! It was a favorite on the table and several ladies asked me for the recipe. You can also use this same recipe to coat shrimp.

CRISPY COCONUT CHICKEN FINGERS

1 cup Angel Flake Coconut
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1" strips
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter or margarine

Dipping Sauce

1 cup apricot preserves
2T Dijon mustard

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix coconut, flour, salt, pepper and garlic pwder in medium bowl. Dip chicken strips into egg, then coat with coconut mixture. Place in a shallow baking pan; drizzle with melted butter. Bake 25 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through, turning once. Serve with Apricot Dipping Sauce (mixture of apricot preserves and Dijon mustard) or Honey mustard.

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I know I already showed this pic, but the Tropical Muffins are in the pic too. You can barely see them in the background in the wire basket. I made mini muffins out of them, so they would go farther. The recipe calls for baking in a bread pan, you can do that if you choose, or do muffins, it is entirely up to you. They are so moist and yummy! One of the men that was there asked if I would mind if he took the leftovers home "to his wife." haha I gladly let him.
This one would be great for gift giving - bake it in mini bread pans.

TROPICAL NUT BREAD

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 (8 1/4 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)*
1/3 cup orange juice (using one of the Dole 100% juice mixes is good, too...especially the orange, mango, peach)*
1/2 cup butter (you can half the amount of butter and add 1/4 cup applesauce to lower fat)*
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped macadamia nuts (walnuts or pecans or no nuts at all work also)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 1 lb loaf pan *(or 3-4 mini loaf pans). Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Combine pineapple, banana, and orange juice and set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add a small amount of the flour mixture alternately with the fruit mixture, mixing only enough to moisten the flour. Stir in the nuts and pour batter into pan(s). Bake for 1 hr and 15 minutes *(check mini loaves after 35 minutes). Note: This bread is much better after a day or two.

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This last one is Wiki Wiki Coconut Cake. Wiki Wiki means "quick quick." So next time you want your kids to move it, say "Wiki Wiki" to them and see what they do! haha This one was soooooo moist and delicious! Wow! I made it the night before so it would have time to sit and get all happy with the toppings that were poured over it! Mmm! A real keeper!

WIKI WIKI COCONUT CAKE

1 White cake mix (with ingredients listed on back of box)
1 (16 oz) pineapple w/ juice
1 C. Brown sugar
1 Tblsp Cinnamon
1 can coconut milk
1 Lg. Instant Vanilla pudding
1 (12 oz) Cool whip
1 cup shredded flaked coconut


Bake cake according to pkg. directions. Poke holes in cake and set aside. In saucepan, over med. - high heat, combine the pineapple with juice, brown sugar, 1 Tblsp. of cinnamon and 1 cup of coconut milk. Heat until bubbly and pour evenly over top of cake. Mix pudding according to pkg. directions and pour evenly over top of cake. Cool completely and spread cool whip over top. Sprinkle generously with coconut flakes. ENJOY!