"Off-Site" Dinner Review

[cjs]

Another great pick from 400 cal. Fix – Almond Beef Kebabs




And, this morning Lorraine shared a picture of zucchini fries on facebook that I played with
Using my old standby coating for catfish/chicken. The coating didn’t stay on so well, but they were wonderful!! Will do both these dishes again.



I would highly recommend this book for a few healthy meals thrown into our [Email]C@H[/Email] recipes.
400 Calorie Fix by Liz Vaccariello. Have not had a bad dish yet!

Forgot to mention for wine drinkers - we tasted late harvest chenin blanc and a 14 Hands, Hot to Trot and both were really good with this dinner.

[Gourmet_Mom]

Sounds good, Jean. I'll have to check into that book. We sure could use it! LOL!

[Mare749]

Thank you, Jean, for the recommendation. I love that book. Why am I not using it???

[cjs]

Why indeed!!

[Lorraine]

Looks great, Jean. Is your standard coating recipe in one of "The Books"?

[labradors]

Now, this is a different one. I've seen walnuts, pistachios, cashews and peanuts in some things of this nature, but it's the first time I've seen almonds used this way and they look and sound great. Please post that recipe, if you would.

[cjs]

Yes, Lorraine thanks for asking. It's in a Chef's Journey Home, page 101 and here it is:

Oven-Fried Catfish or Chicken breading
and now breading for oven-fried zucchini

Coating:
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
pepper

----
Lab's it really is a great combo. It's a long one, so I'll type it up later this morning.

[Lorraine]

Thanks, Jean, I hope to make them tonight.

[cjs]

You're welcome,Lorraine - hope you like them as much as we did. Oooops, forgot to thank you for sharing this on facebook!

Here you go Labs -

Almond Beef Kebabs
400 Cal. Fix book – 4 servings

1 lg. egg white, lightly beaten
1 T. grated fresh ginger
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
2 T. hoisin sauce
1 lb. beef tenderloin, cut into 16 equal cubes
2 T. reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 T. seasoned rice vinegar
1 T. honey
1 T. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. red-pepper flakes
¼ cup unsalted roasted almonds
3 T. panko
4 scallions, trimmed & each cut into 4 pieces
4 cherry tomatoes

Combine the egg white, ginger, salt, black pepper and 1 T. of the hoisin in a bowl.
Add the beef cubes and toss well.
Marinate for 30 min.

Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and remaining 1 T. of hoisin sauce; set aside.

Preheat oven to 425° Coat a b. sheet and wire rack with cooking spray.

Toast the almonds (if not already) and grind in a processor until finely ground
Transfer to a large plate and add the panko.
Alternately thread 4 beef cubes and 4 scallion pieces onto each of the 4 skewers.
Working with one at a time, roll each skewer in the almond mixture, coating lightly.
Spoon the mixture over each to coat.

Set the skewers on the rack on the baking sheet and top the end of each skewer with 1 tomato.

Bake for 18-20 min. until lightly browned and the beef is cooked to the desired doneness. Drizzle with the reserved hoisin mixture (not the marinade) and serve.

Note: 18-20 min. too long for me – I cooked for 14 min. and next time I’ll do 10 min.

[labradors]

Now THAT sounds right up my street, Jean. Two questions:

First, how salty is this, over all? There's no such thing as low-sodium soy sauce, here, so I'll have to adjust for the difference.

Second, since you've handled these already, how well do you think they would do on a grill? To me, kebabs almost MEAN grilling, so I'd probably want to put these onto a grill, rather than into an oven, unless it just won't work at all with the almonds.

Thanks!