Chicken & Waffles

Southern Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

1 frying chicken, pieces
6 cups vegetable oil
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 eggs

Directions:
1) Heat the oil over medium heat in a deep fryer or in a wide, deep pan on stove.

2) In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, peppers, garlic powder, and paprika.

3) Break the eggs into a separate bowl and beat until blended.

4) Check the oil by dropping in a pinch of the flour mixture, If the oil bubbles rapidly around the flour, it’s ready.

5) Dip each piece of chicken into the egg, then coat generously with the flour mixture.

6) Once the chicken is coated, it should be placed on a rack to allow the pieces to dry, which may take 20 to 30 minutes. Allowing the pieces to dry will provide for more even browning of the chicken.

7) If you are frying in a skillet, heat oil in a heavy skillet over a medium-high burner until the oil is very hot. Place the chicken pieces in the hot oil, skin side down, one piece at a time. Leave enough space between pieces so that they are not crowded. This allows the pieces to cook and brown more evenly.

8) Continue to cook over a medium heat, turning until all sides are golden brown and the meat is cooked thoroughly.

9) As the pieces finish cooking, they should be removed from the pan and placed on a paper towel to allow grease to drain.

Fluffy Waffles

Ingredients:

2 cups of Original Bisquick mix

1 1/3 cups milk

1 egg

2 tables of butter melted

1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions:

1)      Heat waffle iron; grease with spray vegetable oil

2)      Stir ingredients until blended. Pour onto center of hot waffle iron. Close lid of waffle iron.

3)      Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops. Carefully remove waffle and serve with maple syrup.

 

One of our favorite meals is Chicken and Waffles. Believe me, it is as delicious as it looks. A picture is worth a thousand words. Thanks for dining with the Danforth’s.

 

No Kids Allowed

I just had an amazing dining experience at Dragonfly Sushi. The ambiance was enjoyable, the service was impeccable, and the food was incredible. This restaurant is definitely on my top five list for Gainesville, FL. If you live in Gainesville, or if you are in the area and you want a go to a restaurant that will give you a dining experience then this is the place for you. And please do not take your kids. Now let me explain, I have been to restaurants that appear to be kid friendly, but they have small restaurants, no changing tables, and a kids menu with nothing but friend junk food. That is somewhere that I would say, NEVER TAKE YOUR KIDS. No, Dragonfly is a beautiful restaurant that you would not want to take your kids. This is the type of relaxing atmosphere that you want to have only intelligent, adult conversation. They serve food that makes you want to savor each bite. Trust me, don’t take your kids. One of my theories of a great dining experience is that you first dine with your eyes. I have included some of the options that we chose. I hope that you take this recommendation, and be sure to come back and let us know what you think. And as always, thank you for dining with the Danforth’s. Cheers!

 

Red Lobster

One of my mother’s favorite restaurants is Red Lobster, and growing up as a kid it was a treat to dine at this restaurant. Shrimp, crab and lobster are what we call great eating. I remember how excited I would be to see this bright red lobster coming to our table and hot golden butter. The market had lobster tails on sale yesterday so I decided to prepare some dinner. Now I have to tell you that cooking lobster at home seemed to be a little intimidating, but it is easier than you think. Having a restaurant quality meal at home, is always a challenge that I am willing to take on. Check this out recipe; I think my mom would be proud.

Clarified Lemon Butter

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 lemons, zested

Directions:
In a small, heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat. Pour the mixture into a 2-cup glass measuring jug. Let the melted butter stand for 5 minutes. Using a spoon, remove the foam from the top of the butter. Place the lemon zest in small bowl. Pour the clarified butter over the lemon zest and discard the milk solids left in the bottom of the jug.

 

Tender Lobster Tails

Ingredients:
4 large lobster tails (8 ounces each)
Clarified Lemon Butter
Salt, Garlic Powder
Seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay Seasoning

Directions:
Preheat broiler. With kitchen shears or large, sharp knife; cut lobster tails down back on curved side of shell. Pry sides of shells apart to expose meat. Top meat with the seasonings and brush with the clarified butter. Set lobster tails in a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and broil 4 to 6 inches from heat for 12 minutes, until meat is opaque in center.

Enjoy this delicious lobster tail with a loaded baked potato, haricot verte, and a dinner roll. This restaurant style dinner was definitely a palette pleaser at the Danforth dinner table.

I hope your family will enjoy this meal as well, and as always we thank you for dining with the Danforths.

 

 

 

Fall Frenzy

It is officially fall, the 1^st day of October. The kids are back in school and you are finally starting to get back in the routine of school, work, after school activities, etc. You are probably thinking what can I make for dinner tonight that won’t take up too much time. Well do I have a treat for you; a delicious spaghetti dinner with a twist, literally.

What’s for Dinner?

Spaghetti Bread and Sautéed Asparagus

Ingredients

• 1 can of pizza dough
• 6 ounces spaghetti cooked
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce
• 1 lb of cooked ground beef or turkey
• 8 ounces mozzarella shredded
• Olive oil
• 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon parsley
• Fresh Asparagus
• Kosher Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder (Seasonings)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Roll out your loaf into a rectangle
3. Combine the spaghetti, sauce, and ground beef all together.
4. Place cooked spaghetti mixture lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down the center of dough and top with the mozzarella.
5. Make cuts 1 1/2-inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2 -inch of filling and braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.
6. Place braid on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Brush braid with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and parsley. Bake for 35 minutes.
7. While the bread is baking, heat olive oil in a skillet. Then add the asparagus and the seasonings. Cook until tender, remove from heat immediately to serve.

This is a very easy and delicious meal that your family will really enjoy. We love to hear from our readers, so be sure to come back and let us know how you enjoyed this meal. And as always thanks for dining with the Danforths.

DIY Restaurant Entree

What’s for Dinner?

Fish Piccatta w/ Lemon Butter Pasta

&

Sautéed Asparagus w/ Sun Dried Tomatoes

 

Wait, before you get intimidated by the name of this entrée, let me tell you that the recipe is very easy. Who said that you couldn’t have a restaurant quality dinner at home? This meal is a great option to feed your family or have an incredible dinner when you have guest coming over.  And the best part is you can prepare this meal in less than 30 minutes. Yes, you heard correctly; 30 MINUTES. I know that you will enjoy this recipe, and please come back to let us know how you enjoyed.

Ingredients: (Fish Piccatta)

Spaghetti Noodles
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 pieces of white fish fillets (such as tilapia)
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and garlic powder
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup white wine
2 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Ingredients: (Sautéed Asparagus w/Sun Dried Tomatoes)

Bundle of fresh asparagus

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of sun dried tomatoes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garlic powder

Directions:

Get a large pot filled with water, bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add salt and the spaghetti, cook until tender. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. While the pan is heating, blot the fish dry with paper towels and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Dredge in the flour, shaking off any excess. Sauté the fish in the oil until just cooked through, about 4 minutes, flipping halfway through.

While the fish is cooking, heat a smaller skillet with olive oil. Add the asparagus, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook the asparagus until tender and they are bright green.  Add the sundried tomatoes to heat, remove immediately to serve.

Remove the fish to a platter. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, whisking for about 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and capers and stir. Add the butter and stir to bring the sauce together. Drain the water from pasta, plate, and add the fish with the sauce. Add the asparagus and viola!

Enjoy, and thanks for dining with the Danforth’s.

The Danforth’s in Gainesville

Well friends, we have finally gotten settled in here in Gainesveille, FL. God has expanded us and we are looking for great things to happen here in Florida. And of course in Danforth style we have begun checking out the restaurants here in town. I don’t have my girlfriends here to hang out with, so I have had a lot of time to try and create new recipes. You all are in for a great treat with some incredible recipes that will definitely be a palette pleaser.

In my effort to find some fresh ingredients we have had the opportunity to visit some great farmers markets here in town. So, after a Wednesday evening visit to the downtown farmers market, my family and I continued walking downtown to a really good restaurant called Harry’s Seafood Bar & Grill. This New Orleans flare restaurant made a lasting impression on us.

Our dinner consisted of:

Warm Bread with tasty garlic butter

She Crab Soup a traditional southern creamy crab bisque with a hint of sherry

Shrimp-n-Grits a Louisiana style with cajun red eye gravy, diced bacon & creamy sweet corn grits

Fried White Fish served with southern style red beans and rice & collard greens slow cooked with smoked ham and cajun sausage

 

Now if you think this sounds good, you should see the rest of the menu. To say the least we will definitely be returning to this restaurant. So to our new Gainesville friends, if you haven’t tried out Harry’s you should definitely put this restaurant on your dining list. And keep on the watch for the Danforth’s we are excited to be dining in your town. And to our faithful friends that have been following us from the beginning, we are looking forward to adding more restaurants for you to visit as you travel. And as always we are glad you came to dine with the Danforth’s.

“Making Room for a little Double D”

Do you have a little sweet tooth? We have a great recipe for a little Double D, “delicious dessert”. Brian and I were raiding the pantry in search for something that we could make into a dessert. We pulled out a few ingredients we had in the pantry and created a delicious dessert, Banana Foster Shortcake. It was pretty quick to make and let me tell you it was “close your eyes and let me savor the flavors” good. Try it out and come back to let us know what you think. We look forward to hearing back from you all, and always, thanks for dining with the Danforth’s.

 

Banana Foster Shortcake

Ingredients:

2 1/3  cups Original Bisquick mix

1/2  cup milk

3 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

2 whole bananas (slice)

¼ cup of brown sugar

5 tsp. butter

Vanilla bean ice cream

Directions:

• Heat oven to 425°F.
• In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, 3 tablespoons sugar and the butter until soft dough forms. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by 6 spoonfuls.
• 3 Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
• When shortcakes are done, set aside to cool. Then melt butter in a skillet, add brown sugar and sliced bananas.
• Mixed together to cover bananas with brown sugar and melted butter.
• Split warm shortcakes; scoop ice cream onto the shortcake and spoon the banana foster on top.

20nine Restuarant & Wine Bar

Thinking of your plans for this weekend? Solution: 20nine Restaurant & Wine Bar. Leave the men at home with the kids and ladies head over to the Quarry Market for a terrific dining experience. Some of my girlfriends and I had the pleasure of enjoying an evening of laughter and delicious food at this restaurant. The service was great, the presentation was remarkable, and the taste was impeccable. Now of course we all tried a different entrée so we can taste test multiple dishes, and let me tell you, everything was great. Even the warm sourdough bread! And putting all dress sizes aside, you know I am a bread connoisseur. Now those of you who pleasures in the fruit of the vine, they have created an experience called Road Trip to tickle your taste buds, you will have to visit the restaurant to get more details. 😉

We started our meal off with:

Crispy Calamari with Creole Dipping Sauce and Parmesan

Then Our Entrees:

Beef Medalions

 

 

 

 

 

Fish Tacos with a Mango Salsa

 

 

 

 

Shrimp & Grits with Jumbo Scallops and Prosciutto

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken Cordon Bleu & Rice Waffle with Asparagus

Angel Hair Pasta and Meatballs

For ladies night, I only recommend the finest restaurants. After wearing your super woman hat all week, you deserve only the best. So slip on a pair of heels and grab your girlfriends for a night on the town. You all can enjoy this spring Texas weather by dining outdoors on their patio, or delight in the relaxing ambiance and beautiful décor inside. I promise you will definitely have a great time at this restaurant. Kudos to the servers, cooks, and management team at 20nine Restaurant & Wine Bar! And as always we love to hear back from our readers, so be sure to come back and let us know how you enjoyed this restaurant. Thanks for Dining with the Danforth’s or shall I say Lady Danforth. 😉

 

 

Meal Makeover

Too Often we buy groceries, come home to make a meal and the next day you are either back to the drawing board trying to figure out what to make for dinner; or if you have leftovers then you no longer have a taste for that particular dish. Well, I have a few tricks that will help you make two meals out of one.

Grocery List:

• Spaghetti Noodles
• Favorite Spaghetti Sauce
• Ground Beef
  
• Fresh mozzarella balls
• Hoagie Rolls
• Sliced Swiss Cheese
• Romain Lettuce
• Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Croutons
• Caesar Salad
• Kraft Parmesan Cheese
• Russet Potatoes

Day 1: Spaghetti and Meatballs, Caesar Salad, and Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

Ground Beef

Fresh mozzarella Balls

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Power

1 Egg

Spaghetti Noodles

Spaghetti Sauce

Directions:

• In a large bowl combine your ground beef, seasonings, and egg. Mix together well with your hand. Begin to make medium-sized meatballs with your meat mixture. Once you have all of your meatballs rolled. Make a little hole in the center, place two mozzarella balls in the center and close the whole with the meat.
• Place each meatball on a sprayed cookie sheet about an inch apart and bake on 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until the meatballs are brown.
• In a large pot begin to boil your noodles.
• In a sauce pan pour your spaghetti sauce in and add the seasonings to the sauce, let is simmer on low while your noodles and meatballs finish cooking.
• When meatballs are down let them rest for 3 minutes, then add them to your sauce.
• Meanwhile add your dinner rolls to the oven to warm and mix your salad together.
• Once everything is prepared plate your meal and serve.

Voila! You now have a terrific Spaghetti and Meatballs meal. Now your family should be raving about how wonderful the meal was and you should have leftover sauce and meatballs, so you are wondering what to do with them. Well I have the solution!

Day 2: Meatball Subs and Parmesan Potato Chips

Ingredients:

Hoagie Rolls

Leftover Sauce & Meatballs

Sliced Swiss Cheese

Russet Potatoes (Sliced)

Kraft Parmesan Cheese

Canola Oil

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat some canola oil for frying. Add your sliced potatoes and cook them until they are light brown on both sides and they begin to float on top.
• Once the potatoes are done, immediately pat some of the oil off with a paper towel and then add a sprinkle of salt and Kraft Parmesan Cheese
• While your potato chips are cooking, reheat your sauce and meatballs on the stove on a low heat to simmer.
• Once your potato chips are done, take your hoagie rolls add some of the meatballs and sauce, and then add the slices of swiss cheese.

Plate your items, serve and enjoy this incredible meal with your family. I hope that you all find this little meal makeover to be easy and delicious. Be sure to come back and let us know how you enjoyed it. And remember you are always welcome to dine with the Danforth’s.

Spring Fling

Spring Salads

Spring is definitely here. The flowers are blooming, the weather is warm, and we all have a little extra pep in our steps. Which means you are probably not in the mood for a heavy meal; well do I have the perfect solution for you. Spring salads are great because not only does it take only a short time to prepare, but they are easy, and delicious.

Now most of you all know Brian is a southern man to the heart, and he wants MEAT. He wants every meal to be hearty and filling. But, last night I made a Grilled Chicken Spring Fling Salad and he lavished me with compliments on how good it was and he was stuffed. So ladies, if you want to make a salad and not sure if your family will be satisfied, give this little recipe a try.

 

Grilled Chicken Spring Fling Salad

Ingredients:

Mixed Green Salad Mix

Fresh Spinach

Chopped Tomatoes

1 Cucumber Chopped

2 Strips of bacon crumbled (optional)

1 Nectarine sliced

4 Strawberries sliced

Feta Cheese Crumbles

Salad Dressing: Raspberry Vinaigrette

2 Chicken Breast

Olive Oil

Seasonings: Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

 

Directions:

 

• In a skillet, heat some olive oil. Season your chicken breast with the recommended seaonsings. Cook on both sides for about 5 minutes or until brown. **Notes: Feel free to slice the chicken a little to make sure it is not pink on the inside.**
• While your chicken is cooking, begin mix in all of your salad ingredients.
• Once your chicken is cooked, set aside to rest for a few minutes. Then slice your chicken and layer on top of chicken and serve.

Well, I hope you all find this to be a great meal. When you try it out, come back and let us know how you enjoyed it. And as always, you are always welcome to dine with the Danforth’s.