Weekend Cooking: 5 Ingredient Fix
Claire Robinson, the host of Food Network’s 5 Ingredient Fix has created a wonderful cookbook of the same name. After a short introduction, which includes a list of items – cooking equipment, knives, small wares, small appliances, supplies and basic food items – Robinson gets right to the heart of the matter – the recipes. The recipes are divided into breakfast items, cocktails and nibbles, appetizers, soups and salads, entrées, vegetables, pastas and potatoes, and desserts. There’s a handy index as well as a menu planner in the back of the book. I really like the large pages (with the ingredients listed across the top) and the beautiful, color photographs in the book.
We tried three of the recipes from 5 Ingredient Fix: Easy, Elegant and Irresistible Recipes and found them all easy to prepare. The instructions are clear and concise and the recipes don’t require a lot of fancy ingredients. I enjoyed all three recipes, but Carl said he’d fry (we baked it) the Buttermilk Pecan Chicken next time and Vance said he wouldn’t fix the Cheesy Penne again. (I don’t think he cared for the Dijon mustard it contained, but I did.) The Millionaire’s Shortbread was delicious with it’s shortbread, caramel and chocolate layers. There are several other recipes I want to try in this cookbook, such as Roasted Tomato-Bread Soup, Brussels Sprouts Gratin, and Nutty Green Beans with Blue Cheese and Bacon. This book would make a wonderful gift for a cook in your life!
Buttermilk Pecan Chicken and Cheesy Penne
Millionaire's Shortbread
Here’s the recipe for the Buttermilk Pecan Chicken:
Four 8-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup toasted pecans
1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Place each chicken breast between two pieces of plastic wrap and gently flatten it with a meat mallet or heavy, flat object to an even 1/3-inch thick.
Marinate the chicken in buttermilk for 1 hour in refrigerator.
In a food processor, pulse the pecans and panko together until fine. Transfer the mixture to a large rimmed dish.
Remove the marinated chicken breasts from the buttermilk and shake off any excess. Dip the chicken in the breading mixture, evenly coating both sides.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Working in two batches, add the breaded chicken breasts and shallow fry 4 to 5 minutes on each side until golden in color. Remove them from oil and drain on a paper towel lined plate; season with salt and pepper immediately and serve.
Note: If you’d rather bake the chicken breasts, place them on a lightly greased baking dish and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 375º.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.
Oooh, I love the sound of the shortbread.
I’m not much one for pecans but that cheesy penne is looking like it might be my sort of thing!
I wrote my review yesterday but haven’t posted yet. Beautiful book, isn’t it? I’m not sure how many recipes I’ll try but the one I plan to is the spaghetti squash one. One thing that surprised me is that although there are only 5 ingredients to a recipe some of them seemed a little complicated – but maybe that’s just me, lol.
Chicken looks delish, and I LOVE shortbread.
THANKS.
I love cooking with pecans. There is a recipe I do for pork chops that is similar (and I do bake it). I like the idea of five ingredients, but I would probably have the urge to spiff it up with some extra stuff. I’m going to see if my library has this.
Wow I like the sound of all of these dishes. The mustard with the penne sounds good to me (sorry, Vance). I bet I’d use this book on busy week nights.
Looks like a good book to add to one’s cookbook collection. The Buttermilk Pecan Chicken sounds yummy.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Too funny! I just made the buttermilk pecan chicken on Friday night! I also baked it instead of frying it. Great minds think alike.
Five ingredients – I love it! The chicken looks delicious… will try it this week. Thanks.
These both sound and look good. I had borrowed the 3 Ingredient Cookbook from the library one time, and though the recipes were simple, I wasn’t thrilled with any that I tried.
I love millionaire’s shortbread! The combination of caramel and chocolate on top of shortbread is divine.
NOW that’s what I love! This is what I wait for all week… your concoctions from the Recipe books being displayed and that Millionaire shortbread makes my mouth water! Hmmmm time to go to the pastry shop
Going to look out for this book next.
I think my mom would appreciate this book. Thanks for mentioning it here, Kathy!
This sounds like a good cookbook! Definitely worthy of gift giving!
I have this book and really like it so far! One of my favorites is the Curried Pumpkin Soup. I add about a cup of coconut milk to it, and it is truly a taste of fall!
HI there, I was wondering if you could let me know the ingredients on the curried pumpkin soup please… Thank you in advance!
I really like 5 Ingredient Fix, mostly because I like recipes that only have a few ingredients in them – I’m a simple cook most of the time.
The Millionaire’s Shortbread looks soooooo good.
This sounds interesting. Might be a good book to get the kids cooking. yummy looking chicken.
ps. at the race most of the food was eaten.
I’ve had my eye on that 5 ingredient book. I would love to see the casseroles and desserts. Nice book and revies.
I like the idea of only 5 ingredients and your creations look great!!
mmm that looks delicious! I should go pick up this book. I’m a terrible cook, but I think I can manage with just five ingredients.
What a great review! I need to review another cookbook one of these days. The chicken looks delicious and the dessert looks quite good!
Sounds like a great cookbook for busy weeknights! Will have to give this one a try
The buttermilk pecan chicken sounds good! This looks like a great book, although with my husband and daughter going vegan, it would only be for me
From just looking at the pics you posted, this looks like a great book! That millionaire shortbread looks scrumptious. And the recipe for the chicken couldn’t seem easier – I’m always looking for poultry recipes so I’ll definitely try this one.
I love that you made three of these recipes because by doing it that way, you really get a good feel for the cookbook and if it’s going to work for you. The cheesy penne looks really good and like something my family would love. I also like the sound and look of that chicken. I recently cooked a really good entree out of the I Hate to Cook Cookbook, and am going to be posting about it soon. I am loving trying new things and it’s nice to have a lot to choose from. Great post, Kathy! Can I come over for dinner the next time you review a cookbook?
The Millionaire’s shortbread looks divine! In fact I’m hungry just looking at it.
The Pecan Chicken looks so good! I am always looking for easy yet delicious recipes!
The chicken sounds right up my alley, especially if it’s baked. Thanks for the review!
I like cheesy noodles so I’m sure I’d like the dijon too. My husband is going to be trying out a new homemade mac-n-cheese recipe next week and I’m really looking forward to it.
Yum…looks awesome, I’ll try the chicken recipe, looks easy enough.
This is a book that’s on my holiday wish list for myself. I need really simple recipes. I get lost in those long instructions..and then the food tastes terrible.
Those recipes sound yummy! I watch this show sometimes on the Food Network, so I’m definitely thinking of adding this cookbook to my collection.
The shortbread sounds yummy (of course I would notice the dessert first). I have a cookbook from the library at home..hope to participate within the next couple of weeks with one of those recipes.
That cookbook sounds great. One thing that turns me off is the huge list of ingredients needed in a dish. This one looks like something for me.
How could the millionaire shortbread not be good? lol
I like Claire Robinson…I watch her show sometimes.
This chicken recipe looks so easy to do, plus it sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing.
I have this one to review as well, but it didn’t really appeal to me on first glance. I’m going to have to take a closer look at it!
I love simple recipes that don’t have too many ingredients so this cookbook would be perfect for me!