KFC Bean Salad

Recipe Ingredient

1 16-oz can green beans (Blue Lake or some good quality)

1 16-oz can wax beans

1 16-oz can kidney beans

1 medium green pepper, sliced and chopped

1 medium-sized white onion sliced and cut up

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Drain and rinse kidney beans well. Drain additional beans and combine all ingredients together. Marinate and refrigerate overnight. Bean salad tastes better after 3 or 4 days.

Makes about 7 cups.

Harley Davidson Cafe Harley Hog Sandwich

In late September 1997, the Harley Davidson Cafe celebrated its grand opening in Las Vegas. This is the second Harley Davidson Cafe, with the first one located in New York City, just a short walk from the first Planet Hollywood. Both locations serve up some delicious "road food" amongst the awesome collection of vintage Harley's and Harley Davidson paraphernalia.

I think this sandwich is one of their best, and this recipe comes right from the source. The Pork Producers Council got the recipe from the cafe's chef, and featured it in a promotional pull-out that ran in a restaurant trade magazine in 1995. Now the secret can be shared with you.

Recipe Ingredient
6 to 8 lb. boneless pork butt, tied

Rub

1 cup Kosher salt

1 cup course ground black pepper

1 cup paprika (sweet Hungarian is best)

2 cups hickory wood chips

1 cup apple wood chips

Hog Sauce

2 large onions, chopped

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

5 1/4 cups (42 ounces) canned tomatoes, with juice

3 cups cider vinegar

1 3/4 cups ketchup

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup brown mustard

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
12 large round rolls

1. Combine all of the rub ingredients. Coat the pork butt evenly with mixture, shaking off any excess.

2. Soak wood chips in water 30 minutes. Place pork butt in a smoker on rack at 220 degrees for 8 hours, with smoke going for 2 hours. Let it cool slightly. Break the meat apart with your hands.

3. Saute onions in oil in heavy saucepan until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Puree the sauce and let it cool. (Sauce can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and refrigerated.)

4. Combine the pork and the sauce (to taste) in a heavy saucepan. Cook until it is heated through.

5. To serve: Pile the pork on the rolls. Serve with french fries and cole slaw if desired. Yields 12 servings.

Todd's Tidbits
You can also smoke your pork in a charcoal barbecue, such as a round Weber Grill. Just arrange the charcoal around the edge of the inside of the grill. When the coals are hot, place the soaked wood chips on them, and then place the pork on the center of the rack above the coals. Cover. Cook the meat for 2-4 hours or until the internal temperature comes to 150-165 degree

Hard Rock Cafe Pig Sandwich

Take a big honkin' bite out of one of these and you'll soon know why it's the Hard Rock Cafe's most popular sandwich. According to the menu the pork is hickory smoked for 10 hours. But since we're impatient hungry people here, we'll cut that cooking time down to under 4 hours using a covered grill and carefully arranged charcoal.

Just sprinkle wet hickory chips over the hot charcoal arranged around the inside edge of a grill (such as a round Weber), and let the smoking begin. You can certainly use an actual smoker if you've got one, and go the full 10 hours with this puppy. But while you're still waiting for your sandwiches, the rest of us will have already dragged our full, round bellies over to the couch for a nap.

By the way, make your marinated cabbage a day ahead of time for this recipe, if you have the foresight.

Marinated Cabbage

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 cups thinly-sliced cabbage
4 cups hickory smoking chips

Spice Rub

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon ground sage

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 boneless pork loin roast (3 to 4 pounds)

vegetable oil

Sauce

2 15-ounce cans tomato puree

1 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (hickory)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
8 Kaiser rolls

1. Make the marinated cabbage at least one day prior to building your sandwiches. Like cole slaw, this garnish needs some time to develop in the fridge. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the cabbage, stir, cover the bowl and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to make the sandwiches.

2. Put the wood chips in a bowl and cover with water. Let the wood soak for at least 1 hour. Light the charcoal after it has been arranged around the inside edge of your grill. You don't want coals directly under your pork. When the coals are hot, drain the water from the wood chips and sprinkle the chips over the top of the coals. You should now have smoke.

3. Combine the spices for the rub in a small bowl and mix well.

4. Rub some vegetable oil over the surface of the pork roast. Sprinkle the spices over the entire surface of the roast.

5. Place the roast in the center of your grill and put the lid on. Let the pork cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 175 to 180 degrees.

6. As the pork cooks, make the sauce by combining the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Let the sauce simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Set this aside until your pork is ready.

7. When the pork is done, remove it from the grill and let it sit to cool for 15 to 20 minutes or until you can handle it. Now you want to tear the meat along the grain, making bite-size strips of shredded pork.

8. Put the shredded pork into a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 2 cups of the sauce to the pan and stir. Keep the rest of the sauce for later to serve on the side. Cook the pork for 15 minutes or until it is heated through.

9. Grill the faces of the rolls and stack about 1 cup of pork onto the bottom half of each roll. Add a rounded tablespoon of marinated cabbage on top of the pork, add a tablespoon or so of extra sauce on top of that, then cap off each sandwich with the top half of the roll. Serve with clones for the Hard Rock's cole slaw and baked beans on the side, if desired.

Makes 8 sandwiches.

Hard Rock Cafe Bar-B-Que Beans

If you love baked beans you'll go nuts over this clone recipe from the world's first theme restaurant chain. It's real easy to make too, since you just pour all of the ingredients into a covered casserole dish, stir, and bake for an hour and a half. The only element that may give you pause is the pulled pork from last week's recipe. It's an effortless addition if you've got some of that pork on hand.

If not, just leave that ingredient out. Or you could add some cooked bacon to the mix. Either way the beans will still come out awesome as a nosh-worthy side dish or snack.

Recipe Ingredient
2 15-ounce cans pinto beans (with liquid)

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons diced onion

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

1/2 cup shredded pork

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Pour entire contents of the can of pinto beans into a casserole dish (with a lid).

3. Dissolve the cornstarch in a small bowl with the 2 tablespoons of water. Add this solution to the beans and stir.

4. Add the remaining ingredients to the dish, stir well and cover.

5. Bake for 90 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Stir every 30 minutes. After removing the beans from the oven, let the beans cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish.

Hard Rock Cafe Baked Potato Soup

Recipe Ingredient
8 Bacon slices - fried & crumbled
1 cup Yellow onions - diced
2/3 cups Flour
6 cups Chicken stock - hot
4 cups Potatoes - baked, diced & Peeled
2 cups Heavy cream
1/2 cup Parsley - chopped
1 1/2 tsp Granulated garlic
11/2 tsp Salt
11/2 tsp Red pepper sauce
11/2 tsp Coarse black pepper
1 cup Cheddar cheese - grated
1/2 cup Green onions - diced

Chop bacon; reserve. Cook onions in remaining drippings over medium high heat until transparent, about 3 minutes. Add flour, stirring to prevent lumps; cook for 3-5 minutes, until mixture just begins to turn golden. Add chicken stock gradually, whisking to prevent lumps until liquid thickens.

Reduce heat to simmer and add potatoes, cream, chopped bacon, parsley, garlic, basil, salt, pepper sauce and plack pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes; do not allow to boil. Add grated cheese and green onions, heat until cheese melts smoothly. Garnish each serving as desired with chopped bacon, grated cheese andchopped parsley.
Makes 8 Servings.

Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix

Here's a clone for the instant dressing mix you buy in the little .7-ounce packets. When added to vinegar, water, and oil, you get one of the best-tasting instant salad dressings around. But what if you can't find the stuff, or it is no longer sold in your area, as I've heard from so many? Or maybe you want to save some money and make a bunch of your own? Just use the recipe below to make as much dry mix as you want, and save it for when you need instant salad satisfaction.

I've used McCormick lemon pepper in the recipe here because it contains lemon juice solids that help duplicate the taste of the sodium citrate and citric acid in the real thing. The dry pectin, which can be found near the canning supplies in your supermarket, is used as a thickener, much like the xanthan gum in the original product.

Recipe Ingredient
1 teaspoon carrot, grated and finely chopped

1 teaspoon red bell pepper, finely minced

3/4 teaspoon McCormick lemon pepper

1/8 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons dry pectin pinch ground oregano

1. Place the carrot and bell pepper on a baking pan in an oven set on 250 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes, or until all of the small pieces are completely dry, but not browned.

2. Combine the dried carrot and bell pepper with the other ingredients in a small bowl. Mix can be stored in a sealed container indefinitely until needed.

3. When ready to use, pour 1/4 cup of vinegar into a cruet or jar. Add 3 tablespoons of water, then the dressing mix. Seal and shake vigorously. Add 1/2 cup of oil and shake until well blended.

Serves 8 to10.

El Pollo Loco Chicken

Serving Size : 4
Categories : Chicken Sauces

Recipe Ingredient
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 Chicken -- cut pieces w/skin
BROILER BASTING SAUCE
1/3 cup Lemon juice
1/3 cup Lime juice
1/3 cup Canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon Garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon Black pepper

Briefly simmer the cut-up chicken in a deep-sided skillet, keeping pieces in single layer without crowding them, until the meat appears milky white and the juices run clear, no longer pink. Allow to cool in the broth, uncovered, while you prepare the basting sauce. Arrange the chicken pieces skin-side up on broiler pan in single layer and baste with enough of mixture to evenly coat skin side. Turn and baste other side. Turn again toskin side up and broil 6" from the heat, brushing with additional sauce every few minutes until skin is really crispy and golden brown, approximately 5 to 8 minutes for large pieces.

BASTING MIXTURE-Mix juices, oil, turmeric, salt and pepper. This makes enough to baste nine pieces.

Chili's Nacho Burger

Here's a clone recipe for a delicious new burger from Chili's unlike any you may have tasted before. It was designed by the folks at this popular chain to incorporate several of restaurant's prepared sides -- all of which you will now have clones for -- including Chili's chili queso, Chili's pico de gallo, and Chili's guacamole. Stack it all onto abun with a juicy 1/4-pound ground beef patty and some crumbledtortilla chips for crunch, and you've got a slightly spicy, South-of-the-border taste. Muy bien, amigos!

List of recipes...
Pico de Gallo

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup diced Spanish onion

2 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and de-ribbed

2 teaspoons finely minced fresh cilantro

Pinch of salt

Guacamole

2 small or 1 large Haas avocado

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 cup diced tomato

1/2 teaspoon diced jalapeno

1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

Chili Queso

3 ounces ground beef

1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

pinch of ground black pepper

16-ounce bottle Cheez Whiz

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 pounds ground beef

4 large sesame seed buns

2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded or chopped thin

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 green onion, chopped

16-20 tortilla chips

2-3 fresh jalapenos, sliced

1. First make the pico de gallo. This is easy. Just combine all of the ingredients for the pico in a small bowl and mix well. Cover bowl and chill in the refrigerator.

2. Now we'll make the guacamole. In a small bowl, smash up most of the avocado, but be sure to leave several unsmashed chunks. Add the remaining ingredients for the guacamole to the avocado and mix well. Cover bowl and chill in the refrigerator, next to the pico.

3. Next we'll make the chili queso. In yet another small bowl, mix together ground beef, flour, a pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper, and a pinch of chili powder. Use your hands to work the dry ingredients into the ground beef. Brown the beef in a small skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Use a spoon or spatula to crumble the beef as it cooks. Cook until it's brown, then set aside.

4. Melt the Cheez Whiz with 2 tablespoons of milk over low heat. When milk and cheese has been combined, add the remaining queso ingredients. Heat while stirring often until cheese is smooth and creamy, then cover saucepan and remove it from the heat.

5. Pre-heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium heat. Lightly butter the face of each bun and brown the buns face-down on the heat.

6. Separate the ground beef into four 1/2-pound portions. Roll each portion of meat into a ball and then pat the meat down into a circular patty slightly larger in diameter than the hamburger buns. Cook the hamburger patties for 5-10 minutes per side, until done. Lightly salt and pepper each burger patty.

7. Build the burger open-faced in the following order starting with the bottom bun:

On Bottom Bun

1/2 cup shredded lettuce

hamburger patty

2 tablespoons chili queso

4 or 5 crumbled tortilla chips

2 teaspoons green onion

On Top Bun

1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise

2 tablespoons pico de gallo

2 tablespoons guacamole

4 jalapeno slices

Serve burger with extra queso and guacamole. May also serve french fries on the side and use the chili queso for dipping.

Makes 4 burgers.

Chili's Boneless Buffalo Wings

This clone of Chili's new menu items gives us the zesty flavor of traditional Buffalo chicken wingswithout the bones or skin. That's because these "wings"are actually nuggets sliced from chicken breast fillets that are breaded and fried, then smothered with the sametype of spicy wing sauce used on typical wings. If you like Buffalo wings, you'll love this recipe.

Serve these babies up with some celery sticks and bleu cheese dressing on the side for dipping. Now you can actually eat Buffalo wings with a fork!

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 chicken breast fillets

4-6 cups vegetable oil

1/4 cup Crystal or Frank's Louisiana hot sauce

1 tablespoon margarine

On the sidebleu cheese dressing (for dipping) celery sticks recipe

1. Combine flour, salt, peppers and paprika in a medium bowl.

2. In another small bowl, whisk together egg and milk.

3. Slice each chicken breast into 6 pieces. Preheat 4-6 cups of vegetable oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees.

4. One or two at a time, dip each piece of chicken into the egg mixture, then into the breading blend; then repeat the process so that each piece of chicken is double-coated.

5. When all chicken pieces have been breaded, arrange them on a plate and chill for 15 minutes.

6. When the chicken is done resting, drop each piece into the hot oil and fry for 5-6 minutes or until each piece is browned.

7. As chicken fries, combine the hot sauce and margarine in a small bowl. Microwave sauce for 20-30 seconds or just until the margarine is melted, then stir to combine. You can also use a small saucepan for this step. Just combine the hot sauce and margarine in the saucepan over low heat and stir until margarine is melted and ingredients are blended.

8. When chicken pieces are done frying, remove them to a plate lined with a couple paper towels.

9. Place the chicken pieces into a covered container such as a large jar with a lid. Pour the sauce over the chicken in the container, cover, and then shake gently until each piece of chicken is coated with sauce. Pour the chicken onto a plate and serve the dish with bleu cheese dressing and sliced celery on the side.

Serves 2-4 as an appetizer.

Chi Chi's Mild Salsa

Recipe By : Gloria Pitzer
Serving Size : 1
Preparation Time :0:15
Categories : Salsas recipe

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 Cn Stewed Tomatoes (14 Oz.) -- sliced
2 Large Green onions -- snipped*
1 Large Ripe Tomato -- cored and diced
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Ds Tabasco=AE Sauce -- or to taste

Cut up stewed tomatoes and combine in saucepan with onions, fresh tomato,salt and pepper. Bring just to a boil. Boil hard 1 minute and remove at once from heat. Put half of mixture through blender just to mince fine but not topuree. Return to remaining half of mixture. Cool and refrigerate in tightlycovered container to use with a few weeks. Freezes well to use within 6 months.
NOTE-For hot salsa, add 1 ts canned green chopped chilis or to taste, freezing unused chilis to use in other recipes.

Chevys Mesquite-Grilled BBQ Chicken Quesadilla

With this secret recipe from the latest TSR low-lat book, it isn't necessary to cook the chicken over a mesquite grill as they do in the restaurant chain. Sure, you could get some mesquite wood chips and throw 'em on your barbecueor you can use that charcoal that has mesquite in it.

But an easier way to get the flavor of mesquite--especiallyif all you've got is a gas grill--is to soak the chicken in a marinade made with mesquite-flavored liquid smoke. In the restaurant these puppies are made with red chili tortillas.

Since these type of tortillas can be a drag to track down, especially in fat-free versions, we'll use plain fat-free tortillas for our tasty reduced-fat clone.

Mesquite Marinade recipe

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon mesquite-flavored liquid smoke

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash ground black pepper
Spicy BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup Bull's-Eye Original BBQ Sauce

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

dash chili powder
1 boneless chicken breast

1/3 cup sliced red bell pepper

1/3 cup sliced green bell pepper

1/3 cup sliced Spanish onion

2 large (12-inch) fat-free flour tortillas

1 1/3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Prepare the marinade by combining the ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken breast fillet to the bowl, cover, and chill for one hour.

2. When the chicken is finished marinating, preheat your grill to high temperature.

3. As grill is heating, prepare the spicy BBQ sauce by mixing the ingredients in a small bowl.

4. Throw the chicken on the grill and cook it for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until it's done. When the chicken is done cooking, chop it into bite-size pieces.

5. Spray a light coating of nonstick cooking spray on a medium skillet over medium heat. Saut?the sliced peppers and onion in the pan for 4 to 5 minutes or until the veggies start to brown.

6. Set a large skillet over medium/low heat.

7. Put one flour tortilla in the skillet and sprinkle 1/3 cup of cheese over half of the tortilla. Spoon half of the vegetables over the cheese, followed by half of the chicken.

8. Spoon a generous portion of the spicy BBQ sauce over the chicken, followed by another 1/3 cup of cheese.

9. Fold the other side of the tortilla over the filling, and press down so that it stays in place.

10. By this time, the cheese on the bottom should be melted. If not, wait another minute or so, then flip the quesadilla over and heat for another couple minutes or until all of the cheese has melted.

11. Slide the quesadilla onto a plate and slice it into 4 pieces. Repeat for the second quesadilla and serve immediately with salsa on the side.Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Total servings 4

Chevys Garlic Mashed Potatoes

This easy-to-clone dish comes with many of the tasty entrees at the restaurant chain or can be ordered up, pronto, on the side. It's a nice clone to have around since it goes well with so many dishes, Mexican or otherwise.

Just give yourself the time to bake and cool the potatoes.

Recipe's ingredients

4 medium/large russet potatoes

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (3-4 cloves)

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup cream

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Bake the potatoes by first rubbing them lightly with oil and then baking them in the preheated oven for 1 hour until they are tender. Cool.

3. Mash potatoes and remove about half of the skin. You want to leave the rest in.

4. Melt the butter in a large suacepan over medium heat, then add garlic and saute for 5 minutes.

5. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and cook for 5-10 minutes while stirring often until garlic mashed potatoes are very hot.

Serves 4.

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic

Louisianna chef Paul Prudhomme, America's number one Dom DeLuise look a like, hit it big in supermarkets with his magical brand of Cajun spice blends. Chef Paul developed his seasonings after years of making little batches and passing them out to customers in the restaurants where he worked.

Now his Magic Seasoning Blends come in several varieties and are produced in a whopping 30,000- square-foot plant by 38 employees. Fortunately, it'll take only one of you in a small kitchen to make a clone of one of the most popular versions of the blend.

Use it when you barbecue, roast, grill, or saute your favorite chicken, turkey, duck, or Cornish game hens.

Recipe's Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage

dash cumin

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Store in a covered container. Sprinkle on any poultry to taste.

Makes 4 teaspoons.

Carl's Jr.Bacon Swiss Crispy Chicken Sandwich

If you love crispy chicken sandwiches - and especially if you don't live in the West - you'll want to try out this clone of the tasty Carl's Jr. creation. The recipe makes four of the addicting chicken sandwiches from theCalifornia-based chain, but will also come in handy for making a delicious homemade ranch dressing. Try using some lean turkey bacon, fat-free Swiss cheese, and fat-free mayonnaise if you feel like cutting back on the fat.Then you can eat two.

Recipe fo Ranch Dressing
1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon parsley

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

dash dill weed

dash garlic powder

dash ground black pepper

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
6 to 8 cups vegetable shortening

1 egg

1 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

4 chicken breast fillets

4 sesame seed hamburger buns

4 lettuce leaves

4 tomato slices

Kraft Swiss cheese Singles

8 slices bacon, cooked

1. Preheat 6 to 8 cups of shortening in a deep fryer to 350 degrees. If you don't have a deep fryer, you can also pan fry using a large frying pan and just a couple cups of shortening.

2. To prepare the ranch dressing, combine all of the ingredients except the water and gelatin in small bowl. Mix the water with the gelatin in a small cup until all of the gelatin is dissolved. Add this gelatin solution to the other ingredients and stir. Cover and chill the dressing until it's needed.

3. Beat the egg and then combine with 1 cup water in a small, shallow bowl. Stir.

4. Combine the flour, salt, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder in another shallow bowl.

5. Pound each of the breast fillets with a mallet until about 1/4-inch thick. Trim each breast fillet until it is round.

6. Working with one fillet at a time, first coat each fillet with the flour, then dredge it in the egg and water mixture. Coat the chicken once again in the flour and set it aside until all of the fillets have been coated.

7. Fry the chicken fillets for 8 to 12 minutes or until light brown and crispy.

8. As chicken is frying, prepare each sandwich by grilling the face of the hamburger buns on a hot skillet over medium heat. Spread about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the ranch dressing on the face of the top and bottom buns.

9. On the bottom bun, stack a leaf of lettuce and a tomato slice.

10. When the chicken is done frying, remove the fillets from the fryer and drain them on paper towels or a rack for a couple minutes.

11. Stack one fillet on the bottom of the sandwich (on top of the tomato), then stack a slice of the Swiss cheese onto the chicken.

12. Arrange the bacon, crosswise, on top of the Swiss cheese, then top off the sandwich with the top bun. Repeat the stacking process for each of the remaining sandwiches.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Burger King Breakfast Sandwiches

You can have your eggs and sausage and biscuits sitting next to each other on the plate like all the traditional folks out there, or you can get vertical with this top secret breakfast-in-sandwich from the world's number two fast food chain.

And if you prefer a croissant to a biscuit, I've got that version for you, too (along with the special way to get bigger, circular croissants). A great way to make the eggs for these breakfast sandwiches is to pour the beaten egg into a well-greasedmold made from an empty pineapple can.

Just cut both ends off an 8-ounce pineapple can you know, the shortcans that have crushed or sliced pineapple inside. Oh, and take the pineapple out. Then, before you know it, you'll be making perfectly round eggs like the fast food pros.

Recipe for Biscuit Sandwich

1 small can (5 biscuits) Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits melted butter

Non-stick cooking spray

5 eggs

salt

ground black pepper

10 ounces ground breakfast sausage (such as Jimmy Dean) or 10 slices of bacon

5 slices American cheese

1. Prepare biscuits following instructions on the can (bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes). When you remove the biscuits from the oven brush the top of each with melted butter.

2. Spray a skillet over medium heat with non-stick cooking spray. Open both ends of a clean, small, sliced pineapple can. Spray the inside of the empty can with the non-stick spray, and then place the can in the pan to heat up. Use more than one can if you'd like to speed up the cooking process.

3. Beat an egg, then pour it into the empty can mold, add a bit of salt and pepper, and cover with a saucepan lid. Cook for a couple minutes, then scrape a knife around the edge of the egg to release it. Remove the can, then turn the egg over and cook it for another minute or two. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

4. If using sausage, form 2-ounce portions of sausage into patties with the same diameter as the biscuits. Cook the sausage in another hot skillet over medium heat until brown. If using bacon, cook the bacon and drain on paper towels.

5. Slice a biscuit in half through the middle. Build each sandwich by first stacking egg on the bottom half of the biscuit. Next arrange sausage (or 2 slices of bacon) on the egg, then a slice of American cheese. Top off each sandwich with the top biscuit half, then zap it in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds to help melt the cheese. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Makes 5 sandwiches.

Recipe for Croissant'wich?

1 8-ounce can Pillsbury Original Crescent Rolls

4 eggs

salt

ground black pepper

8 ounces ground breakfast sausage (such as Jimmy Dean) or 8 slices of bacon

4 slices American cheese

1. Prepare the rolls by first unrolling the dough out of the can. Separate the dough into four sections, each made up of two triangles. Detach the triangles by tearing along the diagonal perforation, then reattach the dough along the outside parallel edges, pinching the dough together along the middle. This will make one bigger triangle. Loosely roll the dough, from the wide end, all the way up. Now, bring the ends around so that they overlap and the roll is in the shape of a circle. Press the ends together and place the roll onto a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, then bake following the directions on the package (bake at 375 degrees for 11 to13 minutes).

2. When the rolls are done baking build the sandwich using the above steps 2 through 5 in the recipe for the biscuit sandwich clone.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Boston Market Meatloaf

Recipe's Ingredients:

1 cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp Kraft barbecue sauce
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 lbs 10% fat ground sirloin
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
salt
onion powder
ground black pepper - garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400 degree. Combine the tomato sauce, barbecue sauce and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture until it begins to bubble, stirring often, then remove it from the heat.
In a large bowl, add all but 2 tbsp of the tomato sauce to the meat. Use a large wooden spoon or your hands to work the sauce into the meat until it is very well combined. Combine the remaining ingredients with the ground sirloin-- flour, salt, onion powder and ground pepper. Use the wooden spoon or your hands to work the spices and flour into the meat.
Load the meat into a loaf pan (preferably a meatloaf pan with two sections which allows the fat to drain, but if you don't have one of those a regular loaf pan will work). Wrap foil over the pan and place it into the oven for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, take the meatloaf from the oven, remove the foil and, if you aren't using a meatloaf pan, drain the fat. Using a knife, slice the meatloaf all the way through into 8 slices while it is still in the pan. This will help to cook the center of the meatloaf. Pour the remaining 2 tbsp of sauce over the top of the meatloaf, in a stream down the center. Don't spread the sauce. Place the meatloaf back into the oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until it is done.
Remove and allow it to cool for a few minutes before serving.
Makes 4 servings.

Benihana Ginger Salad Dressing

Benihana Ginger Salad Dressing

As far as salad dressings go, this is one of the most requested, and tasty. At the Benihana chain of hibachi grill restaurants, you are served a side salad before your meal that is doused with this tangy, slightly sweet, fresh ginger dressing.This Top Secret Recipes version of that dressing is a real cinch to make, once you've got the ingredients.Just dump everything into a blender, whiz it, and you're set.

Although this recipe is inspired by the many variations of the clone recipe that are floating around, you should know that this is an original never-before-published creation that comes closerto the original product than any other version I have seen.See what you think.

1/2 cup minced onion

1/2 cup peanut oil

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 tablespoons minced celery

2 tablespoons ketchup

4 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds or until all of the ginger is well-pureed.

This recipe makes 1 3/4 cups.

Applebee's Low-Fat Asian Chicken Salad

Applebee's Low-Fat Asian Chicken Salad

As the seasons change so does the menu, at this popular 1064-unit casual restaurant chain. As with any salad, the waistline violator is the traditionally fat-filled dressing that is drizzled in gobs over the top of very healthy greens (a tablespoon of dressing is usually around 10-12 grams of fat each).

So if we can just figure out a cool way to make the dressing fat-free, we're well on our way to making huge salad for four of them to be exact with only 12 grams of fat on the entire plate. Most of those grams come from the chicken breast, while the crunchy chow mein noodles pick up the rest. Just be sure to plan ahead when you make this one.

The chicken should marinate for a few hours if you want it to taste like the original. Get ready for some big, meal-size salads.

Ingredients for this recipe:

1 cup teriyaki marinade

4 chicken breast fillets Fat-Free Asian Dressing

2 cups water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons dry pectin

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

8 cups chopped romaine lettuce

8 cups chopped iceberg lettuce

3 cups shredded red cabbage

3 cups shredded green cabbage

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup chopped green onion

1 1/3 cups crispy chow mein noodles

1. Combine teriyaki marinade and chicken breasts in a medium bowl or resealable plastic bag. Marinate chicken for 3-4 hours.

2. Prepare the dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a rolling boil while stirring often with a whisk, then remove the pan from the heat to cool. When dressing has cooled, pour it into a covered container and chill.

3. When chicken breasts have marinated, preheat barbecue grill to high heat. Grill chicken for 3-4 minutes per side, or until done.

4. Combine the romaine and iceberg lettuce, red and green cabbage and 1 cup of shredded carrots in a large bowl with the dressing. Toss well.

5. Divide the tossed greens among four plates. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of green onions over each salad, followed by 1/3 cup of crispy chow mein noodles.

6. When the chicken breasts are done, slice each one, widthwise, into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle the sliced chicken breasts over each salad.

7. Place a 1/4 cup pile of shredded carrots in the center of each salad.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size 1 salad

Total servings 4

Fat (per serving) 12g

Calories (per serving) 575