Parmesan Chicken

I am on a roll with successful recipe ideas.  Quick - someone get me a cooking show!

I wanted to prepare my chicken with less of a Tex-Mex flair and more Italian.  To my Italian friends and Italian food lovers, I am not Italian.  So this is my spin on a classic.
Shred some parmesan cheese and combine with panko.  I get it - panko is NOT Italian but it adds a nice crust.  I added pepper, garlic powder and dried oregano.  No salt because the parm was bringing the salt factor.  I did a quick egg dip of a chicken cutlet, dredged in the panko and tossed in a pre-heated pan of olive oil and garlic.  I like cooking with cutlets because they cook faster than a full breast and I am impatient.
I served mine with some sauteed onion and more grated parm on top.

Now I just need to figure out dessert...

Pure deliciousness!

I have been tossing around an idea using fresh nectarines and maple syrup for awhile and finally brought it to fruition tonight - Maple Nectarine Crisp.
I cubed three nectarines and sauteed them in 2 tablespoons butter, some generous dashes of cinnamon and a dash of cloves.  Once the nectarines were browned, I poured about 1/4 cup maple syrup and let the concoction simmer down to tasty goodness.
For the crisp, I used some granola and crumbled it with butter.
Pour the nectarines into the ramekins and then throw the crisp mixture on top; for extra goodness, pour the maple syrup left from the sautee over the crisp.  Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes and enjoy.

Enjoy it better than I did with some vanilla ice cream.

Now that's a spicy burger!

I crave spicy foods.  And by spicy, I mean a temperature on the tongue that would make the bulldog cry.  Poor boy.  I had the brilliant idea tonight of taking my burger up a notch with - wait for it - a jalepeno.  I KNOW!  Absolutely crazy.  Not to be outdone, my friend garlic went in as well.  Five cloves worth.
I diced the garlic and jalepeno before adding to the ground beef - grass fed, raised antibiotic free of course - and though I included the jalepeno seeds, the burger could have been hotter.
I also did the unthinkable - I cooked the burger in a tiny tablespoon of butter.  Nice richness added to the burger that way.  Easy little trick.  Beef + butter = TASTY!  At the end, I cut some grape tomato's in half and tossed them in the remaining butter and beef juices to sautee down and tossed some pepperjack cheese on top - just in case the burger wasn't spicy enough.
Serve with avocado on the side and have a drink ready if you're like the bulldog!