I love those Australian Women!

Thank you, Australian Women's Weekly, for yet another fantastic meal. My inspiration for dinner tonight came from an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook called "Best Food." (Note: you can buy any cookbook from the Australian Women's Weekly series for very reasonable prices at Amazon.com). I was turned onto their cookbooks years ago when my grandma gave me two entertaining cookbooks from a yardsale. Ever since then I've been buying them when I can online. While most of the recipes are super easy, they are very inspiring. For instance, tonight I made couscous coated chicken. While I didn't really use the recipe I took their idea and I added guacamole on the side like they suggested. Delicioso. (Is there Australian slang for "yummy"?)


Basically, you just take your chicken filets (I pounded mine a bit) and coat with flour, then an egg/milk mixture, and finally in cooked couscous. Fry in a skillet until both sides are golden brown and serve with a side of guacamole (just something simple like avacado, lime, and chile or hot sauce).

I decided to pair the chicken with brussel sprouts and mashed roasted garlic potatoes. The latter didn't turn out very well tonight because I was unable to use my ricer. Turns out the ricer makes all the difference. They weren't light and fluffy like they usually are when I rice them before mashing.

If you can believe this: I've never had brussel sprouts. Well, until tonight, that is. Tonight I made a side of Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a recipe from Bobby Flay. Instead of pancetta I used Farmer John's bacon. While I absolutely loved this dish, I'm not sure if I would like the brussel sprouts without the bacon and shallots because generally I'm not a fan of cooked cabbage. Even though it's kind of fattening, at least Bobby got me to eat my brussel sprouts! I'm going to hang on to this recipe for when I have kids.