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Make Your Easter Entertaining Easier With These Recipes

Impress Your Guests With Family Friendly Recipes and Great Easter Leftover Ideas, too

French's

Baked Penne & Ham

French's

Bender Hammerling Group

Published: March 24, 2009

Parsippany, NJ - This Easter, impress your friends and family with a delicious dinner buffet that allows you to entertain with ease so you can spend more time with your guests and less time in the kitchen. With a host of recipes from the French's® test kitchens, you can prepare simple appetizers like Crunchy Coconut Shrimp and Crispy Onion Veggies as well as main dishes like Crunchy Onion Chicken and Baked Penne and Ham. Many of these simple-to-prepare recipes take only ten minutes to prepare and cook in thirty minutes or less. The secret: the experts in the test kitchen have discovered that crushed French's French Fried Onions can be used as a delicious coating for a variety of ingredients like chicken, pork, vegetables and fish; and while the coating creates a crispy, crunchy exterior it also locks in natural juices to maintain a moist, tender interior.

In addition to using French's French Fried Onions at holiday time, try them for quick everyday recipes to make meal times easier. This simple coating technique can be expanded to incorporate regional and ethnic flavor preferences by adding customized herbs and spices, for example, the basic recipe for Crunchy Onion Chicken becomes Mexican Chicken with the simple addition of chili powder and chopped fresh cilantro to the crushed French Fried Onions or turn a typical weeknight into a "trip" to Thailand by adding some toasted coconut and fresh basil to your coating mixture – use your culinary imagination and every day meals just became exciting again.

Additionally, French Fried Onions make a tasty topping for budget-friendly recipes like casseroles, burgers, meatloaf and stuffing. Try these exciting recipes for your Easter buffet and then try them again, experimenting with your family's favorite herbs and spices for recipes that are sure to be a mainstay in your hectic every day.

CRUNCHY COCONUT SHRIMP

Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 10 min.

1 1/3 cups (2.8 oz.) FRENCH'S® Original French Fried Onions
1/3 cup flaked, sweetened coconut
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 lb. large shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 egg whites, beaten

1. PLACE French Fried Onions and coconut into plastic bag. Lightly crush with hands or rolling pin. Transfer to pie plate or waxed paper.
2. PLACE flour in another plastic bag. Add shrimp; shake to coat.
3. DIP shrimp into egg whites. Coat with onion mixture, pressing firmly to adhere.
4. BAKE shrimp at 400°F for 10 min. until shrimp are fully cooked and crispy.
Makes 4 servings

Look for FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions in the canned vegetable aisle!

Variation: Add 1 tsp. curry powder to crushed onions.

CRISPY ONION VEGGIES

Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 10 min.

1 1/3 cups FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions or FRENCH'S® Cheddar French Fried Onions
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 to 2 medium zucchini cut diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
1 egg, beaten

1. CRUSH French Fried Onions in plastic bag using hands or rolling pin.
2. PLACE flour into separate bag. Toss zucchini in flour; shake off excess.
3. DIP zucchini pieces into beaten egg; then toss in crushed onions, a few pieces at a time.
4. ARRANGE zucchini on greased rack set over rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes or until tender.
Makes 6 servings

Crispy Onion Mushrooms: Substitute one 10 oz. pkg. whole button mushrooms. Proceed as above.

Crunchy Double Onion Rings: Crush 2 cups French Fried Onions in plastic bag and toss with 2 Tbsp. flour; set aside. Slice 2 large onions into 1/2 inch thick rings. Coat onion rings in 1/4 cup flour. Dip into 2 beaten egg whites, then into crushed French Fried Onion mixture. Bake according to recipe above.

FRENCH'S® CRUNCHY ONION CHICKEN™

Prep Time: 5 min. Cook Time: 20 min.

2 cups (4 oz.) FRENCH'S® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 (5 oz.) boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten

1. Place French Fried Onions and flour into plastic bag. Lightly crush with hands or with rolling pin. Transfer to pie plate or waxed paper.
2. Dip chicken into egg; then coat with onion crumbs, pressing firmly to adhere. Place chicken on baking sheet.
3. Bake at 400°F for 20 min. or until no longer pink in center.
Makes 4 servings

Look for FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions in the canned vegetable aisle!

Tip: For extra spicy flavor, add 1 tbsp. Frank's RedHot Sauce to beaten egg. Splash on more Frank's RedHot Sauce after baking chicken.

Nutritional Analysis Per Serving: 360 Calories, 19 g Fat, 8 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 131 mg Cholesterol, 32 g Protein, 13 g Carbohydrates, 1 g Dietary Fiber, 225 mg Sodium.

BAKED PENNE & HAM

A good recipe that uses leftover Holiday ham.

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 33 minutes

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can CAMPBELL'S® Condensed Cream of Celery Soup
1 1/4 cups milk
3 cups cooked penne pasta (2 cups uncooked)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups (4 oz.) FRENCH'S® Cheddar or Original French Fried Onions
1 cup diced cooked ham
1/3 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Combine soup and milk in 2-quart shallow casserole dish. Stir in pasta, 1 cup cheese, 1 cup French Fried Onions, ham, tomatoes and peas.
2. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes or until hot. Stir.
3. Top with remaining cheese and onions. Bake 3 minutes until cheese melts and onions are golden.

Makes, 4 servings

Tips: You may substitute oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes for the fresh tomatoes.

Look for French's Original and Cheddar French Fried Onions in the canned vegetable aisle at your favorite supermarket. For more great recipes and cooking tips from the test kitchen at French's, please visit www.frenchsfoods.com.