Panko-Style Baked Chicken Tenders

I love food that is terrible for you.  Boneless wings?  Corn dogs?  Chicken Nuggets?  I love them all.  Chicken nuggets were an especially guilty pleasure.  Not only did I buy them in frozen version for a quick meal at home, but I would also often go through the drive-thru at McDonald's and pick up a 4 or 6 piece chicken nugget with sweet chili sauce and apple slices for a quick meal if I didn't have time to go home.  I've mentioned before that I was totally weird as a kid with meat.  I didn't like to eat an unbreaded cut of meat unless it was a steak.  My Dad used to wonder what the heck was wrong with me, and why would I want to eat gross, breaded rib meat instead of delicious, much better for you chicken breast?  Dad, I still can't tell you what my major hang up with meats were as a kid, but I'm sure you're at least the tiniest bit comforted that I now "know what's good" and like almost all cuts of meat.

But, I still miss chicken nuggets/tenders.  I'm baking these, and the reasoning is twofold:

1.  (we'll pretend like this is paramount) It's a lot healthier to bake the tenders rather than fry them.
2.  (this is the main motivation) Frying is a pain in the butt, and it makes my house smell (and I'm lazy).

You could just as easily fry these tenders and drain them before eating.  If you're going to do that, I'd probably use about 2-3 c. of the oil of your choice (for two people) and heat to about 375, and fry in small batches about 6-8 minutes a piece til golden brown.  Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.  Serve.

But, if you're baking:

Panko-Style Baked Chicken Tenders
2 eggs
2 tbsp. milk
2 c. rice chex cereal
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika (you can omit if you'd like)
1 tsp. rubbed sage
1/2 tsp. Old Bay (also has paprika in it.  I used both, but it's up to you)
4 tbsp. parmesan cheese
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
2-3 chicken breasts (I had one small and one HUGE one)

1.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

2.  Slice chicken breasts into the strips or nuggets of your choosing.  You can pound them to 1/4" thickness if you'd like.  If you want to do that, you can put them between two pieces of saran wrap and pound with a mallet.

3.  In the mixer of your food processor, place rice chex, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, rubbed sage, Old Bay, and parmesan cheese.

4.  Pulse the food processor until you have a coarse, crunchy looking "bread crumb" mixture.

5.  In a bowl, combine 2 eggs and 2 tbsp milk

6.  In another shallow bowl or plate, jujh up 1/3 c. flour (I used the Namaste All Purpose blend I've mentioned in earlier posts)

7.  In a third shallow bowl or plate, pour panko-style mixture.

8.  Dredge tenders in flour, then egg mixture, then breadcrumb mixture, before placing in a single layer on a foil-lined cooking sprayed tray or sheet pan.

9.  Bake in 475 degree oven for approximately 20-25 minutes until browned.  I checked mine about 15 minutes into the cooking and flipped them.

10.  Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving with your favorite condiments.

Served with cottage fries and green beans.  Crispy and a little spicy, just how I like them!

Lingonberry and Crushed Red Pepper Glazed Pork Chops

Hi!  It's been a week or so since I've updated.  Life's about to get busy, so once a week would be awesome.  It will also come to pass that I'm not making as many new recipes because I get used to making certain things, and having favorites.  But, I'll try to make sure that I post reviews of products and restaurants, even when I'm not trying a new recipe or attempting to recreate an old favorite.

I'm sure it is already apparent (for those who don't know), how much I enjoy pork chops.  We eat them very frequently in this house because they're relatively inexpensive, and I like doing lots of fun stuff with them.  They're also a great source of lean protein, for those of you who worry about that stuff.  Tonight's meal was actually inspired/requested by my husband.  We recently took a trip down to the Charlotte Ikea to buy a desk/writing table.  I'm very fast approaching my dissertation, and especially now that I can't simply pick up a convenience meal from the EUC connected to the library, doing a ton of work at the library is going to have to be sequestered to day time hours.  I'm sure I'll still have a few long nights there, but I'd like to be able to be at home.  Not only is it good for our budget, but even if I'm working, I know it makes my husband (and me) feel better that I'm home.

So we looked for awhile for a writing table or a desk that was in our budget, and just didn't find anything besides Ikea.  For $40 we got something that we're both happy with and will not be a total pain in the rear to take apart and reassemble when we move.  One of the great things about going to Ikea is eating the food, and shopping in the Swedish food market.  Whenever we eat there, I think it ought to be called, "How many times can Jason fill up his cup with Lingonberry juice?"  He loves it.  So, this time when we went through the food market, he picked up a jar of Lingonberry preserves.  When I asked him today how he wanted the pork chops cooked, he said he thought it would be neat to do something with the preserves.  So, the idea was born.

This combo is sweet and spicy, and I was really proud of my ability to restrain myself with the crushed red pepper.  I usually go a little overboard with it.  I think there's a good amount of complexity in the flavors of this recipe, and I hope you like it as much as we did.  The first bite got immediate happy groans. . . if you speak man and know the exact translation, feel free to let me know.  After an inquisitive look, I got, "SO GOOD."

Lingonberry Crushed Red Pepper Glazed Pork Chops
3-4 boneless pork chops
kosher salt
onion powder
hot paprika
lingonberry preserves
teeny bit (that's an exact measurement equaling around 1/2 tsp.) crushed red pepper


1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2.  Season each side of the pork chops with salt, onion powder, paprika, and spread a generous layer of lingonberry preserves.

3.  Flip each chop and repeat on the other side.

4.  Take a SMALL amount of crushed red pepper and dust each of the chops.  A little goes a long way with this.  There's already hot paprika on these lovelies, so no need to go crazy!

5.  Bake in the oven, uncovered for approximately 40 minutes.

If you'd like, you can spoon more of the melty, delicious glaze onto the pork chops during the cooking if you'd like.  I served this with baked potatoes, and I had peas.  My husband had peas and creamed corn.  I've never been a huge fan of creamed corn, and it doesn't even matter anymore because one of the first ingredients you'll see on a can is "modified food starch".  So, there you go.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  This is one of those recipes that will likely keep me from making newer stuff when I get super busy.  It's so easy, so tasty, and definitely on my husband's "favorite" list.

Breaded Baked Pork Chops

Yes fellow GFers, I said breaded.  Plenty of people who have been at this longer than I have make successful substitute recipes. I haven't really tried one yet.  The boxed/bagged substitute products I've tried so far have been pretty good, with the only exception being my first major fail with homemade pizza crust.  When I wrote that post, I said that I would try that flour in other recipes, and tonight was the night.

Pork chops are a go-to main dish for me.  I almost always have at least 3 on hand (my husband gets two, I eat one).  They're a blank canvas, ready and waiting for whatever delicious things you want to do with them.  Although my love of mustard and pork chops together is no secret, tonight wasn't about mustard.  It was all about breading.

I have briefly mentioned my history with bread.  My Dad worked at a bread factory for most of my young life, and I had fresh bread in my house every day.  We couldn't eat it fast enough in our house.  I am also a huge fan of just about anything breaded and fried.  Boneless chicken wings?  Oh my God, yes.  These are definitely on the "replicate this and make the heck out of it until you get it right" list.  I don't think I'll be able to live my life without them.  Another item on the list?  Breaded pork chops.

It should come as a surprise to no one that I was a weird kid.  But, unfortunately for me, I was also an extremely picky eater.   My parents were great though and made me sit at the table and eat the food they put in front of me.  But, it was never a fight when then pork chops were breaded.  There were many, many meals that consisted of shake and bake pork chops or chicken because saying "Damnit Morgan, just eat it," apparently gets frustrating after more than 5 years.  Although my taste buds have definitely matured, and I can eat meat in many different forms and preparations, I still love a spicy, slightly salty, breaded pork chop or chicken breast.

My very patient husband has been dutifully eating all the stuff I've put in front of him for the last month.  This was my first attempt at substituting gluten free ingredients in a traditionally wheat flour meal.  I was nervous that it wouldn't be up to snuff.  And my husband doesn't lie about things to make me feel better.  If my food sucks, he says it sucks (but in a nice way).  He knows I want to be a good cook, and he knows I'll never get better if he blows sunshine up my butt about crappy food I made.  It's also just not in his nature to lie about that kind of stuff.  So I knew I'd get an honest review from him.

And, it got a "delicious" out of him.  I also thought it was right on the money.  No, it's not shake and bake, but that wasn't the intention.  If I'd wanted something like shake and bake I would have used something with gluten free bread crumbs or the like.  This was just a traditional breaded and baked pork chop.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did tonight!  Sorry about not having pictures.  We didn't eat until near 8:00 and I was starving.  There was no pulling out the camera to document the recipe process tonight!

Gluten Free Breaded and Baked Pork Chops

4 boneless pork chops
2 tbsp. all purpose gluten free flour mix (I used Namaste)
2 tbsp. cornmeal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
1/2 tsp. paprika (I used hot paprika rather than mild)
1/2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 c. (approx.) milk

1.  Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, rubbed sage, paprika, brown sugar and onion powder in a bowl or ziptop plastic bag.

2.  In a shallow bowl, pour milk.  Dip each side of each pork chop in the milk and then coat each pork chop in the flour mixture (I used a zip top bag and shook it up).

3.  Place the floured pork chops in a shallow baking dish that has been oiled, sprayed with non-stick spray or buttered, and bake, uncovered in a 425 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

I served this one with green beans (you'll notice this is a common side dish, as it's my favorite vegetable), and baked potatoes topped with cheesy broccoli.  I was extremely satisfied with the results of this one, and will definitely make it exactly the same way again.  I was a little wary of using this flour blend again because of the less than appetizing results of my first experiment with homemade gluten free pizza crust, but gluten free flours (even all purpose blends) can be good for different things.  This one (Namaste) worked out very well as a breading flour and I was really pleased with the taste.

One of my biggest concerns with this lifestyle is making sure that my dietary restriction doesn't make my husband miserable.  I HAVE to make food that I can eat without getting sick, but I WANT to make food that he will love to eat as well, because that's always been something that's important to me.

Mustard and Apple Baked Pork Chops

The pig is probably the animal that I eat the most of.  I'm not talking pig feet, ears, etc., but I'm willing to eat more parts of the pig than I am just about any other animal.  But, one of the cuts I really love and find to be the most versatile are chops.  Like chicken breasts, they can be doctored and cooked in just about any way that you can imagine.  Now, as much as I like pork chops and apple sauce, I decided to go with something a little more rustic.  This recipe is very simple, has few ingredients, and is almost "un-screw-up-able".  It's also delicious, as many simple recipes are.

Mustard and Apple Baked Pork Chops

3-4 pork chops (you'll see in my photos I only used 3)
salt
pepper
1/3 c. (approximately) spicy brown mustard
1 small apple
1/4 c. diced/sliced onions (your preference)
1/8 c. water or cooking sherry
Drizzle of honey

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2.  In a baking dish, season both sides of the pork chops with salt, pepper and any other seasonings you like (I sometimes use garlic powder and/or paprika).

3.  Generously slather each side of the pork chops with about 1/3 c. of spicy mustard.  I usually just squeeze it out and use either a butter knife or a spatula to spread it on THICKLY.

4.  Cover the chops with onion, and then apple slices.  I usually place a few of the apple slices in the baking dish as well.

5.  Pour about an 1/8 c. of water or cooking sherry around the chops.

6.  Cover the baking dish and place in the oven for about an hour  Check the chops at about 30 minutes in just to make sure that the onions are getting cooked through.

7.  About 40-45 minutes into the cooking time, take the baking dish out, and squeeze a drizzle of honey over the chops.  Recover and put back in the oven for the remainder of the cooking time.

You can serve this with pretty much anything you want: baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, broccoli and cheese, whatever!  It's delicious, versatile and easy and I hope you love it as much as I do!

Plated up with roasted root vegetables

I'm A Pepper!

Although I love Diet Dr. Pepper, it's not the subject of this post.  Yes, I am aware that the artificial sugars used to sweeten diet sodas are probably going to kill me someday, and I've made my peace with that.  Anyway, this entry is about stuffed peppers.  When I was a kid, I hated any type of pepper, no matter how it was prepared.  Coming from mostly Hungarian background, this was largely unacceptable, and I was always told that I would eventually learn to love them.  Thankfully, this was one of the times my mother was right (because the gypsies never did come and take me, unless of course you count all that time I spent at Gram's house as a kid).

As an adult, I enjoy most I dishes involving peppers, and am lucky to be married to a guy who really likes them too.  I made stuffed peppers a few weeks ago because my old recipe had gluten in it due to the use of condensed tomato soup.  However, that version was just not saucy enough for my husband.  Peppers were still on sale the last time I was at the store, so I decided to give it a other shot.  This version got the husband seal of approval and was made from basic pantry ingredients.

Gluten Free Stuffed Peppers

6 bell peppers (any color)
1lb. ground meat (I use beef)
1 1/2-2c. cooked rice or quinoa
1/4c. diced onion
1/2c. diced yellow squash (optional)
1 (14.5oz.) can of diced tomatoes
2 (8oz., or 1, 15oz.) cans of tomato sauce
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Paprika
Shredded cheese (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F

2.  Depending on your preference, you can sauté onions in butter or oil, or you can add them later.  Today, I added the onions later in the cooking process.  If you choose to add them later, just brown your meat and drain the excess fat from the pan

3.  Add diced onion (if you didn't before), diced yellow squash (optional), undrained diced tomatoes, cooked rice/quinoa, and tomato sauce.  Stir to combine.

4.  Season mixture with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika to taste.

5.  I like to let meat mixtures and sauces get nice and cozy with one another, so I cooked this for about 40 minutes, just stirring and tasting, and adding spices if necessary (I used no salt added tomato sauce, so it required some additional seasoning).

6.  While the mixture is cooking, slice tops off of peppers, and remove seeds and ribs.

7.  Boil a large pot of water, and immerse peppers for 3-5 minutes.  Drain into colander and rinse with cold water inside and out.

8.  Dry the peppers and then place upright in a baking dish.  I stuff the bottoms of my peppers with a little cheese, particularly because some have holes in the bottom, and this prevents any of the sauce from the mixture from leaking out.

9.  Stuff peppers with meat mixture (I usually do several layers separated by a bit of cheese).

10.  Bake, uncovered in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

11.  About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, sprinkle the top of the peppers with shredded cheese if you like.


These came out with a very moist, slightly cheesy mixture, and the peppers were very tender.  I served this with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans on the side.  Roasted root vegetables would make a great side to this as well, but all I had was carrots on hand.  I've been craving a carrot, parsnip, squash combo, so I nixed the idea and we'll have it some other time!

What I love about stuffed peppers is that it's a great comfort food and very adaptable.  Add stuff like minced garlic, and other vegetables to the mix.  I've had some yellow squash in the refrigerator, and I wanted to use it up, so I added it this time.  I only had four peppers last night when I made this, so I stuffed four, and saved the mixture.  When I go to the store today, I'll either pick up another few peppers, or I'll pile some of the mixture up on a corn tortilla and crisp it up for myself like a tostada.

I decided not to post my photos of this recipe because the ones I took yesterday came out terrible!  Apparently, I had my husband's fancy camera on a setting that caused the pictures I took to come out completely black (the lens cap was off, I swear!) and the ones that I got today show the peppers as being a little shriveled. . . which is exactly what they should look like, but admittedly, it's not the most appetizing thing in the world.  Hopefully, you'll take my word for how well they looked first time around, and next time I make them, I'll pull out the camera and come back to update the post!

A Tale of Two Pizzas

So, I love pizza.  I could eat pizza almost every day of the week without ever getting tired of it.  Unfortunately, I can't just order a pie from anywhere, or use refrigerated dough tubes, or pick up a CHEAP frozen pie anymore, so eating pizza several times a week really isn't a possibility.  That's probably for the better.  But, I'm certainly not ready to give up my indulgence.  However, my first try at homemade pizza dough really wasn't that successful.  When I was reading up on gluten free recipes, I read frequently that gluten free baking is all about trial and error, with a large emphasis on error.

The error in this case was mostly in the choice of gluten free all purpose flour blend.  Pizza dough recipes are pretty simple for the most part.  Flour, yeast, salt, oil, maybe a sweetener, and water. . . not really that complicated.  But, gluten free flours are different and they usually require a slightly different combination of ingredients and some additional ingredients that mimic gluten like xanthan gum, or guar gum.  Also, depending on the ingredients sometimes the dough doesn't rise well, or at all (some recipes don't involve yeast, or a rise).

Here's the recipe I used:

2 c. gluten free all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 c. warm (110 degree) water
3 tbsp. olive oil (extra for drizzling)

1. Mix flour, yeast, xanthan gum, yeast, sugar and salt to combine.

2.  Add olive oil and water and mix.  Dough will be sticky.  If it's EXTREMELY sticky, add additional flour

3.  Place dough in oiled bowl, turn to coat.  Cover with a towel and place bowl somewhere warm to rise for an hour.

4.  Wrap risen dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour

5.  Roll dough between two pieces of plastic wrap.  Roll edge to create crust.

6.  Brush dough with olive oil.  Blind bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from oven.

7.  Top with sauce, cheese and other toppings.  Return to oven and bake until cheese is melted, toppings are heated, about 5-7 minutes.

This seems very typical for pizza dough recipes.  A lot of gluten free crusts I have seen though don't recommend creating a rolled crust.  Since delicious, puffy crusts are one of my favorite things about pizza, I was looking forward to having this crust work out.  I like thin crust, but a delicious pan style or Chicago style deep dish really puts wind in my sails when it comes to pizza.  But this was just not meant to be.

I don't necessarily think that it's the recipe.  I think the choice of flour may have had a lot to do with it.  But I saved a few crusts so my husband could try it, so I could see whether it was me, or the recipe that was off.  My husband replied that it was the worst pizza that he had ever had.  Some people say that there's no such thing as bad pizza.  I beg to differ.  There is such a thing, and it came out of my oven last Tuesday.

Not for pizza.

Maybe this flour is okay for SOME pizzas, but just not this particular recipe.  I'll have to try this blend in other recipes to see whether it's something that I'm going to continue to use, or whether I'm going to move on to another product.


So, this post is titled "A Tale of Two Pizzas".  The second pizza that I'm reviewing is Kinnikinnick ready made crusts.  When I first decided to go gluten free, I knew that I would be tempted to have pizza.  I wanted to make sure that I had something on hand that was ready made, and foolproof.  I bought a four pack of these crusts at Whole Foods in the frozen section for about $9.00.  These are single-serve portions of pizza crust that do not require rolling out or blind baking.  They're essentially little rectangles that are ready to top, bake, and eat.

Delicious.

Although I love these crusts, I'm not going to throw in the towel on a homemade pizza dough.  I have had several people make excellent suggestions about different recipes that I can try next, and I'm always up for eating pizza, so I'll have plenty more recipes and reviews!

Love, Peace and Latke Grease!

My friend Nate recently left Greensboro for the holidays and traveled to his home in Wilmington, Delaware.  Soon after, he was cooking latkes with his brother.  Even without the pictures he posted on facebook, I was hooked on the idea of making them this week.  Since my husband was going to be out on Tuesday AND Thursday nights, I thought I'd save them for today, Wednesday.  After a HORRIBLE experience with a gluten free flour blend that I used for making homemade pizza crust, I wanted to make sure that I used a more pure flour, or at the least, mixed my own blend that had been proven successful for other folks who've been at this longer than I have.  Instead of a blend though, I decided just to use white rice flour.

This is a very simple recipe, but often, simple things are very satisfying to eat.  I made about 6 latkes that were just larger than a saucer with this recipe.  You can use your choice of oil to fry in, and your amount of oil.  In fact, Nate and his brother were discussing the lack of/overabundance of oil in each other's versions of the latkes.  It's all about personal taste.  I fried these in about 1/4" of vegetable oil in a frying pan.

Gluten Free Latkes
appx. 3 russet potatoes (they were about the size of my hand in a fist)
2/3 c. white rice flour
1 1/3 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
oil for frying
(You can chop up an onion if you choose to, about 2/3 of a yellow onion ought to do it for this recipe)

1.  Set your oven to warm, or a low setting near 200 degrees.

2.  You can either wash and peel the potatoes or just wash them and grate them with a box grater, or use the grater attachment on your food processor.

3.  Heat the oil in the pan for frying.

4.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, pepper and two eggs.  When I did this, I got sort of a doughy paste.  That's fine.  It won't be doughy for long.

5.  Take a handful of potato gratings and squeeze out over another bowl, or the kitchen sink and then mix into the other batter ingredients.  I am not fancy. . . I did this with my hands.  Do this until you've incorporated all the potato gratings.  The batter will get a lot less doughy and a lot more fluid.

6.  Scoop out the batter by 1/4 to 1/3 cups into the oil.  Flatten either with the measuring cup, or a spatula.  While the latke shouldn't be TOO thin, a thinner, lacy latke will get nice and crispy.  Fry until golden brown, flip with a spatula or tongs (I prefer tongs).

7.  Transfer the latkes to paper towels to drain.  As they drain, place the latkes on a foil-lined sheet pan in the oven to keep warm while you finish frying.


When you're all done frying and ready to plate, try serving with applesauce and sour cream!  Nate's brother says you should mix the applesauce with the sour cream for best results, but I haven't been brave enough to try it.  I hope everyone enjoys this recipe as much as I do!  If you sub out some other ingredients, or try a different cooking method, let me know how they come out in the comments!

Not at all homemade: Taco Night

I mentioned in my first post that one of the things that kept me from going GF for a long time was my reliance on convenience foods. I still haven't cleaned out my office at work where I still have a box of instant oatmeal and about half a dozen protein bars. Sometimes, I just don't have time for homemade, or a whole food. Taco nights are usually about convenience for me. Thawed ground meat takes about 20 minutes to turn into tacos and I can easily chop up lettuce and tomatoes and simmer rice and/or beans as sides. But on my last trip to the grocery store, I was surprised to find that not all taco kits are gluten free.

Normally, my husband would just pick up a Taco Bell Home Originals kit for taco night. Seasoning packet, taco shells, tomato mix type stuff is right there in the box. It doesn't get much easier than that. Unfortunately, Taco Bell's taco seasoning isn't gluten free. While Kraft does attest that the corn taco shells ARE gluten free, the seasoning isn't. So, I looked around for other options. The store brand also didn't have all the information on the label I was looking for (and I didn't want to chance it) so I went with Old El Paso.

Both of these products are gluten free, and delicious.  However, I don't want to give Taco Bell Home Originals a bad name.  They have many products that are gluten free, but the taco seasoning packets are not one of them.  I served their fat free refried beans as a side.  But, so that you have the information, here's a list of their Home Originals products that are gluten free:

Ready to Eat Dips:
Black Bean con Queso
Chili con Queso with Beef
Medium Salsa con Queso
Mild Salsa con Queso

Refried Beans
Original
Fat Free
Vegetarian Blend

Restaurant Sauce:
Mild
Hot

Taco Sauce:
Medium
Mild

Taco Shells (corn only, flour tortillas are not GF)
Thick 'n Chunky Salsa:
Medium
Mild

This information was gathered from gfoverflow.com.  Remember though that this is just for Taco Bell Home Originals: what is used in the fast food restaurants may be different (I know the taco shells at the restaurant are not listed as a GF item) so be sure to check their website if you're planning on eating there.

Of course, we did up the tacos with the normal fixings like lettuce, tomato, cheese, and sour cream.  It's really no different than a normal "convenience food" taco night.  The preparation was just as easy.  Now that I know which mixes and shells are okay for me to eat, shopping for these items will be just as simple as it was before.  If you're feeling up to the challenge, you can of course, always make your own taco shells.  One of the things that I keep on hand in the house nowadays is a pack of corn tortillas.  I know that some folks going GF also avoid corn, but it doesn't seem to agitate me at all, so I eat corn products.

You can either fry the tortillas in oil in a skillet on medium heat (drain on a paper towel after frying), or bake them.  If baking, you should check your oven rack.  If you have really wide, or very small spaces in the grate, this might not work for you.  But, if your oven rack is like many, you can drape the tortillas over them and bake.

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Wrap four of the tortillas in a slightly damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds to steam
3. Coat both sides of the tortilla with olive oil or cooking spray
4. (at this point, you can spice up your shells with seasonings like chili powder, paprika, etc)
5. Drape the tortilla over two closely spaced places on the oven rack and bake til crispy (about 7 to 8 minutes)
6. Repeat until you have the number of tortillas you need!