What’s Cooking Wednesday with Tawna Fenske

USA Today bestselling romantic comedy author shares a recipe from Marine for Hire

In the four years since Marine for Hire hit shelves, I’ve heard from lots of readers who connect with my heroine’s fear that everyone else got the top-secret mom manual, and she’s just faking it.

I can relate.

Okay, most of us can’t relate to being swept off our feet by a hot Marine who changes diapers, cooks dinner, and doles out mind-blowing orgasms like candy.

We can’t have everything.

But we can have the super-easy potato flake chicken recipe Sherri whips up in the book because it’s something my own parents taught me to make when I was little. It’s one of those easy-peasy main dishes you can throw together with just a few ingredients.

Here’s what you need:

5-6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs (drumsticks are fine, too, or any pieces that are similar to each other in size)
Roughly one cup of instant mashed potato flakes (dry)
A few tablespoons of parmesan cheese (optional)
One egg
Salt and pepper
Whatever the @#$% you have. We’ll get to that in a sec.

Caveat:

This is one of those recipes I’ve never actually measured, so these are all ballpark quantities that don’t need to be precise. If you don’t have parmesan or you only have half the potato flakes and decide to substitute some panko breadcrumbs for the rest, I promise this will all still work. This recipe rocks because there is almost no way you can screw it up.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375-degrees Fahrenheit.
Beat your egg in one bowl
In another bowl, dump your potato flakes, parmesan, salt, and pepper to taste.
Now add spices. Seriously, whatever the @#$% you have will work, and that’s half the fun of this. When we were kids, my brother and I were each allowed to grab a couple jars from the spice cabinet and sprinkle a little of each into the bowl. Toss in a dash or two of whatever rolls your socks up, but my personal faves are sage, oregano, cinnamon, and garlic powder.
Mix well to blend.
Dip each piece of chicken in the egg, followed by rolling it in the potato flake mixture to coat. Place skin-side up on a nonstick baking sheet.
Bake for 45-50 minutes.
If you like your skin extra crispy and golden, broil for the last 1-2 minutes (but watch carefully so it doesn’t burn).

Voila! Super easy and tasty. It pairs great with salad and a chilled glass of Marlborough sauvignon blanc, and it’s fun to experiment with different things from the spice cabinet. Cheers!

P.S. Marine for Hire is on sale right now for only 99-cents, so grab it if you want to meet Sheri and her hot Marine manny, Sam!

She thought she’d sworn off military men for good…

Sam Kercher is every inch a wickedly hot Marine. Tall. Sexy. Lethal. When his best friends call in a favor, Sam is forced to face an entirely new line of duty—playing nanny for their newly divorced sister and her squirming seven-month-old twin boys. If Sam can dissemble an M16 in his sleep, diaper duty should be a cakewalk…right?

Unfortunately, Operation Nanny isn’t quite that simple. Sheridan has sworn off overbearing military men, so Sam must protect her from her dirtbag ex without revealing just how much he has in common with her brothers. Or that he’s been ordered not to touch her. Ever. Problem is, Sheri’s one hell of a gorgeous woman, and Sam wants her bad.

Protect the girl. Care for the babies. Hide his identity. And keep his hands off. But even the most disciplined Marine has weaknesses…and Sheridan is one Sam might not be able to resist.

Tawna Fenske is a USA Today bestselling author who writes humorous fiction, risque romance, and heartwarming love stories with a quirky twist. Her offbeat brand of romance has received multiple starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, one of which noted, “There’s something wonderfully relaxing about being immersed in a story filled with over-the-top characters in undeniably relatable situations. Heartache and humor go hand in hand.” Tawna lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband, step-kids, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets. She loves hiking, snowshoeing, standup paddleboarding, and inventing excuses to sip wine on her back porch. She can peel a banana with her toes and loses an average of twenty pairs of eyeglasses per year. To learn more about all of Tawna’s books, visit www.tawnafenske.com