Summer Supper

Summer has arrived with a vengeance!    Hot and humid, but nothing is 

better than a cool summer chicken salad on the veranda. 

Everyone has their secret chicken salad recipe..but I don't.   Most poach chicken and then cool, but I always used left over roasted chicken.  The flavor is so much better.   If no leftover...I will roast a chicken and use the next day.  Cooks Illustrated highly recommend that you never use warm chicken since it soaks up too much of the dressing and you need to add more.  

Today's leftover chicken included chopped onion and celery with Kraft Mayo to bind.  I added salt and pepper, to taste.  To finish the plate, chilled broccoli, cucumber, tomato asparagus all topped with honey roasted sunflower seeds.  A nice slice of cheddar to enjoy with a chilled glass of rosé.  

Bon Appétit and Enjoy 

YOUR Wonderful World!

Chicken Firecracker Noodle Salad

Something quick for a hot summer supper!    

I blanched the snow pea pods and cooked rice noodles earlier in the day.  Quick to assemble with minimal cooking. 

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Chicken Firecracker Noodle Salad

Oriental, Salads

4 oz Thai Rice Noodles
4 quart boiling water
2 ts fish sauce
2 tb canola oil
2 tb rice wine vinegar
1/4 c snow pea pods; blanched & chilled
12 oz chicken breast; thin slice
1 ts soy sauce
2 tb rice wine vinegar
1/2 ts five spice powder
1 ts ginger; grated
4 clove garlic; rough chop
2 tb Hot Chili Sauce; Sriracha Brand
1/2 c English Cucumber, cubed
1/4 c peanuts; chopped
3 tb cilantro; rough chop

Bring water to boil. Turn off heat and add Thai Rice noodles to soak for 4 minutes. Immediately drain and plunge into ice water bath to stop cooking. Rinse and spin dry. The noodles must be dry...no soggy salad here!

Place noodles in bowl and add fish sauce, canola oil, rice wine vinegar, (white vinegar will be a nice substitute) and snow pea pods. Stir to combine and refrigerate until serving time. This can be made earlier with great results.

Slice chicken breast in very thin slices. Placing in freezer for twenty minutes will help to firm it up for easier slicing. A very sharp knife will also aid in the task. Place in bowl.

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, five spice powder, grated ginger and chopped garlic, and hot chili sauce. Stir to combine. Stir into sliced chicken and marinate for one hour or longer.

In HOT pan, saute chicken until cooked.  This will happen very quickly.  Do not over cook!  Add cucumber and heat through. 

Plate Noodle & Pea pods.   Top with sautéed chicken.  Garnish with chopped peanuts and  cilantro.    Serve with spring roll or fried wontons if desired.

Notes:  ©WHStoneman

Recipe Inspiration adapted from Chef John Mitzewich

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I would purchase ginger root and it would go bad before using it all up.  I found that it goes into the freezer in a baggie and will last forever.   Just grate the frozen ginger and it is ready to use.

Cilantro Chopped Peanuts & English Cucumber

Quick Sauté

Ready for Serving with crispy Spring Roll

Bon Appétit

and 

Enjoy YOUR Wonderful World!

Jerk!!

Just heard the radio...heat index in Memphis at 4PM is 119F.   Over here in the eastern part of Knoxville, Tennessee, it is just too damn hot!

But ....we still need to fix something for supper.   Got a great deal in boneless chicken thighs.   This has to be my favorite piece for any chicken dish.   Chicken breasts easily can turn out dry since they do not have enough fat to keep them moist and juicy.  

Over the years, I have found from Steve Ratchlin--Miami Spice how to create wonderful full flavored Caribbean cooking and BBQ.   The Jerk Brine here is something I have worked on with Steve's cookbook  guidance.    

In the Jerk Brine for three hours...then the GRILL!

Whenever I put chicken in brine, it always floats.   

I use this technique to solve the problem!!

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Jerk Brine

1 qt water
3  garlic clove; minced
1 ts cinnamon
1 tb all spice
1 ts nutmeg
1 ts cloves
1 tb red pepper flakes
1/2 c kosher salt
Combine all ingredients and stir to dissolve salt. You can speed up the process by using a food processor or a blender. Usually, I will add all ingredients in the blender and add two cups water to mix. Then add balance of water in a bowl to cover meat. This is enough for 3 to 4 pounds of chicken or pork.

Notes:  WHStoneman

Yield: 1 quart


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Now to round out the meal, I serve the jerk BBQ chicken with my home made Mango  Chutney.   My friends from Miami got me hooked on mangoes a couple of years ago when they brought me four football sized mangoes from their garden paradise in Miami.  Now I have to resort to grocery mangoes about the size of small grapefruit, but they still are good.   Freshly shredded Cole slaw with crisp Granny Smith apples, fresh sliced garden tomatoes with a cool scoop of cottage cheese.  Sounds like a pretty good low carb supper.   

Bon Appetit!

A Casual Night for Tacos

Too Hot...too humid for lots of cooking.   The perfect night for Make 'em yourself Tacos.  

Picked a couple of fresh tomatoes off our withering vines.   My plants looked very healthy at the beginning of July..but as of late, they are looking pitiful and my tomatoes are hard...not soft and ripe like last years' crop.  I don't know if it was the heat but we didn't have blossom end rot like in the past.  Heard a tip that Epsom salt is what the plants need...but oh well...next year will be better, I hope!

I found this copycat recipe ten years ago and since that time, I have never bought a "taco seasoning pak" that every grocery store sells.   This is just as good, easy to make and you probably have everything in your pantry right now to make this.  A teaspoon or more of chipolte powder adds a nice bit of smoky heat.  

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Lawry's Taco Spices And Seasoning

8 tablespoon flour
2 2/3 tablespoons chili powder
2 2/3 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 1/3 tablespoons cumin
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.   Whisk to combine and stores well in dry container.  

To make seasoning sauce, add two tablespoons to 3/4 cup water to 1 pound browned ground meat. Bring to boil, cook 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Makes filling for 12 tacos (about 3 Tbs) each.

Yield: 8 servings

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Ready for Serving 

Shredded Cheddar, Sour Cream, Tomatoes and Red Onion for serving 

When we have tacos, we make a salad with avocado and ranch dressing.  You can add your favorites including refritos to the taco.   Great eating on a hot evening.   

A GREAT Night for Grilling

Time to get the Weber dome grill fired up for NY Angus Strip Steaks.    I find coarse Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper is the perfect seasoning for a great steak.  

I always keep salad plates and glasses in the freezer.   They are always ready for fresh juice in the morning...or a nice frosted cocktail glasses in the afternoon.  

Our local Wine Maven suggested Chateau Fleur De Rigaud Bordeaux Superieur from France to accompany our steaks.   Spot on with that suggestion.  It is a blend of 60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.   Smooth, velvety and perfect with a great price of $14 per bottle.   That looks to be something  a case or two should be added to our meager "cellar".  

My best find of the week was spinach....a full pound of precleaned baby spinach that was yearning to be made into one of my favorite dishes, Boursin Creamed Spinach. 

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Boursin Creamed Spinach

1 tablespoon unsalted butter:
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoon flour
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
5.5 ounce Boursin cheese
10 ounce spinach; thawed, squeezed dry
2 tablespoon Parmesan cheese,grated
1 teaspoon lemon zest, minced
  salt and white pepper; to taste
  cayenne and nutmeg; to taste
  Top spinach with:
2/3 cup bread crumbs; coarse
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon olive oil
  salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425F.  Coat shallow 2 cup baking dish with nonstick spray; set aside.

Saute onion in butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook until soft.  Add flour and stir to coat onion.  Cook about 1 minute.

Gradually whisk milk and cream into onion mixture, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Simmer sauce for 1 minute. Stir in Boursin a little at a time until melted and smooth.  Remove saucepan from heat.

Add spinach, Parmesan, lemon zest, and seasonings.  Transfer spinach mixture to prepared baking dish. Combine crumbs, butter, oil, and seasonings .  Top spinach with crumbs, packing them to adhere.

Dish may be covered and chilled at this point to be baked later.  Place dish on a baking sheet and bake until crumbs are golden and sauce is bubbly, 20 minutes or a little more.


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Ready for the Oven

Hot and Sizzle Platter with NY Strip and Boursin Creamed Spinach

Bon Appetit and Wishing you Another Great Meal! 

What a Heat Wave!

What a hot summer we have already endured!!  Looks like today will be another scorcher topping out above 95F.   Yesterday's reading was 97F and my outdoor reading was 108F on the north side of the house.

Once again...what's for supper and heating up the house is out of the question.   Last week, I got the crock pot out of storage and used it on the veranda.   That really works great on a hot day.  

Opening up the refrigerator, I was looking for something "cool" and refreshing.   First thing I saw was cottage cheese....then cantaloupe...and then.....  BACON.   Time for a BLT sandwich for supper.   Tomatoes are also ripening and ready for eating...love this time of year.  I have a small convection oven that I use occasionally and this would be the perfect appliance for cooking the bacon.    Years ago, I discovered, that cooking, or actually "roasting" bacon in the oven (350F--15-18 minutes) is the perfect way to prepare bacon.   Placing the bacon on a rack keeps it out of the grease, there is NO shrinkage like frying and the bacon slices remain perfectly FLAT.   There is nothing more irritating that having a bacon slice curl up and shrink to half its original size.  

And here is supper for that hot, hot evening's meal.  

Keep cool...and they say a cooling off is coming this weekend!