Curried Chicken Sandwiches

I made these last week for dinner.  I used a rotisserie chicken and sliced sourdough from Sam's Club.  Artisan bread would have been better, but I didn't have time to make any.  The bread was dry, so I put some olive oil mixed with lemon juice and a little salt on the top.  It was really tasty.  We had mixed greens with the same dressing, sliced cucumber and grapes on the side.  Some of the girls ate the chicken separate from the bread and had strawberry jam on the bread instead.  Easy, no cooking, and good!  Perfect for summer.
 

Curried Chicken Sandwiches From Sunset--May 2009 page 106
Lightly season mayonnaise with curry powder. Toast sliced sourdough bread and spread half the slices with your favorite mango chutney (I like Patak's brand) and the rest with the curry mayo. Arrange sliced grilled chicken, baby spinach leaves, and sliced English cucumber on half of bread. Top with remaining bread.

Menu

This is my menu from last week.  I am trying to do them in Google Docs so that I can reference them later.  When I do them on paper I loose them.  I will be posting some of the recipes throughout the week.  If you want a certain one, just comment.  Here is the link.

Table Inspiration

 
My Grandma loves dishes and everything else that goes into making a table setting beautiful.  When I was growing up she would give me the assignment of setting a pretty table for Sunday or a family party.  I loved opening the cupboards with her and getting out all kinds of beautiful plates, goblets or cups, table cloths, utensils, place mats, cloth napkins, napkin rings, serving dishes, etc.  She usually had what she wanted in mind and would instruct me how to put everything into place.  I used to open the cupboards and peer in even on days I wasn't setting the table, just so I could get a peak at her pretty things.

I still love a pretty table, but with four young children most the time I  am lucky just to get us fed.  It makes me happy that my oldest is starting to show and interest in setting the table for special occasions.

Luckily for all of us my Grandma Harris still sets a pretty table and she has consented to send me pictures.  This means that every now and again  I will be able to post "Table Inspiration" pictures.  The first one is a patriotic one.  In Utah we still have the 24th of  July coming up, so no need to put your red white and blue away.

Dinner Tonight--Salad

I am thinking of making some sort of cob salad for dinner tonight because I have a lot of lettuce to use up and I have some pork as well.  I saw this salad this morning and it looked really good.   I think I will do something with a   more Asian theme.  I will post about it if it turns out to be the best thing ever.

Star Belly Sneetches

My Mom gave me this good idea for a red, white, and blue breakfast.  

This is my favorite biscuit recipe:

 Baking Powder Biscuits

1 1/2 C flour

3/4 tsp salt

1 T sugar (I increased this to 3 T to make the biscuits sweet)

1 T baking powder

1/3 C canola oil

1/3 to about a 1/2 Cup milk

Mix dry ingredients together.  Add oil and milk all at once and combine.  Add more milk if mixture is too dry. Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut out in star shape using a cookie cutter.  Bake at 450 degrees until brown (8-12  minutes).

**Adapted from a recipe donated by Kathy Swift to my Grandmas ward cookbook.

Notes: I doubled the recipe and got 16, 3 inch stars.  I served them with whipped cream (that had 1 tsp vanilla, sugar to taste and 1 cup raspberries beaten in), raspberry freezer jam, and blueberries on top.

Spencer told the girls that they might turn into star belly sneetches if they wolfed too many of them down.  Luckily they are all still ok.

Watermelon Marinated Steak Kabobs

Gigi sent me this recipe and it was really good. I was excited to find it again just before the fourth!

 

Watermelon Marinated Steak Kabobs

 

1 ½ lbs. Flank steak (the thinner the better)

1 ½ c. cubed and seeded watermelon

¼ c. sugar

½ c. ketchup

¼ c. lime juice

3 minced garlic cloves

2 tsp. minced ginger root

2 tsp. salt (I use a little less)

1 tsp. chili paste (found in the oriental section)

2 tsp. soy sauce

½ c. minced green onions

2 c. cubed watermelon (for skewers)

 

Split the steak lengthwise and cut against the grain into ½ in. thick strips and place in a large zip-lock bag. Puree the watermelon cubes in a blender. Simmer the juice and sugar in a saucepot until reduced by half (about 1 c. syrup). Combine the syrup with ketchup, lime juice, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and green onion. Cool mixture to room temperature. Pour over steak and marinate 1 – 8 hours.

 

Thread meat onto skewers alternating with watermelon cubes.

 

Heat grill to medium high and grill each side 3 – 4 minutes. Serve with lime wedges.

 

Remember to soak your skewers in water for at least one hour so they don’t burn or you can use metal skewers.

 

Enjoy!

Posted via email from heatherbcook's posterous

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread: King Arthur Flour

via kingarthurflour.com

My wheat grinder I got for Christmas is broken and we were out of bread. I thought about making white bread, but I wanted at least a little nutrition in the bread I was going to feed my family. I went to my best baking friend a.k.a. King Arthur Flour and found this recipe. It was a hit! I doubled the recipe and I am wishing I had quadrupled it instead.
I found this comment interesting:
Mary from Virginia Beach:
I substituted pure maple syrup for brown sugar and used 1c. bread flour 1/2 c. of whole wheat and 1c. white whole wheat in order to add to the nutritional value. I let it rest for 20 min. before kneading in my Kitchen Aid mixer and it was fantastic! We ate it in 2 days and now I am making more. Thanks KAF helpline for the advice on substituting. You are the best!
I think I will use some of her substitutions when I make it again.

Posted via web from heatherbcook's posterous

Lobster Salad Rolls with Shaved Fennel and Citrus Recipe - MyRecipes.com

My Mom had some imitation crab she wanted to use up before she leaves for London for six months, so we decided to make these lobster rolls into "crab" rolls instead.  We were also fresh out of fennel so she substituted diced cucumber and celery. The last substitution was a little added sugar (about 1 tsp) to the dressing for the vegetables because it was mouth-puckering tart.

My contribution to the dinner consisted of these lobster rolls.  I made the dough in my bread machine, but you certainly wouldn't need to.  They were fun to make and really good.  I think I will make a few more batches to use as hot dog buns for my little girls birthday party on Wednesday.  

These were really good.  If you have real lobster and real fennel I bet they would be even better.  The home-made rolls/buns made them go from good to great, so try and plan ahead and make them.

Posted via web from heatherbcook's posterous

Gotta start somewhere...

or sometime, really.  This is a blog about my life:

• My name is Heather Cook
• When I was a little girl I used to play "cooking show" where I would measure all the ingredients to a recipe into little bowls and then talk out loud to the air explaining how to put them together to make something fabulous.  I still like to experiment with my food.
• I spend a lot of time cooking for my family.  Sometimes things don't work out, but often I make something really good and I want to take a picture and share it with others before it is eaten and gone forever.
• I won't talk much about my children, but I will talk about mothering and how it relates to nourishing, feeding, and cooking with little ones.
• My Grandma Harris, my mother, my step-mom, my aunts, my husband, my in-laws, and many others have spent time teaching me to cook and bake over the years. I thank them and hope I can entice them to guest post as much as possible.