Joe Siclari has a lot to answer for
Jul. 30th, 2007 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gerisullivanThe subject line isn't news to those who know the fan. It's now 3+ years since I lived at Fanhihall for 4 months and I'm still thankful for the habits and courage I picked up in 4 months of watching Joe cook and thoroughly enjoying the results of his creative, adventuresome approach to the process.
My original plan for Saturday night dinner was to stuff the rotisserie basket full of chicken breasts, but when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elaine_brennan, geraty, and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some vegetables, I succumbed to the lure of summer. I came home with a watermelon, cherries, and steaks. Yes, Elaine and I picked up squash, asparagus, and broccoli, too.
I fired up the grill for the first time this year...and I'm not at all certain I used it more than once last year. Hmmm...must grill more often. The steaks were delicious. But that did leave chicken breasts that needed cooking.
I was out shopping again today. Something about washing machine hoses that decided to start leaking rather profusely -- while I was watching them, as luck had it! Yep, time to replace those. And pick up that water softener salt, and, well, I had quite a list by the time I headed out the door.
The chicken was on my mind as I shopped. Hmmm...chicken salad sounded good. Okay, so I've never made chicken salad before. It really couldn't be that hard.
I stopped by the deli counter at the grocery store to ask about the ingredients in their chicken salad. I could see the celery, but the 5 or 6 different forms of sugar came as a surprise. I picked up some interesting onions -- cipolline, red pearl, and shallots -- plus some celery and a remarkable amount of other groceries, and headed home. One might think I had more company coming or something.
Much to my surprise, all 4 of the breasts fit into the rotisserie basket that I thought would only hold a pair. I had one for dinner tonight, and prepped the rest of the chicken for the salad I plan to serve for lunch [Bad username or site: deb geisler @ livejournal.com] on Monday...and most likely for another lunch with Susan the next day.
Deb gave me some ideas for sweet and savory salads. A quick Google search turned up some others. I didn't make any of them.
The flavors are now blending on my own 3-onion chicken salad with curried, herbed mayonnaise. I went with scallions rather than the shallots, wanting the Italian and red pearl onions to have center stage on the onion front. The salad already had some zip to it -- I think it's going to be pretty tasty by the time Deb gets here.
The curried, herbed mayo just kind of happened. It's a very Joe sort of thing -- reach in the cupboard, pull out some spices, and put them together with curiosity and confidence. I wasn't that daring -- savory, thyme, and dill plus the curry powder, all in amounts sufficient to make their presence known. Which means 3-4 times as much spice as I ever used without a specific recipe before those 4 months of watching Joe.
I suppose it's possible that the salad will turn inedible overnight. I doubt it, but if it does, I'm going to regret that Auntie Cathie's Bakery and Roadside Stand is closed on Mondays.
My original plan for Saturday night dinner was to stuff the rotisserie basket full of chicken breasts, but when
elaine_brennan, geraty, and I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some vegetables, I succumbed to the lure of summer. I came home with a watermelon, cherries, and steaks. Yes, Elaine and I picked up squash, asparagus, and broccoli, too.I fired up the grill for the first time this year...and I'm not at all certain I used it more than once last year. Hmmm...must grill more often. The steaks were delicious. But that did leave chicken breasts that needed cooking.
I was out shopping again today. Something about washing machine hoses that decided to start leaking rather profusely -- while I was watching them, as luck had it! Yep, time to replace those. And pick up that water softener salt, and, well, I had quite a list by the time I headed out the door.
The chicken was on my mind as I shopped. Hmmm...chicken salad sounded good. Okay, so I've never made chicken salad before. It really couldn't be that hard.
I stopped by the deli counter at the grocery store to ask about the ingredients in their chicken salad. I could see the celery, but the 5 or 6 different forms of sugar came as a surprise. I picked up some interesting onions -- cipolline, red pearl, and shallots -- plus some celery and a remarkable amount of other groceries, and headed home. One might think I had more company coming or something.
Much to my surprise, all 4 of the breasts fit into the rotisserie basket that I thought would only hold a pair. I had one for dinner tonight, and prepped the rest of the chicken for the salad I plan to serve for lunch [Bad username or site: deb geisler @ livejournal.com] on Monday...and most likely for another lunch with Susan the next day.
Deb gave me some ideas for sweet and savory salads. A quick Google search turned up some others. I didn't make any of them.
The flavors are now blending on my own 3-onion chicken salad with curried, herbed mayonnaise. I went with scallions rather than the shallots, wanting the Italian and red pearl onions to have center stage on the onion front. The salad already had some zip to it -- I think it's going to be pretty tasty by the time Deb gets here.
The curried, herbed mayo just kind of happened. It's a very Joe sort of thing -- reach in the cupboard, pull out some spices, and put them together with curiosity and confidence. I wasn't that daring -- savory, thyme, and dill plus the curry powder, all in amounts sufficient to make their presence known. Which means 3-4 times as much spice as I ever used without a specific recipe before those 4 months of watching Joe.
I suppose it's possible that the salad will turn inedible overnight. I doubt it, but if it does, I'm going to regret that Auntie Cathie's Bakery and Roadside Stand is closed on Mondays.
