Chicken Salad on Chapoquoit Island

Recently I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon at a friend's house on Chapoquoit Island in West Falmouth. The Island overlooks Chapoquoit Beach and a small marsh on one side, and West Falmouth harbor on the other. Back in the 1890's it was known as Hog Island, and was used as a livestock pasture, but once it became accessible families built beautiful shingle style homes to enjoy their summer months on Cape Cod. As you drive by the beach in your approach to the island it's easy to imagine the elegant lawn parties and festive summer celebrations that took place over the last century. It's still the perfect setting for an old-fashioned croquet party, an elegant wedding, or a quiet spot to enjoy a late summer day.

The view from Kathy's kitchen

Kathy has her desk nestled underneath this oval window, and if she happens to be sitting there when you arrive you'll see her smiling face in the lower portion. As soon as you enter the eat-in kitchen you'll want to plop yourself down and relax. That's just the way this lovely old house is. It's warm, welcoming and takes you back to a quieter, less complicated time in our lives.

We were together for a meeting and I offered to bring chicken salad and mixed greens for lunch. On the way over I stopped at Coonamessett Farm to pick up their delicious field greens. Take a look at their site, it's a 20 acre sustainable farm in Hatchville (part of Falmouth) that also has a shop and small cafe where they serve up some good home cooking. Additionally, they offer farm dinners and other creative fare on certain nights.

Chapoquoit Chicken Salad (serves 6-8)

4 split chicken breasts (cooking instructions here)

1 cup red grapes

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

1 granny smith apple, diced

1/2 cup mayonnaise (Hellmann's for me)

Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

Use all organic meats and fruits, if possible.

Prepared the chicken breast according to the directions in the link I provided above. Allow the chicken to cool, then remove from the bone, peel off the skin and dice into small cubes. Add the celery, almonds, apple, grapes, and parsley.  Gently mix in the mayo with a rubber spatula so you don't bruise the fruit. Add salt and pepper, to taste.  I tossed the greens lightly with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 I love this combination for a light lunch. With the fruit in the salad you really won't need to serve dessert, but if you feel differently these almond cookies would be an ideal accompaniment.

Tomatoes and Burrata a la Nicholas

Yes, my nephew was here over the weekend and we cooked, as that is one shared passion. Traveling to France is another, but we'll save that for another weekend. Right now we are enjoying the tail end of the lazy summer days here on Cape Cod, and what better way to celebrate than honoring the pomme d'amour, or pomodoro.  Nicholas brought a collection of heirloom tomatoes, burrata and his favorite balsamic vinegar. 

Burrata is a soft fresh mozzarella cheese that is formed into a pouch and filled with the leftover curds and cream from the day's cheese making. It originated it the Puglia region (the heel) of Italy. I personally want to thank the first cheese maker who decided to turn these leftovers into such a delicious creation.

This simple salad of sliced tomatoes, layered with pieces of burrata, then drizzled with a good quality extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar is a favorite summer treat.  We placed the platter in the middle of table and dug in, family-style, like good Italians.

Heirloom Tomatoes with Burrata (Serves 4)
4-6 heirloom tomatoes (quartered)
16 oz of Burrata (Nicholas got his at Whole Foods)
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Fresh basil leaves (6-8)

Quarter tomatoes, add a little salt and pepper, and set aside. Cut each ball of cheese into quarters. Chop the basil leaves into thin strips, or chiffonade. Layer tomatoes and cheese, then drizzle with oil and vinegar. Just a little as you want it to enhance the flavor of the tomatoes and cheese, not overpower them. Sprinkle the basil chiffonade over the top. Molto delizioso!

Sweet and Savory Watermelon Salad

Recently I've come across recipes for watermelon salads that mix the sweet with the savory. I love this combination of flavors, and decided to give it try for lunch today.

Here are a few posts that inspired me:

One Hungry Mutha

Verses From My Kitchen

So with that inspiration, and a container of juicy ripe watermelon,  I created my own version which includes salami. Yes, salami, tomatoes, watermelon, feta cheese, fresh basil, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar tastes great!

Sweet and Savory Watermelon Salad (serves 2)

2 cups of ripe seedless watermelon, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

8-10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

Applegate Genoa Salami, 6 slices cut into strips

3 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Place your ingredients in  a bowl and drizzle with olive oil (about a tsp) and balsamic vinegar (about 1/2 tsp). Gently toss with a rubber spatula. Adjust taste with a little bit more olive oil and vinegar, if needed. Dive in and be prepared for a summer taste sensation.

Summer Curried Chicken Salad

I love a good chicken salad. It's such a satisfying meal on a warm summer night, especially when I've just pick a head of red leaf lettuce from our neighborhood garden. Yes, I have a wonderful neighbor who plants a large garden and encourages us all to pick from it. Richard is a skilled gardener, and I'm one of his regular pickers.

With curry on my mind, I grabbed an apple and some almonds to get started. I was eying a nice ripe mango, but wasn't sure if it would work, so after I prepared the dressing I did a taste test. I took a piece of chicken, apple, almond and mango then dribbled a little bit of dressing on it, gave it a taste, and voilà a recipe was born.

Summer Curried Chick Salad (serves 4)
3 Boneless breast of chicken (trimmed)
1/4 cup slivered almonds (toasted)
1/2 apple (cut in small cubes)
1 ripe mango (cut into small cubes)
2 stalks of celery
1 carrot
Chopped fresh chives

Curried Mayo Yogurt Dressing
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp of yellow curry powder (or a little more to taste)
1.5 tbsp of Indian Rogan Josh sauce

Place the chicken breasts in a pan of water. Add one stalk of celery and the carrot. Bring it to a boil then turn off the heat, cover the pan and let sit for 20 minutes. (This cooking technique is from Sara Leah Chase's Nantucket Open House Cookbook and it's foolproof.) Remove the chicken from the pan and allow to cool, and then dice into 1/2 inch cubes. Add one stalk of diced celery, almonds, chopped chives, apple and mango. Blend in the dressing a tablespoon at a time to coat the chicken. You can save any extra dressing for several weeks. It makes a nice dip for veggies. Plate it up and you'll have a nice light summer meal.

Stella D'Oro Daylily

Note: The cooking technique works just as well with bone-in chicken breasts.

Coleslaw: A Summer Side Dish

Those who like coleslaw usually have a preference for either a mayonnaise based, or vinaigrette type dressing. For me it's the latter. My first experience with a vinaigrette dressing was at the Clam Shack on Falmouth Harbor. Their version is a combination of red and white cabbage tossed in a light oil and vinegar dressing. I'm pretty sure a lot of restaurants use something that comes out of a giant tub with all kinds of ingredients that are difficult, if not impossible, to pronounce. The Clam Shack's homemade slaw was just perfect alongside my clam strips. I was converted and inspired.

So with summer almost upon us it's time to start making some fresh and tasty side dishes to accompany grilled fish, burgers or chicken salad.  Or maybe just serving your slaw over some steamed brown rice with chick peas:

Whichever you choose, I think you'll be happy with the results. I make a big batch so I can nibble on it for days. It's a great snack, especially when you add the apples. It gives you a bit of sweet, combined with a bit more savory.

Coleslaw with Miso Dressing: Serves 6-8
1/2 head of white cabbage
1/2 head of red cabbage
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 organic apple, diced (your choice, I like Granny Smith or Gala)
1 handful dried cranberries (organic)
1 tbsp Victoria Taylor's Toasted Sesame Ginger Seasoning

Miso dressing:
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp tamari (natural soy sauce)
1 tbsp sweet white miso
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp water
Place the ingredients for the Miso dressing in a small bowl. Whisk until  well blended.

Chop the cabbage in thin strips (removing the core first)

 

Add the chopped apples and dried cranberries. Pour in enough dressing to lightly coat the vegetables. You can always add a bit more before serving, if desired. Keeping it light allows for the flavor of the vegetables to come through.

Just before serving toss with 1 tbsp Victoria Taylor's Toasted Sesame Ginger Seasoning which give it a nice spicy kick. Enjoy!

Summer Salads: Enjoying nature's bounty

For a person who loves to cook fresh food, I couldn't ask for a better neighbor. Richard plants a beautiful garden, which he encourages the neighborhood to pick from, so yesterday I came home with this wonderful basket of veggies:

Which I turned into these summer salads:

Roasted Turnip and Beet Salad

Trim and peel the beets and turnips. Quarter the beets and place in a roasting dish. Add enough olive oil to coat, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Quarter the turnip (notice I left a little of the stem on as this caramelizes and tastes yummy) and place in a separate roasting pan. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

(Please note: I did go back and quarter these after I took the picture)
Cover both with foil and place in a 375 degree oven. Roast until tender. Beets will take about 25 minutes and the turnip was close to an hour. Remove the beets from the oven (leave them in the baking dish with the cooking juices) and sprinkle with 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar. Allow them to sit for several hours.
After you have cooked the turnip until tender (fork inserts easily), remove the foil and turn the oven up to 400 degrees. Roast until they just start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow them to sit in the roasting pan for several hours (in the cooking juices).

To serve, place a bed of lettuce on a serving platter and arrange the turnip on one side and the beets on the other.

Take a tbsp of olive oil and add to the pan you cooked the turnip in and mix well. This will combine with the oil from the cooked turnip giving it a delicious flavor. Drizzle this over the turnip.

Add a tsp of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of red wine vinegar to the liquid in the pan from the beets. Mix and drizzle this over the beets.  Sprinkle both the turnip and beets with crumbled goat cheese before serving.

Corn and Roasted Zucchini Salad with Cherry Tomatoes:

Cook 6-7 ears of corn.  About 5 minutes in boiling water. Cut the corn off the cob.

Cut the zucchini into a 1/4 inch dice:

Lightly coat the zucchini with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until just tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Then add the zucchini and corn to a mixing bowl. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the roasting pan to get the extra olive oil which has that wonderful flavor from the roasted zucchini. Slice about a dozen cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise. Add to the salad and gently combine using a rubber spatula. This will prevent the zucchini from breaking up. Add a tsp of seasoned rice vinegar, a tsp of red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper, to taste. Allow to sit at room temperature for a few hours before serving. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate just be sure to bring it up to room temperature before serving, as it will taste much better. You may need to add a little bit more vinegar to bring out the flavor.

Tortellini with Pesto
You can find my pesto recipe here. Cook a good quality cheese tortellini (I used whole wheat three cheese from Buitoni) until tender. Drain and reserve about 3-4 tbsp of the pasta water. Add this back to the tortellini and toss with a generous amount of pesto sauce so that the pasta is well coated. Place in a serving platter and sprinkle with your favorite grated cheese (mine is Pecorino Romano).

My favorite summer dessert is fresh fruit. I had some beautiful cherries which I pitted with my nifty cherry/olive pitter from Williams Sonoma. Actually the one pictured is a little different than the one I purchased, but I'm sure it will do the trick:

 I added these to watermelon, mango, blueberries and plums:

My nephew Nicholas came for dinner and threw this together in about 10 minutes:

The salads made for a wonderful light summer dinner on very hot evening. The cake was delish, too.

Yesterday's egg salad becomes today's lunch

Yes, yesterday's recipe for egg salad is being served up for lunch today!

Tossed  Salad:
Organic mixed mesclun greens (or what ever greens you like)
Sliced beets (cut into strips)
Organic cherry tomatoes (sliced in half lengthwise)
Peas (frozen organic that I nuke in water for about 2 minutes, then drain)
Baby Carrots (sliced)
Kalamata olives (pitted and sliced)
Pecorino Romano cheese (a healthy sprinkle)
Chopped fresh basil (optional)

Prepare your salad ingredients and then toss with extra virgin olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, and a dash of red wine vinegar.  Salt and pepper, to taste. Always go light on the vinegar, as you can easily add more.  A good salad should not be overdressed.  If you have a lot of excess oil and vinegar in the bottom of your salad bowl, then you've overdone it.  So start out light and taste as you go along.  Transfer the tossed salad to a serving bowl and top with a scoop of egg salad. Enjoy!

If you have any questions about any of the recipes please use the comments box, or link, below to submit your question.

Perfect Egg Salad

Years ago my sister shared the British method for cooking the 'perfect' hard boiled egg.  The result is a tender white with a bright yellow yolk. You'll never see that green edge on the yolk that commonly occurs from overcooking the eggs.  It hasn't failed me yet, so I've put together an egg salad recipe using this foolproof cooking method.

Egg Salad
12 eggs (organic are best)
2 stalks of celery
1/4 white onion
1/3 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp celery salt
2 tsp curry powder (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste


Place 12 eggs in a pan and fill with water covering the eggs by a few inches  (Brits keep their eggs at room temperature, but cold eggs work just fine)

Bring the pan to a boil and then turn off the heat and place a cover on the pan.  Let stand for 18 minutes.  Bring pan to sink and drain most of the water then add ice to cool.

Chop celery, that has been peeled and trimmed, to a dice.  Chop white onion to a fine dice.  Set aside.  Peel your eggs and chop them in a bowl using a pastry chopping tool, or you can use one of those hand choppers.   Add the diced celery and onion.

Mix in the mayonnaise, mustard, celery salt, and curry powder (if desired). Salt and pepper, to taste. Serve on a toasted baguette or use for finger sandwiches.  Add a scoop to a tossed salad.

A perfectly cooked egg makes all the difference when making egg salad. Enjoy!
If you have any questions about this recipe, or any others on this blog, please use the comment box, or link, below to submit your question.