Baby Shower Tea

One of my beloved friends had her 7th baby recently and we showered her and her new son with a Tea. My contributions to the food table were Chicken Salad Croissants and Olive and Asiago Cheese Bruschetta. I find that poaching the chicken breasts in a broth infused with herbs produces a delicious and moist chicken.

Chicken Salad Croissants

To poach the chicken breasts:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups water
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt

Place the water, onion and garlic powders and salt in a medium sized pot; bring to a boil and simmer. Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer in the hot, seasoned water. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until done. Remove the chicken and place in a shallow bowl to cool. When the chicken has cooled about 20 minutes and are warm to the touch, slice the chicken into small cubes and place in a large bowl.

To make the chicken salad mixture:
1 T. Penzeys Sunny Paris seasoning (available online)
1/2 t. sugar
1/3 c. dried cranberries or pomegranate seeds
1 c. lowfat Greek yogurt
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. chopped, toasted pecans, optional

In a small bowl, add the Sunny Paris seasoning, sugar and dried cranberries or pomegranate seeds to the Greek yogurt and mayonnaise. Stir until well blended. Add this mixture to the diced chicken. Mix and fold until the yogurt-mayonnaise is fully incorporated into the chicken. As a rule of thumb, I use a 2-to-1 ratio of the Greek yogurt to mayonnaise. If the chicken salad is a bit stiff and dry, add enough Greek yogurt and mayonnaise until the chicken salad is moist but not wet. If desired, add the toasted pecans and mix well.

Slice the croissant in half, lengthwise. Toast in a 350F oven for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely. Fill each croissant with 1-2 T. of chicken salad and assemble on your party tray!


Olive and Asiago Cheese Bruschetta
1 loaf Italian bread or French baguette, sliced
1 large bar (8 oz.) Neufchatel cheese (low fat cream cheese)
1/4 sundried tomatoes, diced
1/3 c. grated Asiago cheese
1 small can black olives, sliced

Preheat oven to 350F. Arrange the bread slices on a cookie sheet and toast both sides until light, golden brown; approximately 5-7 minutes each side.

In a medium bowl, mix the Neufchatel cheese, diced sundried tomato, and Asiago cheese until well blended. Spread each toasted slice of bread with the cheese mixture and top with olives.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner Party

Our family has been celebrating St. Patrick's Day with our neighbors for the last few years. Judith of The Ulster Kitchen is one of my favorite chefs and she runs a catering and Irish products company. She and her husband are the consummate hosts. Despite her protests that I didn't need to bring anything, I decided to prepare an appetizer using Kerrygold cheeses that I'd bought at our local Sam's Club. I've had the Dubliner variety but not the Ballyshannon (cream hue) and Red Leicester (orange hue) that were now in my fridge. I know that Kerrygold makes excellent cheeses so I didn't think I would be disappointed with these new varieties.

It was my college friend, Kim, who introduced me to apple and cheddar slices. I didn't grow up eating a lot of cheese. Most of it was consumed on Cuban sandwiches. Well, it's one of my favorite sweet and savory morsels now. I prepared 2 types of cheese appetizers for the St. Patrick's Day dinner party. One was topped with 3 Agrume Preserves and a grape half (pictured); the other was topped with an apple slice, dab of Fig and Roasted Shallot Tapenade, and drizzled with local honey (not pictured). I found the 3 Agrume Preserves by Twin Oaks Farm (Bonifay, FL) at the Seaside Farmers Market. Their 3 Agrume Preserves includes Satzuma Mandarins, Florida Oranges and Meyer Lemons...truly delicious!

Kerrygold Cheese Appetizer

Kerrygold Ballyshannon, sliced thickly (approx. 1/4")
Kerrygold Red Leicester Cheese, sliced thickly (approx. 1/4")
green grapes, halved
3 Agrume Preserves or other Citrus Preserves

apple slices
Napa Valley Fig & Roasted Shallot with Sherry Tapenade
local honey

Arrange cheese slices on a platter. Top each slice with 1/8 tsp. 3 Agrume Preserves and a green grape half. As an alternative, top with an apple slice, a small dab of Fig and Roasted Shallot Tapenade, and drizzle with honey.

Chinese New Year's Eve Supper

It's been a while since my last post. Let's just say I took a busy Mom hiatus this fall driving my kids to orchestra rehearsals, soccer practices, after school clubs (Math, Music), karate lessons (culminating in 2 jr. black belts) ... HI-YAH!!! It's a new year, both on the Gregorian and Chinese Lunar calendars, and it's high time for a foodie blog post to breathe some life back into this baby! I find taking the food shots time consuming and a disruption to my cooking chi but made it a priority over the last few weeks.

For Chinese New Year (a belated Gung Hay Fat Choy!), we enjoyed a plate of Foo Pey Quon (Bean Curd Rolls), roast duck, barbecue roast pork, salt and pepper shrimp, steamed gai lan (Chinese broccoli) drizzled with oyster sauce and sesame oil, and of course the ubiquitous steamed white rice. We usually purchase the roast meats from a local Chinese barbecue place; it's a bit challenging to roast the duck properly in a residential kitchen. Our friends loved the bean curd rolls and they were different from any spring rolls that they've ever had. Hope you'll love them as much as we do!

Foo Pey Quon (Bean Curd Rolls)
Makes approx. 3 dozen

1/2 lbs. ground pork
1/2 lbs. small to medium size shrimp, shelled, deveined, coarsely chopped
1 small can of bamboo shoots, julienned
3 stalks of green onion/scallion or Chinese chives, sliced thinly
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. sesame oil
a few dashes of white pepper
1 package of bean curd sheets
1 egg, beaten in a small bowl
vegetable oil for frying

Remove the bean curd sheets from the package and unfold. Slice each sheet into triangular shapes approximately 5"x8"x8" (you may find it easiest to slice the large sheet lengthwise into 3 or 4 long secions). Keep moist by laying a damp towel or paper towel over the sheets.

In a large bowl, mix and blend well the ground pork, shrimp, bamboo shoots, green onion or Chinese chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper.

Take one triangular piece of bean curd sheet and wipe with a damp cloth to insure that each piece is softened and pliable. Place a heaping tablespoon of the pork and shrimp filling onto the wide end. Roll twice, fold in the sides, and seal the tip by applying a bit of beaten egg. Set aside, seam down in a large baking pan or cookie sheet.

In a deep frying pan (I use a dutch oven to reduce the amount of splattering oil), add enough vegetable oil for deep frying. Heat until hot but not smoking...I stick a clean chopstick in the oil and if it starts to bubble, it's ready! Wipe each of the bean curd rolls with a dampened paper towels (this process helps the bean curd rolls puff up) and fry in the hot oil for about a minute until light, golden brown. Place on paper towel to drain and then transfer to a platter for serving.

Serve immediately. These are delicious as is or served with a sweet chili sauce or Chinese plum sauce.

Pork Roast Supper

I thought of my friend, Scott, who's adept at making pork roasts, when I recently made dinner plans. I picked up a pork roast at the store, looked in the spice cupboard for some interesting seasonings, sprinkled away and placed the pork roast in the oven for a few hours. I'm a rice and gravy kind of gal so I used some of the pan drippings, added some flour and a few turns of the pepper mill and voila, we have gravy!

Pork Roast

one 3 lbs. pork butt

1 T. Penzey's Ozark Style Seasoning

1/2 t. garlic powder

Pre heat oven to 350F. Place pork butt in a baking dish. Combine the Ozark Style seasoning and garlic powder. Rub all over the pork butt. Roast for 2-3 hours, testing for doneness. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before carving into thin slices.

Club Sandwich

One of my favorite sandwiches is the BLT or Club (enhanced BLT). It's especially good during the summer when you can grab veggies from your garden to assemble this savory delight!

Club Sandwich

3 slices whole wheat, lightly toasted

2 tsp. mayonnaise

dash of Penzey's Sunny Paris seasoning

assorted field greens

4 tomato slices

3-4 slices Benton's smoked country bacon, cooked to desired doneness

2 slices Boar's Head lower sodium turkey breast

2 slices Boar's Head lower sodium ham

Spread each slice of whole wheat toast with mayonnaise and sprinkle with Sunny Paris seasoning; set aside. Layer one slice of whole wheat toast with assorted field greens, 1-2 tomato slices, 1-2 pieces of bacon, a slice of turkey breast and a slice of ham. Top with a piece of whole wheat toast and layer the remaining ingredients and top with the last piece of whole wheat toast. Slice into triangles and enjoy!

Served here with a side of Conn's Potato Chips!

Open Faced Egg Sandwich

One of my favorite things to make for breakfast is an open faced egg sandwich. I learned to make hobo eggs from my friend, Kim, years ago. This is a slightly healthier version since I toast the whole wheat bread and then layer with a slice of sweet ham and fried egg. Today's version was topped with some grated Kerrygold Dubliner cheese and a bit of parsley. Mix it up on other days with sliced proscuitto, applewood smoked bacon, Serrano ham, lox on toasted Challah, English muffin, cornbread, focaccia, French bread, Cuban bread ... you get the idea.

Shrimp and Grits (Cakes)

I met Chef Samantha Enzmann at a Whole Foods Low Country Favorites cooking class. She's a wonderful chef (check out her place The Mercantile) and does a great job teaching. I love shrimp and grits so the class was right up my alley. I learned to make a lovely shrimp broth that's used to finish the saute of bacon, shrimp, tomatoes, corn and okra. The grits cakes included cream and grated Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, which is a wonderful sharp white cheddar type cheese.

I made this dish for my family and the only change that I made was that I used Benton's Smoked Country Bacon that gave this dish a wonderful dimension and heartiness. The meal was a big hit. My husband took some to work the next day and as he re-heated it, his co-workers said that it smelled like a restaurant in the office.