Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons and Dressing

I know, I know.  It sounds pretty simple and basic.  However, this recipe included something that has ALWAYS intimidated me and quite honestly, weired me out a little: homemade caesar dressing (complete with the dreaded anchovy). 

Keeping with good old Pennsylvania family traditions, I like to make a good, solid Sunday dinner for us when I get the chance (and am not traveling here or there).  My weekly market trip generally lands on Sunday around noon, and so I like to spend Sunday morning in bed reading Southern Living and trolling the internet for recipes in anticipation of another week of culinary adventures.  A few weeks ago, Frank had to put in some Sunday hours at the office, so I wanted to make something that he would really enjoy so that he would have something to look forward to.  I was all ready to grill up some steaks or roast a chicken, but he told me that he could really go for a real, legit caesar salad.  Now the thought of this immediately creeped me out, but after thinking about it, I decided to dive in and just go ahead and do it.

As per usual, I made my list, headed to the market, and upon putting anchovies in my cart thought "Wow, I have become one of those people.  You know, the type that actually buys anchovies."  Fortunately they were hidden amongst a week of groceries, so I don't think that my cashier noticed or had that much of a chance to judge me.

Making the salad itself was easy, of course.  Tear some lettuce and that was it.  The same with grilling the chicken breast.  Season, grill, let rest and enjoy.  The fun part was making the homemade croutons.  I am a fan of many crunchy things, but croutons are up there for sure.  I actually almost prefer to eat them right out of the box as opposed to on a salad.  It was super simple to dice up a baguette (making the leftovers into another meal with brie), and then lots of fun to toss around with oil and spices.  The recipe calls for just garlic powder, parsley and salt, but I went to town with whatever was in my spice rack that sounded good.  I honestly don't even remember exactly what was added.  I had to bake mine for a little longer than the suggested 15 minutes to get them nice and toasty, so just make sure that you check on there every once in a while.

Then it came time to make the dressing.  It has only been in the past few years that I have really accepted mayonnaise into my life.  (I am sure that this new found tolerance of mayo would please my grandfather, who put mayo on everything, and actually once even got a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff for Christmas).  After "hemming and hawing" over the anchovies, as my dad would say, all that really needed to be done was the blend all of the fixins' for the dressing together until the anchovies disappeared.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  I was quite surprised at how well I handled the whole thing when it was all said and done.

I tossed together the lettuce, dressing, and parmesian and spread it out on my large serving platter, topped it with the chicken and croutons, and we had a very lovely Sunday afternoon meal.  The salad made enough for me to take leftovers to school for lunch for 2 days, as well as give Frank a couple quick meals as well. 

Overall, I was pleased with the whole thing.  The dressing tasted much better than what comes in a bottle and it really was not difficult to put together at all.  The only change I will make is with the mayo.  Trying to be as healthy (which could also translate to trendy) as possible, I got mayo made with olive oil.  Frank told me that he couldnt taste the difference, but I certainly could pick up on some aftertaste of olive oil.  Next time I will opt for regular.  Other than that, enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
Recipe graciously taken from my all time favorite food blog

Ingredients:
For the croutons:6 slices sandwich bread (or an equivalent amount of baguette slices, about 12-15)
3 tbsp. olive oil OR 3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried parsley
Kosher salt

For the dressing:¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1-2 anchovies, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the salad:Romaine lettuce
2-4 chicken breast halves
Shaved Parmesan cheese

Directions:To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 300˚ F.  Cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes and place in a medium-large bowl.  (Trim the crusts off if you wish – I prefer to leave them on.)  Combine the olive oil or butter, garlic powder and dried parsley in a small bowl.  Stir together to blend well.  Pour the mixture over the bread cubes and toss gently until evenly coated.

Transfer the bread cubes to a baking sheet, spreading them out into an even layer.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Check to see if the croutons are golden and crisp.  If not, toss lightly and bake up to 15 minutes more.  Remove from the oven and let cool.  Transfer to an airtight container until ready to use.
To make the dressing, combine the lemon juice, water, garlic, mayonnaise, Parmesan, anchovies and pepper in the bowl of a food processor or blender.  Blend until well combined and completely smooth.  Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Wash and dry the lettuce leaves, removing the greener leafy portions if desired.  Chop or tear the lettuce into bite size pieces and place it in a large bowl.  Season both sides of the chicken breast halves with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken on a grill or grill pan, until golden and cooked through.  Remove the chicken pieces to a plate, tent with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, add salad dressing to the lettuce (a couple tablespoons at a time) and toss to coat.  Add more dressing as desired.  Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and slice diagonally into long pieces.

Portion the dressed salad into serving dishes.  Top with homemade croutons, grilled chicken pieces, and Parmesan shavings.  Serve immediately.

I only dressed what I thought we would eat in one serving, and then made homemade little "salad kits" with the rest of the ingredients so as to aviod a soggy lunch for the next couple of days.  I also used grated parm instead of shaved because I already had it on hand.

Best.Cookies.Ever

Frank and I have been doing a lot of weekend traveling for various events, and it seems like no matter our destination, we generally end up in York visiting our good friends Jenny and Colin.  They have been so kind as to host us for various occasions, and we feel so lucky to have them in our lives.  Since we visit so frequently, I have decided that it is a must to show up at Hotel McConnell with two important items - snacks and booze. 

Recently we were guests of Hotel McConnell before our awesome trip to Maine.  We drove to York on Friday after Frank got off of work so we could squeeze in a visit before our Saturday flight from Baltimore.  Upon arrival, we were greeted with an awesome spread of various delicious snacks, including some of the best cheese that I have had in a long time. 

Since it is summer and I have off on Fridays, I patiently waited for Frank by baking the best cookies that I have ever made.  (Okay, maybe not as good as my big, soft ginger cookies, but a very close second).  I found the recipe on Paula Deen's website, and knew immediately from the name that I had to make these cookies as soon as possible.  I mean, really, who could resist making something called Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies?  (The tagline on the site even says "If the word 'butter' is in the title, you know it's gonna be good" - oh Paula.)  The reason that these cookies are so easy to make (and stay soft and awesome) is because they call for a box of cake mix.  While the recipe says chocolate, you can use any flavor cake mix.

After reading through the recipe just once, I literally got in my car, drove to the market, got the ingredients, and started baking.  There are only 5 ingredients needed, and the directions are so easy that I stopped what I was doing several times to double check that I wasn't missing a step.  As soon as they came out of the oven, I couldn't resist having one (or a few).  Frank and I had several more on the 4 hour drive to PA, and when we reached our destination they were a great dessert for our wine and cheese, as well as an awesome late-night snack.  Since I had made a chocolate and a lemon batch, we had plenty of leftovers for the airport, and Jenny even took some on a work trip to Canada, where the cookies got great reviews.

Paula Deen's Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Check here, Ya'll

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
1   (18 ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
1   (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1   egg
1   stick of butter, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner’s sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and gooey. Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

I made the cookies a little larger and next time will make sure that they are smaller.  The key to the batter is to make sure that the cream cheese and butter are both very soft.  I used an electric hand mixer, but by the time that all of the cake mix was added, it was too think for the mixer and had to finish blending by hand (one day I will have one of these and life will be so much easier).  Also make sure to refrigerate the batter for at least an hour, otherwise forming the balls will turn into one big sticky impossible mess.  Since these cookies are so soft, I found that it is best to store them somewhere durable, otherwise they will crumble very easily.

I forgot to take pictures of the cookies since I was so busy stuffing my face, but here is a pic of the four of us at Punkin' Chunkin' '10, along with our friends Adam and Tonia, as well as some creepers in the background.

Yes. Yes, I did.

I was recently wasting time on facebook (shocking, I know) when I came across a status about "beer can chicken."  Immediately I was intrigued.  Chicken is good and beer is better, so when combined they must make something worthy enough to try.  Upon further investigation I learned that the concept is really quite simple - shove a beer up a whole chicken's nether-regions, roast (or grill) it, and enjoy a chicken that is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.  After sharing my excitement about this novel idea with several people, I learned that not only is it more common than I thought, but that both Williams and Sonoma AND Wal-Mart sell tools that aid in the process.  And of course, if Wal-Mart knows about it, then the rest of the world must as well.  I guess I have been living under a rock.

I nonetheless decided to give it a try.  I put all of the ingredients in on my weekly grocery list, bought my chicken and a case a beer (unfortunately my local market only sells cases of non-chilled beer, bummer), and was ready to go.  As I preheated the oven, I realized that this would be the first time that I was ever going to tackle a whole chicken.  It was somewhat daunting, but I knew that it was a now or never situation.  After rinsing the bird, patting it dry, and rubbing it down with oil and spices, I became fearful that the chicken wouldn't fit on the can.  Since I was only cooking for 2, I had purchased a bird no larger than 3 1/2 pounds, and had not taken into account the fact that it would need to be stuff with a regular, 12oz can.  I cracked open a beer, drank about a third (as per instructions, naturally) and contemplated how I was actually going to go about this.  Long story short, I rigged the whole thing up after a little bit of stretching, and popped it in the over. 

All in all, it was a fairly easy process, and turned out with great results.  Moist on the inside, crispy on the outside, just as promised.


Beer Butt Chicken (adapted from this recipe)


Mmmmm.


3-5 lb chicken
1 beer (I used Bud Light)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Onion Power

Rinse and pat the chicken (removing and discarding any extra surprises inside).  Open the beer, empty (or drink) about 1/3 of it, and punch addition holes in the top for extra ventilation.  Rub the entire chicken with olive oil, sprinkle with the remain spices, and prop onto the beer can.  Tuck the wings into the chicken and cover with aluminium foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, remove the foil, and bake for 45 more minutes or until done.

Note: The most difficult part of the recipe is removing the cooked chicken from the hot beer can.  I used several paper towels and had Frank hold the can in place as I carefully lifted the chicken up.  The leftover meat made excellent chicken salad.

Bacon Cupcakes? Don't Mind If I Do.

I am in no way ashamed to admit that I have fully jumped on the trendy, gourmet cupcake bandwagon.  In fact, I am not only on it, but am tooting its horn.  Since I moved to Richmond, I have discovered a whole new world of cupcakes.  My favorite bakery in the River City is Frostings, which just so happens to be owned by a Carlisle native, and is located next to one of my favorite grocery stores, Trader Joes.  Whenever I am in that neck of the woods, I generally make it a point to pick up a few of their delicious creations, which range from the classic red velvet, to cookies and cream and Mexican hot chocolate.  Frank is generally the beneficiary of these trips, and not to speak for him as well, but I would feel comfortable saying that he is right next to me on the delicious cupcake bandwagon. 

While I am always looking for creative ways to make dinner a little more exciting, and knowing our love for cupcakes, I recently came across a recipe for Pancake Cupcakes with Maple-Bacon Buttercream Frosting.  Not to brag, but this dinner is still being talked about weeks later.  The “cupcakes” really are just a simple pancake batter in cupcake form, but the frosting is really what makes this dish.  It is a basic butter/sugar/everything else that is bad for you frosting, with more sugar added in pure maple syrup form.  As if that wasn’t heart stopping enough, the addition of crumbled bacon really takes this recipe from a basic indulgence to something that is disgustingly delicious.  I sent some of the extras home with frank, who shared them with his coworkers.  I have since received rave reviews about their “breakfast in cupcake form,” as Frank describes it.  The other leftovers were shared with a few of the history department members from my work.  My classroom neighbor described it as ranking in the “top 5 cupcakes he has ever eaten.”  All in all, I would say that this non-traditional cupcake venture was a success.

 

Pancake Cupcakes with Maple-Bacon Buttercream Frosting
(recipe borrowed from http://www.browneyedbaker.com/)

Yield: 12 cupcakes
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 10 minutes

For the Cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups whole milk
2 eggs
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Frosting:
8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 slices of bacon, cooked, cooled and crumbled

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with liners and then spray the liners with non-stick spray (important step!).

2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl; set aside. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the milk and eggs, then stir in the melted and cooled butter. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk together until just moistened and combined. Like pancakes, lumps are okay! Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake until puffed and firm to the touch, about 10 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

3. To make the frosting, use the whisk attachment of a stand mixer to whip the butter on  medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar a little at a time, waiting until it’s mostly incorporated before adding more. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the maple syrup and the vanilla and whip for another minute or so to incorporate. Add the bacon and mix to combine. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Top with additional crumbled bacon if desired.

Notes:  I personally found the cupcakes to be on the dry side, so in the future I think I might drizzle the cooked cupcakes with a little more syrup before frosting.  I have toyed with the idea of making them into filled cupcakes as the frosting recipe makes a little extra.  I originally tried piping the icing to make the final product look a little more polished, but found that even though I used the widest tip I have available, it still got clogged (like my arteries) with the bacon.  Rustic look it was.