Chicken Salad

What do you do with leftover chicken? Make chicken salad, which I learned upstate at the 'Let 'Em Ins' several years ago. And what a valuable lesson! Especially during the Summer grill-happy months when it seems like I grill chicken thighs a couple times a week. I almost always have 1 or 2 pieces of chicken left over, and I can use it to whip up an easy chicken salad for a lunch time sandwich. Cucumber and mayonnaise, along with the leftover chicken, make up the bulk of the recipe, so after those 3 main things you can generally make do with whatever you have on hand. Simply omit or substitute as you like.

Ingredients 

• 2 leftover grilled chicken thighs
• 1/4 Cup mayo
• 1/2 Cup diced cucumber (seedless) (or celery)
• 1 Tablespoon tangy horseradish
• 1/2 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
• 1/2 an avocado

Mix ingredients to make the chicken salad. I like to eat it on a kaiser roll with sliced cucumber. This yields 2-3 sandwiches

Cookout with Av and Mick

word to your mother

Avniel decided to drive out to Pittsburgh for a visit this weekend and we ended up assembling an epic cookout feast Saturday night. We got fresh sausage -- 1 pound each of hot Italian and spicy Sicilian -- sweet red peppers, and old style whole grain dijon mustard from Donatelli's in Bloomfield. At the grocery store we picked up all natural chicken thighs, yellow squash, green peppers, and a sweet red onion. I had asparagus, zucchini, and potatoes from the Bloomfield farmer's market, and we used cilantro, oregano, and mint (for mojitos) from the garden.

I skewered and brushed the potatoes with olive oil and Old Bay seasoning: 

Av chopped the onion, green peppers, and squash into large kabob chunks and tossed them with olive oil, coarse sea salt, fresh ground rainbow peppercorn medley, and fresh herbs from the garden. I used my Amazing Sauce on the chicken. 

I sliced the zucchini lengthwise and just brushed it with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

I grilled the asparagus in foil with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and just cooked the sweet red pepper plain and whole on the top rack of the grill. The chicken of course I cooked slowly, turning and re-applying sauce half a dozen times.

I made more mojitos with the mint from the garden.

Solo Cookout for Game 7

Last night I cooked out alone for Game 7 of the NBA Finals. I loaded up at the Bloomfield Farmer's Market. I made my amazing chicken sauce to grill with bone-in thighs. I made my grilled broccoli recipe with goat cheese, which tasted spectacular. Plus I grilled asparagus and potatoes as well. Tremendous. I timed everything perfectly. I got the chicken on the grill during the second quarter of the game. By the time half time started I put the veggies on, and as the second half got underway, everything finished cooking. Absolutely perfect. I had a couple of fine Newcastle brown ales while I cooked.

My chicken sauce requires four ingredients: something spicy, something thick and viscous, something spreadable and/or sticky, and something sweet. Use these in roughly equal parts. For this one I used soy sauce, siracha, dijon mustard, and brown sugar. I brushed the asparagus with grape seed oil, course salt, and ground black pepper. I coated the potatoes with Old Bay seasoning and a little oil. And I tossed the broccoli with balsamic vinegar, grapeseed oil, salt, and pepper.

I use high heat on the left side and a lower flame underneath the food on the right side. Once something cooks, I move it over to the hot side to get a little char (if desired).

I sprinkled goat cheese on the broccoli. Amazing.

Cook the chicken slowly. It should take about 45 minutes for bone in thighs. Keep turning it over and spreading more sauce, over and over. You'll want to straight up lick the sauce by the time you finish cooking...

Enjoy....

Asian Chicken Salad

You might know that I really love Mark Bittman's cooking style and recipes. I cook a lot of chicken on the grill, and I make it really really well. Whenever I make some just for myself, I end up with leftover, so I wanted a good chicken salad recipe. I searched to see if Bittman had one, and came up with this amazing Asian Chicken Salad dish!

Today I cooked chicken to make with this -- rather than use leftover -- and I made some tweaks to suit my tastes and ingredients. It turned out really really well, and I found it simple and easy to make. The man speaks my language. I almost always cook chicken thighs rather than breasts, and when I make my sauce I use a significant amount of sugar. Lo (and behold!) when I read his recipe, I saw this: "Boneless chicken thighs are preferable to breasts here; their flavor and texture are superior, and they remain moist during cooking. Unless you must omit sugar for health reasons, you should really include it here as it adds a certain roundness." Brilliant. Then I realized that I probably use thighs and make my chicken sauce with sugar because of Mark Bittman -- so he doesn't really speak my language; I speak his. תודה

Ingredients

homegrown stevia, natural sweetener

1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/4 C. soy sauce

1 T. soy sauce

1.5 T. peanut butter

1 t. sesame oil

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 t. to 1 T. siracha or hot sauce

salt and pepper

1 t. stevia (or sugar)

1 T. vinegar

1 cucumber

1/4 minced cilantro leaves

Directions

0. Marinate

Cut the chicken pieces in halves or quarters -- but still big enough to cook on the grill. Marinate (in a bowl or plastic bag) chicken with 1/4 cup soy sauce for as long as desired (as short as a few minutes or as long as overnight).

1. Cook

Cook the chicken on the grill over low to medium heat, turning as necessary, for roughly 15 minutes. I like to cook on low for a while, then turn up the heat when it's almost done and get just a little char.

2. Sauce

In a blender (I use a magic bullet) combine the soy sauce, peanut butter, oil, garlic, hot sauce, salt, pepper, sweetener, and vinegar. Turn it on until it makes a nice, creamy sauce. Add some water or oil if too thick.

3. Combine

Cut up or shred the chicken and put in a bowl. Peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and dice it. Mix diced cucumber with peanut butter sauce, pour over chicken, and toss. Sprinkle minced fresh cilantro over chicken salad and mix. Serve immediately or cold.

grill just ran out of gas, so had to cook the chicken on the stove ... disappointing I know

Cooking Out Often Lately

I've already dipped balls deep into cookout season over here, so I want to share some pictures from recent meals. 

I'll do a full recipe post for my Amazing Chicken some time soon. You just need chicken and four other ingredients of your choice to make an amazing sauce. 

sweet n spicy chicken

I like grilling my vegetables raw, especially when I have high quality veggies. Red and green peppers, corn, and other veggies supply their own great taste when grilled properly, in my opinion, and don't need anything else.

Hebrew National hot dog grilled corn and green pepper

I make a flavorful curry paste for mixing into burgers, which I really enjoy. I use curry powder, hot sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, and a few other choice ingredients. I should do a post for that as well. When I moved into the apartment on Penn a couple years ago, and we got the gas grill, I started working on my own recipes for burgers, chicken, pork chops, etc. So I've had a lot of practice with some of these.

Joe burger with avocado and banana peppers

cheddar cheese, avocado, banana peppers

relish and yellow mustard

When I grill corn I leave it in the husk. If I have a chance, I soak it in water for a little while before grilling. I actually peal away a few pieces of husk, leaving maybe 2-4 layers rather than, say, 6-8. I firmly believe in slow grilling -- for almost everything. You can make the corn quickly in about 10 minutes, or go slowly for 20 or more.

grilled corn on the cob and Joe Chicken

sweet and spicy Joe Chicken

For an almost instant meal that takes no preparation, try grilling chicken sausages and whole red peppers. I get the peppers at Donatelli's Italian grocer in Bloomfield for like $1.19 for a bag of 8. Throw them on the grill for about 10 minutes over medium to high heat. I cook the red peppers whole then cut 'em up and serve with the sausage on a roll.

chicken sausages from the store

sweet red pepper -- perfect grilled plain