Sunday, 9/12/2010

Ok, if last night's chicken was great...tonight it was fan-frickin-tastic!  I mentioned in yesterday's post that the chipotle pepper marinated chicken was of pub sandwich quality.  So, tonight we made our very own pub sandwiches.  Here's how we made them:

Marinated chicken breast- We sliced one left over breast in half, making two thin-cut breasts.  After being reheated in the microwave, I topped each piece of chicken with a slice of provolone cheese. The heat from the chicken helped to melt the cheese. 

Bread-  We purchased heavenly Panino Rolls, made by The Essential Baking Company in Seattle.  We sliced two rolls in half, buttered them and broiled them until golden brown. After they were broiled, we spread Boar's Head Savory Remoulade, Cajun Style Mayonnaise, on one half of each roll.

Bacon-  The bacon just made this sandwich.  I pan fried four slices of thick cut bacon until crispy.  We used almost two slices each.  The remainder we shared with Katie and had as dessert;)

I am pleased to know that we have enough ingredients to make these sandwiches again this week--can't wait!

Monday, 8/30/2010

Other than beer-battered halibut fillets, I usually don't go for pre-made frozen entrees.  But, tonight I tried something different for dinner. Out of curiosity, I wandered down the frozen dinner aisle at the grocery store.  I found and purchased Fred Meyer's Private Selection brand "Cajun Stuffed Pork Chops".  They were actually pretty good.  Ben said they tasted kind of like his stuffed pork chop recipe.  The chops were stuffed with andouille sausage, red bell pepper, and seasoned rice.  It also seemed like the chops had been rubbed with cajun herbs and spices.  I was rather pleased with the amount of flavor they had.  

Since we came home with a pound of spinach from the birthday party, it seemed appropriate to make a spinach salad to go with our pork chops.  Oh, and we are still drinking left over wine too:)

Wednesday, 4/14/2010

One of our favorite restaurants in Belltown (the neighborhood in Seattle we used to live in) is Black Bottle. They have great small plates of food that are easy to share and their wine prices are pretty reasonable. Tonight I tried to replicate, at least in part, their local sausage plate. They serve three different kinds of sausages on the same plate, braised in a delicious sauce.

I chose to grill up 4 different sausages (cajun, pesto, mediterranean, and one I can't remember)from the Safeway meat counter and then served them with 5 different dipping sauces (bbq, ketchup, cajun ketchup, chipotle ranch dressing, and spicy brown mustard). Ben's favorite was the cajun sausage with the cajun ketchup. I liked the mystery one best with the bbq sauce. Katie had a little of the mediterranean and the pesto sausages. Her comment was "yum, yum".

Saturday, 4/3/2010

We ran a couple errands in Tukwilla this afternoon and stopped at Duke's Chowder House Southcenter for dinner. We've been to that location twice and so far we have not had to wait to be seated. That is a really good thing when dining with a 15 month old. All four of us, Ben's mom and brother joined us, had a fish & chips & chowder combo. Ben and his mom had halibut and his brother and I had the cod. His mom had a cup of the Dungeness Crab & Bourbon Chowder while the rest of us had the Cajun Chicken Corn Chowder. Those chowders are delicious. We only wish we had the time to figure out how to make them. YUM!

We ordered chicken fingers for Katie with a side of ranch dressing. She seems to really like dipping her food into sauces and purees, so I thought it would be fun to let her dip her chicken in it. NOT a good idea in a restaurant setting. First the hand holding the chicken was dipped in so far that her fingers were coated with it. And when that wasn't good enough, the empty hand was plunged in. Thankfully we brought a washcloth and were able to get her cleaned up and the ranch removed before she made a real mess of the place.

If you live near Seattle and like chowder, I highly recommend you check out Duke's. The chowder truly is the best I've ever had.