The Unexpected Guest:
Mango Sours
Buttermilk Fried Chicken
Potato Salad
Tomato Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad
Light as a feather Lemon Mousse
Mango Sours (Gourmet Magazine)
1Cup Mango Nectar (we found chopped mango in a jar and blended it in the blender)
¾ Cup Vodka
½ cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs. Sugar
For the Mango Sours stir together all ingredients. In a shaker half filled with ice pour ½ the ingredients and shake until cold. Strain mixture over short glasses ½ filled with ice. Top of with mango slices or mint. Repeat with rest of mixture as desired.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken (Television Food Network)
24 chicken thighs
2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbs. Kosher salt
2 Tbs. Hungarian Paprika
2 Tsp. Garlic powder
1 Tsp. Cayenne pepper
Four, for dredging
Vegetable shortening, for frying
For the Fried Chicken place chicken pieces into a plastic container and cover with buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.
Melt enough shortening (over low heat) to come just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12 inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once shortening liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do no allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.
Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breasts and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 –12 minutes per side. More importantly, the internal temperature should be right around 180 degrees. (Be careful to monitor the temperature of the oil).
Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan. Don’t drain by setting chicken directly on paper towels or brown paper bags. If you need to hold the chicken before serving, cover loosely with foil but avoid holding in a warm oven, especially if it’s a gas oven.
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 Cup Cornmeal
2 Tbs. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ cups canned cream corn
1 cup fresh roasted corn (optional but if you have it left over use it)
½ cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or mild white cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
For the Corn Bread butter a cast iron skillet. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar. While the mixer is running add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the corn, pineapple, and cheese, and mix to blend. On a low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until blended well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown around the edges and a test stuck in the center comes out clean. About 1 hour.
Potato Salad
6-8 large red potatoes
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup diced celery
½ cup diced red onion
¼ cup sour cream
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 crumbled bacon
salt & pepper & white wine vinegar to taste
For the potato salad mix & fold, add additional amounts of any ingredients to your taste. Go light on the mayonnaise and sour cream.
Tomato Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad (from Nigella Lawson)
1 small red onion
2-4 limes, depending on the amount of juice
3 ½ pounds sweet, ripe watermelons
2 pounds whole tomatoes chopped in quarters and then in ½ (Karen
for some reason thought the recipe had tomatoes, but we loved the addition and
kept in the recipe)
9 ounces feta cheese
1 bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
3-4 tbsp olive oil
4 ounces (1/2 cup) pitted black olives
black pepper
For the salad peel and halve the red onion and cut in to very fine half-moon ribbons and put in a small bowl to steep with the lime juice, to bring out the transparent pinkness in the onions and diminish their bite. Two limes’ worth should do it.
Remove the rind and seeds from the watermelon, and cut into approximately 1 ¾ inch triangular chunks. Cut the feta into similar sized pieces and put them both into a large, wide shallow bowl. Add the tomatoes. Tear off sprigs of parsley so that it is used like a salad leaf, rather than a garnish, and add to the bowl with the chopped mint. Add the onions and their juices over the salad and into the bowl, add the oil and olives, then using your hands toss the salad very gently so that the feta and melon don’t loose their shape. Add a good grinding of black pepper and taste to se whether the dressing needs more lime.
Light as a feather Lemon Mousse (From the book at blanchard’s table)
1 Cup Sugar
¾ freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 tbs. Freshly grated lemon peel
1 ½ cups heavy cream
Black berries, whip cream and long lemon twists for garnish
For the Lemon Mousse In
the top of a double boiler over simmering water, combine the sugar, lemon
juice, egg yolks, eggs and lemon peel.
Cook, whisking constantly unit a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Transfer
to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill. (We did not have a double boiler for the show
and instead made this in a heavy saucepan on the stove – if you use this method
heat slowly, if you heat too fast and cook some of the eggs or have thickness
from the bottom of the pan, simply pour mixture through a strainer before
chilling)
When the mixture is cold, whip the cream until soft to medium peaks form. Gently fold a quarter of the whipped cream into the lemon mixture to blend, and them fold in the remaining cream.
Chill in a large serving bowl, or spoon into individual glasses or bowls. Place a dollop of whip cream, a berry in the center and some lemon strips.