Good morning friends. We begin today with requests that came to you from Audrey E, returning from a vacation in Malliouhana, a resort on the Caribbean island of Anguilla. She returned full of memories and wishes to try some new things at home. Her first and favorite was a breakfast called avo crusti, described thus: “toasted croissant, poached egg, crushed avocado, arugula, Parmesan, lemon and pine nut pesto. So she knows the ingredients, but not how to put them all together. Some more: steak and eggs breakfast, Chia seed pudding with coconut milk and mango, eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. And Johnny cakes.
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A recipe, a menu and an inspiration come to you this morning not by email but by conversation. Let’s take last things first.
The inspiration came from a 20-something who was meeting her boyfriend’s parents for a week on the ocean. Instead of just sitting, napkin in lap, waiting always to be served, she offered to take a turn at supper for everybody. “I made my mom’s curried chicken, which we first tasted one summer in Vancouver. It has rice and broccoli, so it is a one-dish meal that we serve, always with brownies, ice cream and chocolate sauce.”
The only problem was finding the chutney, which may also be served alongside the main dish as a condiment with the curry: in three small bowls, chutney, dry-roasted peanuts and toasted coconut.
Curry Chicken
2 to 3 full boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Duke’s or Hellmann’s mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons Major Grey Chutney
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon
Freshly ground pepper
2 to 3 heads of broccoli
2 cups of dry rice (usually makes the right number of servings)
Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut the broccoli into very small pieces. Toss with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes or less, until there is a little dark crunch on the edges.
Boil water and prepare rice according to instructions.
Meanwhile, thinly slice the chicken breasts and pound to soften with a mallet, a rolling pin or the back of a wooden spoon.
Cut each breast into 3 to 4 pieces. Lay the chicken out flat in a roasting pan, leaving some space between the breasts so they won’t be squished together.
In a small bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients: mayo, sour cream, curry, chutney, lemon juice and pepper. Pour over the top. Cook about 20 minutes. When chicken is cooked, put roasted broccoli on top and serve over rice.
I have halved and doubled it with no trouble, and made the sauce the night before. It is also good reheated.
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A similar easy recipe, this time salmon with broccoli, is a seafood parallel to the above recipe from our creative 20-something.
Salmon Teriyaki and Broccolini or Broccoli
Good olive oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce, such as Kikkoman
1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 skinless salmon fillets (2 to 2½ pounds total)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds broccolini, lower thirds of the stems discarded (or use broccoli, cut in small pieces)
Steamed basmati rice or your favorite rice, cooked
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Arrange two racks evenly spaced in the oven.
In a small saucepan, combine 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the soy sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil over medium heat, lower the heat and simmer for just 2 minutes. Set aside.
Arrange the salmon, rounded sides up, in a baking dish just large enough to hold them with a little space between the fillets. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and spoon the soy sauce mixture evenly over the fillets. Roast on the upper rack for 12 to 13 minutes for rare or 13 to 14 minutes for medium, depending on the thickness of the fillets.
At the same time, place the broccolini on a sheet pan, drizzle it with 4 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon black pepper. Toss with your hands and spread out in one layer. Roast the broccolini on the lower oven rack for 10 to 12 minutes, tossing once, until crisp-tender.
Place the salmon, broccolini and basmati rice on four plates and spoon the pan juices over the salmon. Serve hot.
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Roseann Strazinsky, sender of more recipes than one could count through many years, was musing recently about a Christmas tradition recipe, rum balls. This year, she is thinking Christmas in June, though, and plans on making the wintry treat for her pastor’s summer birthday. Ah, rum balls — they brought back a Christmas memory from a land faraway: Texas. Every Christmas, my mother made garlic cheese and rum balls to take as gifts to my teachers. I remember walking into Lily B. Clayton Elementary bearing these gifts; could my classmates and teachers have smelled me coming? Because my mother was known for bringing delicious food to people, I never noticed anything but goodness in the aroma of garlic and rum — the latter, only used for cooking in our house. Only now has it occurred to wonder whether the tempting smell of generosity overrode more pungent aromas in the halls of my school. And what a combination: rum and garlic.
Just a Dash: Rosemary of Trenton has an easy chicken piccata, and she is too good a cook to sacrifice taste for convenience. Here is her simple formula. “I use Springer Farms chicken breasts. Don’t split them, just pound them. Dredge in flour and sauté until brown. Add lemon juice and slices, and a small amount of chicken broth. Simmer a few minutes, add capers and serve. It’s not hard at all and it’s good.”
Next week? Let’s.
Requests
— Recipe for an avocado crustini
— Chia seed pudding recipe with mango
— Steak and eggs breakfast
To reach us
Fare Exchange is a longtime meeting place for people who love to cook and love to eat. We welcome both your recipes and your requests. Be sure to include precise instructions for every recipe you send, and know we cannot test the recipes printed here.
— Mailing address: Jane Henegar, 913 Mount Olive Road, Lookout Mountain, GA 30750
— Email: chattfare@gmail.com
