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Grilled Chicken with Spicy Peanut Sauce and Grilled Masa Cakes, Birdeye

Friday, January 23, 2015

Delish I tell you!

The delicious grilled masa cakes


This is a shot of the spicy peanut sauce before blending.  Shout out to Bob Hardin,
Kara's dad, who told me over the summer that he LOVES this blender.  I got
his brand from Polly and had this on my Christmas list.  It's so convenient compared
to dragging out my big ole blender for a puree.



I shared this recipe in 2011 but I made it recently cannot not share it again.  I love Terry Conlan, Lake Austin Spa's chef.  My fabulous sister-in-law, Kara, gave me Fresh, his cookbook and I've loved 99% of the recipes in it.

Here's how Terry's recipe goes (you'll have most all these ingredients in your pantry and if not, substitute like I did....):

"Peanuts are indigenous to the Americas and have played an important role as a nutritious binder for Mexican sauces and moles since pre-Columbian times.  In this recipe, they are pureed with tomatoes, chipolte chiles (smoked jalapenos), lime juice and seasonings to create a wonderfully spicy, slightly piquant salsa that adds a lively interest in the simple goodness of the chicken and masa cakes."

4 4oz boneless, skinless all-natural chicken breasts (I can only find organic chicken locally in the Wal-mart freezer out in the middle of the isle)
2 medium tomatoes (I used Cherubs salad tomatoes, about a pint)
2 garlic gloves, I used 4
1 canned chipolte chile in adobo sauce (you'll find this in the Latino isle at Hay's)
1 T. brown sugar
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. dried leaf oregano
1/4 C. chopped cilantro
3 T. smooth reduced fat all-natural peanut butter (I used 1 T regular peanut butter)
2 T. lime juice

Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper.  Spray each piece lightly with nonstick cooking spray, then grill over hot coals until cooked through.  (I find using my grill pan that Kara gave me for my birthday years ago works just as great if you don't wanna grill in the cold temps outside)  Grill the tomatoes, turning them occasionally, until they begin to char and soften (I broiled in the oven for 4 minutes).  Remove the tomatoes from the grill and combine in a blend with the remaining ingredients.  Puree the mixture, thin with water or stock as needed.  Serve the chicken covered with the warm sauce and Masa Potato Cakes.  Lemme just say how fabulous this is!  WOW, it'll be on your table in say 20 minutes, literally.  Serve with a salad from your garden and you're a gourmet cook!  I have romaine, arugula and spinach in my garden right now.   I had an avocado so I added it.

The Masa Potato Cakes

1/4 C. masa harina de maiz (this is similar to cornmeal)
1/2 C. water
1 C. cooked and mashed potatoes (I microwaved one russet for 6 minutes on high in the microwave)
1 garlic clove, minced, I used 2
1 T. minced, fresh chives (I didn't have this, I used the green of a green onion from my garden)
3/4 t. salt
1/4 C. crumbled feta cheese  (there really isn't a substitution here, but maybe Gorgonzola)
2 t. olive oil

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and shaped into four 1/2 inch thick disks.  Heat the olive oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute the cakes until browned and crisp on both sides.

Honey...Birdeye

Honey, so sweet!  Look at those eyes!
This is Turbo and Bounce, thankfully
Turbo went to Kennebunkport Maine
last week and Bounce went locally to
someone that works with Kara and saw
my post on Facebook.  
Bounce was hilarious and I'm
glad she went local so I can watch
her grow up

She definately was abused I think, she
cowers down when you look at her and
face her.  It's pretty sad...
Well of course another dog showed up at Birdeye...This is Honey, a mountain cur of some sort.  I say mountain cur because she has treed our cats and barks like a hound dog.  If you're like me you ask, "what the heck is a mountain cur?"  

From the web:  The Mountain Cur is a type of working dog that is bred specifically for treeing and trailing small game, like squirrel and raccoons. They are also used for hunting andbaying big game like bear and wild boar as well as being just an all-purpose farm dog. Curs are a member of the Hound group, and the Mountain Cur is one of several varieties of cur. They can also be used as water dogs. Mainly bred in OhioKentucky,Virginia, and Tennessee, it has been registered with the United Kennel Club since 1998. The Mountain Cur Breeder's Association was formed in 1957.

Dr. Boone says she's about 1-2 years, she's heartworm negative, vaccinated and CRATE TRAINED!!  She also is good with cats (believe it or not), dogs and humans (including children).  Spay and neuter people.  It's as important as a vaccine or heartworm prevention....

Turbo, yet another foster dog...

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Turbo with ears down...h'es a cutie that loves squeaky toys

Ears up...he's so sweet!  He does have a limp on the left front leg, Dr. Boone
said it's some kinda old injury.  But he runs like a greyhound with it :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Chloe and I have fostered this rascal now for two weeks being told he had a home in Conneticut but low and behold he doesn't.  He's about one year old, sleeps in the bed (yes housebroken), great with cats, dogs and humans.  He's vaccinated, neutered and heartworm negative.  He's adorable and does great in the bathtub too.  Spay and neuter people.  It helps keep dogs like Turbo off the streets!

Happy New Year!

A blurry selfie of Audrey, me and Chloe on our way to Weatherford for
a Dickey family photo.  I hopped in the backseat to show some YouTube
videos of my favorite comedian Jimmy Fallon (It's true that I have a crush
on Jimmy Fallon but don't worry Jackie knows this).  You can see that
Chloe had had about enough....but I was getting fired up about the videos!

This is New Year's Day...man I'm mad at my phone camera.  It is another
reason besides shotty internet at Birdeye that I don't blog as frequently....Whit
is cracking us up.  He's rarely smiling and always ready to leave before me nowadays!

At lunch in Weatherford, Audrey and Chloe were hilarious....

This is me, Granddad and Grandmother Dickey and Chloe

This is Dwight bringing out some balloons and then a cake for a celebration
for Granddad since he's finally done with chemo

A blurry shot of them (dang phone)

Jackie and I got just in time to say hi to precious Stephanie.  She's hanging
in there after AJ but it's very, very difficult for her.  She looks great and will
be spending this week in Oklahoma City getting comfort from family and
friends.  We are planning a girls weekend ASAP with her.

I never thought I'd see the day with $1.69 gas.  Am I dreaming?  This is
in Edmond this morning

Oh yeah, JMHS Class of 1989 Cheerleaders....
me, Dagne Day Newcomb, Stephanie Bates Jones and
Angelia Pope Johnston (we did clip out the guy next to
Angelia, no one knew who he was, definitely a photo bomb)
Sunday, January 4, 2014

We went to Oklahoma City on Friday to see mom and Gary and then on to Weatherford for a Dickey family photo.  Chloe got to spend some quality time with cousin Audrey, we had two great meals with mom and Gary and late yesterday I got to catch up with Stephanie.  It was great to catch up with cousins Matt and Amy Dickey as well as dad and siblings Janet and Dwight.  Matt is going to be a dad again, they're expecting another girl this spring.  Janet and Larry live in Sacramento, Dwight and Mary are slated to return to mission work in June in China and Amy's doing a fellowship and residency at Harvard.  It was a great weekend but I was really nervous about the weather when on Friday when we left, Oklahoma City was under a freeze warning expecting 1/4 inch ice and continued precipitation on Saturday.  Luckily it warmed up a few degrees and the roads were just wet.
Jeanie took some leftover chili home from church potluck
in December.  We didn't want it to clog up the church kitchen's
garbage disposal so I was going to throw it out by the dumpster
and Jeanie said she'd give it to her chickens.  This is one of
the funniest photos in the history of the world...I'm dying
right now as I type.....hahahahaha!! And for the record we've
never given our chickens meat....hahahahaha I'm crying laughing
so hard....