Mother's Day Picnic Recipes

Bill, Callie, Lucia, Mom and I enjoyed a lovely picnic at Central Park yesterday and thought I would share my recipes since the weather is starting to become picnic/bbq weather. I made lemon bars, curried chicken salad and blackberry limeade. And of course, I packed watermelon and other Callie-friendly snacks:)
I decided somewhat out of the blue that I wanted to try to make curried chicken salad. I have no idea why. I don't usually like it because it has mayo in it and I pretty much detest the stuff. But I came across a cooking light recipe that used greek yogurt instead. I threw together a lot of items, hoping that they would sort of come together well and I think they did. I will admit that it is still missing some oomph so this one will be a work in progress but here is where I started. Obviously, if you are going to share this with your kids, omit the white wine since it isn't going to be cooked off. I knew Callie wasn't going to touch this with a 10 foot pole so I decided to add it in.

Curried Chicken Salad

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts

Dressing:
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tsp curry powder
⅓ cup white wine
2 tsp honey
2 tsp minced ginger

apple peeled, diced
⅓ cup celery diced
red grapes, halved


Marinade for grilled chicken:
½ cup honey
¼ cup lemon juice
3 T orange juice
3 T lime juice
2 green onion finely chopped
2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Bourbon (optional, but in my opinion, the flavor really makes the marinade!)

Place chicken and liquid in the bag. Keep refrigerated for 4 to 10 hours. Turn after several hours to baste liquid through all chicken meat.
Remove chicken from marinade. Pour marinade in sauce pan and heat on stove top for 3 minutes on medium heat, to blend flavors, and cook chicken juices. Just before grilling add salt and pepper to season on both sides of chicken.

Brush chicken with marinade and grill until the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees. Allow chicken to cool before dicing.

Make dressing and mix with a whisk. Add grapes, celery and apples. Add chicken to mixture and refrigerate for several hours to combine flavors.

Serve on whole wheat bread as sandwiches or on crackers.


The lemon bars are definitely my go-to desert recipe in the spring/summer. It is adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe that I got from a friend. It is ridiculously easy. You might not ever pay for a lemon bar at a coffee shop ever again!


Lemon Squares 
Adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, butter and powdered sugar. Press in ungreased square pan (8x8x2” or 9x9x2”) building up 1/2-inch edges. Bake 20 minutes. Beat remaining ingredients about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Pour over hot crust.
Bake about 25 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched lightly in center; cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares (or whatever size square you want!)


And last, but certainly not least, the blackberry limeade. I found this on Cooking Light. We (and by we, I mean Bill) discovered that this makes a killer nectar to use with champagne for a lovely mimosa! We kept them separate so Callie could have some and she went NUTSO  for it. We had to cut her off:)

Blackberry Limeade

Cooking Light JUNE 2007 
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients 

6 cups water, divided 

3 cups fresh blackberries
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
8 thin lime slices
Fresh blackberries (optional)

Preparation

Place 1 cup water and 3 cups blackberries in a blender; process until smooth. Press blackberry puree through a sieve into a large pitcher; discard seeds. Add remaining 5 cups water, sugar, and juice to pitcher; stir until sugar dissolves. Place 1 lime slice and a few blackberries, if desired, into each of 8 glasses; pour about 1 cup limeade over each serving.

Roasted Tomato Soup and Garlic Bread

Since my hard drive on my computer crashed and I lost the majority of my recipes (BOO!),  I will most likely be putting a lot more work into this blog so I don't lose them again!

Speaking of recipe storage, how do you store your recipes, kind reader? I'm looking for ideas that will be safe yet not too labor intensive. I.e. not writing them out on notecards! If you have any ideas I am all ears.

Anyway...

My toddler is feeling a little under the weather and she loves tomato soup so that is what I am making today. Luckily today is one of those days where Callie's papa is around the house so cooking is pretty easy today. But even if he wasn't this one is pretty simple anyway!

Here is what you will need:

2-3 pounds of tomatoes, use any combination you want: heirloom, roma, vine. I prefer the clustered tomatoes on the vine
6 cloves of garlic peeled or you can use minced garlic if that is already in your fridge :)
1 yellow onion sliced
1/2 cup or so of olive oil
1/4 cup or so of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
4 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
**Optional:
-Other herbs like sage and rosemary or even mint. Sounds weird I know, but it adds a nice touch.
-Half and half to make a cream of tomato soup.
-Extra vinegar or red wine for some tang. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Wash, core and cut the tomatoes into halves. Spread the tomatoes, garlic and onions onto a baking tray. Drizzle with  olive oil, vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until caramelized. (Oh and don't be like me and accidently change the time on the oven instead of the kitchen timer! Luckily I didn't stray far this time!)
Remove roasted tomatoes, garlic and onion from the oven and transfer to a large stock pot. Don't just pour the entire contents of the baking sheet into your pot, it will be too oily. Trust me, I've tried it!
Add 3/4 of the chicken stock, bay leaves, and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid has reduced by a third. While cooking feel free to adjust seasonings. For example, this last time I added a dash  more vinegar to give it some tang (the chicken stock was coming on too strong for my taste) and a sprig of rosemary from the garden.
Wash and dry basil leaves and add to the pot. Remove rosemary if you used it. It just gets slimy after a while. You can also add some half and half if  you want a creamier soup. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Return soup to low heat,  and adjust consistency with remaining chicken stock, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I was thinking tonight that this might be a good candidate for a frozen meal. I never seem to have much left over though! Maybe next time I will make a double batch and freeze half in ziplock bags for those inevitable nights when I just can't get my act together and cook dinner:) I know they are coming! 

And what goes better with tomato soup than bread? Or perhaps grilled cheese? Tonight I opted for garlic bread.
If you've never made your own garlic bread you will be shocked at how easy it is!

Here is what you will need:
1 loaf of bread; I prefer sourdough over french but that could just be me...but if I'm feeling traditional I will opt for french. Tonight I was not feeling traditional:)
1 stick of butter
4 cloves of garlic minced
grated parmesan
paprika
pepper

Preheat your broiler.
Melt the butter and mix with the garlic. Cut your loaf of bread lengthwise and place them on a cookie sheet. Brush each side with your butter garlic mixture. Or you can just use your hands, which is what I usually end up doing. Sprinkle each side with parmesan, pepper and paprika. Paprika may seem an odd choice but I love it. It gives a nice dash of color to your bread and some great flavor without overpowering the garlic, because, come on, you want to taste garlic in your garlic bread, right??
Place cookie sheet in oven and watch it like your life depends on it. I can't tell you how many times I have ended up with blackened garlic bread. And that is a sad sad thing. So don't do anything else. Don't check your email. Don't answer the phone. Ok, you can pick up a screaming baby but that is about it. 
It should be ready in less than 5 minutes. Cut into slices and enjoy!