Earl Cooks Smoked Chicken Salad Sandwich with Garden Tomatoes

Sometimes a tasty ingredient just SCREAMS to be used in a new and different way, and I had a great smoked chicken quarter from Capt. Len's BBQ that knew I could use in a different way. 

The quarter chicken is a leg and thigh, and my wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") does not care for dark meat, so this is ALL for me! It is fully cooked and lovingly smoked. I remove the meat from the bone and roughly chopped it because I want the experience to be more like eating chicken than tuna salad.

 Using a hand crank food chopper that I just bought, I chopped several green onions, tops, and whites, rather finely. I also wanted a bit of a crunch, and I have had a chicken salad with cashews, but I was out. I did have some great extra large Virginia Peanuts, which I also chopped fine. My variation on chicken salad was I substituted Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Cilantro Lime flavored, for mayonnaise. Mix the chicken, onions, peanuts, and ranch dressing thoroughly, seasoning with salt and pepper as you mix well.

My final addition is fresh-picked cherry and pear tomatoes from our little garden, halved and mixed in gently. With a silicone spatula or large spoon, spread it over a slice of bread, and top with the other slice.

I had no idea at the outset what a great flavor this would have. Smoky, creamy, and crunchy with a great freshness from the tomatoes. The tangy cilantro/lime ranch rounded it all out. Whether you use my exact ingredients, do try this with a smoked chicken quarter.

...I know, making a salad isn't exactly cooking, especially when the the smoked chicken came from Capt. Len's BBQ, but I did come up with it and assemble it, even if no heat was applied!

Earl Cooks Grilled Ham & Cheese nn a "George Foreman"

The ads called it the George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine. Daughter #1 simply called it the George Foreman. It ended up as mine!

This model is one that really is only good for a single sandwich, or a piece of boneless chicken or a burger. In addition, it is VERY difficult to clean, with no removable parts for washing. It is all by hand with no ability to immerse it in water, and by the time it reached me there was no grease drip tray. But I had never owned one and I wanted to see how well it would work.

A grilled cheese seemed like the best way to test it, but only after I cleaned it. That took awhile...then awhile longer...then awhile longer still!


Finally, I decided on my sandwich. It would be a grilled ham and Swiss.

• I started with 2 slices of "Turkey's" (a.k.a. my wife's) homemade bread.
• Next comes baby Swiss. The cheese must be all around the ham. I use black forest deli sliced ham—3 or 4 slices. So the order is, bread, cheese, ham, cheese, and bread again.
• Now I apply butter to the OUTSIDE of the sandwich. This makes the sandwich crispy and TASTY! It will also help release the sandwich from George. If you are using a grill or frying pan it will help there too.
• After grilling a few minutes, rotate to make it pretty. I had to add weight to press the sandwich enough for me.
• It was delicious and just what I wanted. It worked much like a panini press, but I had to do the pressing.

Result & Conclusions:
I am certain that subsequent models improved a bunch. The George Foreman Grills are made by a company called Salton. My biggest complaints are the poor design for cleaning and the inability to apply pressure to whatever is cooked.

I am glad I didn't buy it and don't want to clean it much, but for a quick burger or grilled sandwich, it is nice to have around.

Waffle Iron Grilled Ham & Swiss

This week I have been reviving our old Belgian Waffle Iron to use in new and unique ways, motivated by the fact that I am trying not to heat-up the house to much. It has been around 20℉ HOTTER than the seasonal average. Today, I decided to try making waffle iron grilled ham & cheese. The picture to the left shows the result after cutting in half diagonally. It looks a little rough around the edges because my wife's delicious homemade bread didn't quite fit on the smallish waffle iron.

We can't remember where or why we have a Betty Crocker Belgian Waffle maker, but I am sure there was some kind of deal. It is more than 20 years old and probably one of the reasons I don't like to make waffles. It is simple to use. Plug it in and wait for the ready light and go! No moving parts except the hinge and that's one of the problems...no removable parts either.Very tough to clean. But to keep the kitchen cool, I was willing to give it a go.

I started with 4 slices of my wife's homemade bread, sliced rather thin. In addition, I had some deli sliced Black Forest Ham (3 thin slices per sandwich); Sliced Swiss cheese (2 per sandwich); and shredded cheddar or cheddar jack cheese.

On the bread, start with the Swiss Cheese Slices, Then the 3 slices of ham, two of which will be folded in half and the third flat on top of the 2 folded slices, to this with the shredded cheese. Swiss isn't as good as the cheddar for that melty goodness one expects from a grilled cheese, but Swiss is a natural ham.

Next, butter both sides of your sandwich liberally. The butter helps keep the sandwich from sticking, enhances the browning and crunch, and of course, adds so much flavor.

As I mentioned, my bread was a bit too big and my sandwich a little thick for this ancient appliance which doesn't expand, so when I pressed the lid down, it crushed the sandwich but it made a great crisp sandwich that, when trimmed and cut in half, looked and tasted very good.

Results & Conclusions:
I was very impressed with the crispy meltiness of this sandwich. My wife took hers to work the next day and said it retained the buttery crisp crust. I will make this again, but with a tool that better adjusts to my needs. We have a more modern waffle iron that may be called into service next time.

"Turkey" Bakes Homeade Bread but Asks me to NOT post it

Before you think I went against my wife's (a.k.a. "Turkey") wishes, I got her permission to take a couple of pictures. Each week or two I am treated to her marvelous bread and mostly banished from our kitchen, until the miracle emerges from the oven piping hot and ready for butter. This week, a minor mistake was made with the recipe. I say minor because it tasted fine but my wife felt it didn't look good enough because a problem with the temperature in the oven,  (probably due to something I did). 

As you can see, it looks great, at least to me, and it tastes even better! If you have never had fresh baked bread slathered with butter, almost too hot to handle, you are missing one of the great taste treats in life.

I managed to catch a slice before the heat melted the butter. As you can see, it appears perfect and tastes even more perfect. I think for the first several slices, nothing more is needed but butter. "Turkey" likes hers with some creamed honey too. It turned out great and she gave me permission to post these lovely images which she was worried were not going to turn out right, but from dough to buttered slice everything tastes perfect.

Earl Cooks Grilled Spanish Goat Cheese

Let me start by saying this has nothing to do with grilling Spanish goats.

We love grilled cheese, but after watching several food programs, we realized we had almost never eaten goat cheese. I had eaten a couple of varieties (feta, manchego), but "Turkey" (a.k.a. my wife), didn't remember ever eating any. I love cheese. ALL cheese. I have never met a cheese I didn't like. So, when I found a Tapas Sampler of Spanish Cheeses at Trader Joe's, I thought that would be a good way to introduce my wife to goat cheese. She suggested a grilled cheese sandwich, and I thought "why not"!

The sampler has 3 types of Spanish cheese: Iberico, Cabra al Vino & Manchego. They come in little wedges and are sliced into thick slices. 

I layed the wedged slices onto a piece of  "Turkey's" homemade bread, covering completely. Then came the top slice, which I covered in butter. I used a square non-stick grill pan to fit both sandwiches. After preheating, I added more butter to the hot pan, then put the sandwiches in place. After a few minutes, I flipped them over and let them get brown and crispy on the other side, which also had butter on it.

Results & Conclusions

These turned out terrific! The cheese melted great and tasted better. I couldn't actually differentiate the 3 cheeses, but they were just what you would like in a grilled cheese.  We will be adding Spanish goat cheese to our cheeses on a regular basis.

Earl Cooks Cheese & Pickles Please - a Sandwich Just Like Mom Made - Sort of

The other day I was taking a short nap when I dreamt about a sandwich my mom used to make and I woke up craving it. It is a Cheese & Pickle Sandwich, with just a few simple ingredients you  usually have on hand. If it sounds weird, it does to my wife too.

—Besides the bread (I used my wife's homemade), all you need is a mild cheese (I chose Colby Jack but my mom always used mild cheddar), bread and butter pickles, and mayonnaise (I used a combination of mayo & horseradish on mine).
—Slice or shave your cheese very thin. You will be shingling it on the bread.
—Coat both sides of the bread with the dressing you choose. I think my mom would occasionally add mustard too, but I didn't need it with the horseradish.
—Layer the pickles on one side of the bread. Stackers are GREAT for a sandwich. Bread and Butter pickles taste best with the mild cheese. I love dill pickles but try it with bread and butter first. You may be surprised. Layer the cheese

slices on top of the pickles, top with the bread and cut on the bias.

This is a great sandwich when you don't want a PB&J. The only thing that might be a good addition would be lettuce, but it's not necessary! 

"Turkey" Cooks Scallion Pancakes & Brownies from Scratch & Earl Eats Them!

A Marvelous thing happened this weekend..."Turkey" (a.k.a. my wife), got a cooking bug! I was a main recipient of the bug, and happy to eat. She started with brownies from scratch, then made scallion pancakes and finished the weekend off with her terrific homemade bread. This is particularly good for me because I don't bake! I don't bake for a couple of reasons:
1: I don't like to, and
2: I am not particularly good at it. All that measuring and weighing and following directions, then lastly
3: My wife all but prohibits me from doing it! She doesn't like me using her tools, appliances or ingredients.

I am starting this post with what I think is one of the undiscovered gems, at least by us—Scallion Pancakes. But before you reach for the maple syrup, this is a SAVORY pancake, and popular at Chinese takeout restaurants, though I had never had it until we saw the recipe on TV.
(for the complete recipe follow this link to my prior post) Scallion Pancakes Recipe 
Starting with a simple dough, rolled flat and covered in scallions, then rolled tightly into a log, and rolled into a snail shape, it is flattened out into a pancake and placed into a cast iron skillet and cooked a few minutes on each side until you have a brown & crusty, multi-layered gem. Add the Asian dipping sauce and this is special. I guess most eat this as a side or accompaniment, but it was filling enough to be more than that. And for us, it was.

My next "Turkey" Treat was Homemade Brownies. These are not your everyday brownies. My wife only likes brownies if they are frosted! This is not your everyday frosting, mind you, this is frosting from Heath English Toffee chips, melted slowly on top of a chewy, chocolaty bed. The great thing about this is the recipe is from the package! 

My final treat for the weekend is my favorite, and a weekly occurrence, but one I never tire of..."Turkey's" Homemade bread! I told my daughter, who is trying a low-carb diet, that this bread is the reason I couldn't do a diet like that. I would miss not only the taste but the aromas that fill our home from the minute she starts mixing in the yeast to that moment the hot, buttery goodness envelopes my taste-buds making them jump for joy! It is a process that  creates anticipation that does not disappoint, bringing everything promised and more, and every time I eat the loaves of love, whether in a sandwich or simple toast, I flashback to when the mixer was whirring and the bread was rising. Sights and sounds unlike anything I am able to create with my own efforts, except perhaps, when cooking bacon! And so, the sounds, smells and TASTES of the weekend were wonderful!

Earl Cooks Milk Poached Eggs on Toast

Some of my earliest memories of my mom are her cooking breakfasts for us, which she did every school day. She always had oatmeal available, and usually eggs. On special days she would make waffles with bacon cooked right into the waffles. Back then all I remember having, and maybe all she could find was Mapleine flavored syrup, which she made fresh and served hot. I was an adult before I ever tasted REAL maple syrup, but with REAL butter and REAL bacon, I was fine with what we had. Occasionally we had some Log Cabin syrup, but it was served cold and didn't melt the butter nearly as well. But this post isn't about what she fixed us, it's about what she fixed herself...almost right up to her last day on this earth. She loved MILK POACHED EGGS on toast! I don't remember her ever giving any of us even a taste. After we were all fed and the dishes cleared, she would pour some milk into our electric frying pan and make herself her breakfast treat. I love eggs. I love eggs runny. When "Turkey" and I were on a cruise to the Caribbean a few years ago, I ate poached eggs every day. When I have tried to poach them myself, normally, or with a microwave, I have not been successful. They were never as good as my dippin' eggs (steamed), so I figured why bother. But I was thinking about Mom and wondering if there was something to the milk poaching that made them egg-ceptional (sorry, just had to). so here are the directions and the results.(Read More below)

Earl Cooks Leftover Grilled Ham & Gruyère & Cheese

Leftovers can be a problem post-turkey day, but I glazed the ham to go along with our turkey, and there was a bit of it left, and "Turkey" made bread and there was some Gruyère cheese from the green bean casserole I made, perfect for a grilled Ham & Gruyère cheese sandwich. I simply fired-up the stove and using my cast iron pan had a special leftover sandwich by using cheese, ham, and a big chunk of European butter. Yes it was as good as it sounds and looks. Now I have to find a way to keep Gruyère around even though it is expensive!

Earl Cooks Leftover Turkey Chili with Black Beans & Sweet Potatoes for Breakfast?

If you're like me, chili doesn't often find it's way to my breakfast table. But my eldest daughter had some delicious leftovers given to her and wanted to share the last of them with me because she's sweet that way. There wasn't enough for my wife and I to both have some, so I thought BREAKFAST! I'll have it for breakfast...It is my favorite meal, but I wondered if the blogosphere had eaten chili for breakfast and boy do they.

Since I was using leftovers, I didn't need a recipe, but made some great modifications that worked to perfection! After reheating the chili and placing it in a bowl, I topped it with some shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. I then placed a perfectly steamed egg on top (runny yolk of course) and added fresh cracked rainbow pepper to the top. I dipped into it with a fresh slice of my wife's homemade broke the golden goodness of the yolk all over it! I couldn't believe how smoothly and fast it went down.

There were several firsts here for me.

• I had never had chili for breakfast,  
• never had chili with sweet potatoes and 
• never had chili topped with an egg

...but I will do all of these things again!
 As I said, I didn't make the chili but here are several links for similar recipes Google found:
Turkey Chili with Sweet Potatoes & Black Beans

Earl Eats "Turkey's" Home Baked Bread

KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer

Sunbeam Stand Mixer

Life is a series of events that ultimately leads to better or worse events. Such a series, brought me BREAD! Let me explain. My wife "Turkey" as she is affectionately known, is a terrific cook. We all love the smell and taste of fresh baked bread, but how often do we get homemade? But let me digress. "Turkey" loves baking. For a long time, baking cookies was a regular event, but she had to use hand tools. So loving her baking, I thought I could encourage it by making it a bit easier. But after checking the price of KitchenAid stand mixers like they use on ALL the TV baking shows, I knew that was not in our budget or future. So I shopped around and found what I thought, as a non baker, was a substitute and surprised her with it. She was happy, sort of, I think, and I was happy because it was 1/4th the price! Have you ever heard the saying "you get what you pay for"? Even when you are poor, that holds true. But it was a step-up from hand mixing, so that was good. And it was just cookies right? How hard could they be, says the NON-BAKER! Well that may be just one of the reasons my wife doesn't let me bake or use her equipment, but back to the reason for the story. As the grandboys grew and we tried not to, the need for cookies faded. Quite sometime ago, a family of my daughter's acquaintance, updated their kitchen and gave her their older KitchenAid Classic. Of my 2 lovely daughters, I have that one that cooks and one that doesn't. This KitchenAid was now in the possession of the one that doesn't. Where it sat. She realized the value of the mixer, but had no real need for it, so she offered it to her mom, "Turkey". And she was elated to have a KitchenAid, but it went under-used UNTIL a light went on in her bakers brain that said "BREAD, HOMEMADE BREAD".

She found the perfect recipe, made it her own, tweaked it time and time again, and I think it is PERFECT every time! We have not bought bread from the store in many month. She ENJOYS making and baking it with her second hand KitchenAid! Not fancy artisan style bread this is bread just like I remember from my childhood. We slather each warm slice as it comes out of the oven with REAL butter and it is marvelous! She bakes 2 loves, one for each of us and if there are leftovers, they make great French Toast, Croûtons, Breadcrumbs

   

Earl Cooks a Ham & Swiss Sandwich

Okay, maybe I didn't cook it, and maybe my wife made the bread, but I put all the ingredients together and it was luscious! I started with Deli Sliced Black Forest ham from Land O' Frost (7 slices). I gently placed it on 2 slices of homemade bread that I had spread with Miracle Whip on one slice and spicy brown mustard on the other. I then placed pre-sliced baby swiss cheese (2 slices) on the ham. Normally, I would cut my sandwich on the bias, but my wife's bread is a bit wide and down the center seemed better. The final step...EAT!

Earl Cooks Baked French Toast

Baked French Toast

Breakfast for Dinner is never a bad idea. I wanted to use up the last of a loaf of Homemade Bread that my wife baked. Let me make a side comment here. I don't bake. I consider BAKING a science (all that measuring, weighing, timing...yuck), and COOKING an art, with me as the artist, the kitchen my humble studio, my brushes are my tools and pans, and my ingredients are my paints, (Oh, and my wife won't let me use her baking tools and ingredients)! Back to dinner...


Ingredients

• Homemade Bread sliced into five or six ½ to ¾ inch slices 
• 6 large eggs
• ½ cup milk
• Ground Cinnamon (to taste)
• REAL vanilla extract (never use imitation)
• Granulated Sugar - Enough to cover surface of slices 

Instructions

• Whisk together all ingredients EXCEPT bread and sugar in a mixing bowl thoroughly. No white or yellow clumps to be seen.
• Cut the loaf into about ¾ inch slices(I used 5 slices for the 2 of us. 4 full slices and 1 slice cut in half to fit into the pan).
• Spray a 9 x 13 Pyrex® baking dish with non-stick spray, bottom and sides and place bread in bottom of pan to cover. (If you are making enough for more, you can shingle bread slices.)
• Pour ¾ of the mixture over the top of the bread slices and let that soak in for 15-20 minutes. Then flip the slices and pour remaining mixture over drier areas of the bread. Allow to sit for a few more minutes and soak in. While you are waiting, preheat your oven to 350°.
• Just before baking, sprinkle bread with sugar. This will give it a bit of a crunch as the sugar caramelizes. 
• Bake for 40 minutes, rotating after 20.
• Top with your favorite syrup, fresh fruit, preserves or whipped cream after you slather each piece with butter!

Hint-Baked Bacon

• We like to have bacon or sausage with our French toast. Place the Bacon on a lined baking sheet and cook while you wait for the egg mixture to soak in!