This month: Cold salads, a BIG cake, and a ‘Cool Change’.
(Does anyone have a great Crab Cake recipe???)
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-JT
Oh! look up Tennessee pig picking cake... Yom
Great summertime meal: Polynesian Chicken
Rectangular baking glass container about 14”X8” 4” deep
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup honey BBQ sauce
1/2 cup honey
1 can mandarin orange slices
1 can pineapple chunks
1 jar maraschino cherries (use the juice also)
1 stick of butter cubed and scatter around in the baking glass
Can of pineapple rings (lay one on top of each chicken breast)
Place chicken in glass...Pour BBQ sauce and honey over chicken...scatter oranges, cherries, and pineapple chunks all around and over chicken.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 450 degrees 50 minutes...
Uncover and bake for another 6-10 minutes.
Serve with green beans and Hawaiian Rolls...
FANTASTIC!!! (Don’t even need a dessert)
Just did a super brisket in a slow cooker. Family went crazy over it. I took it out when the internal temp was around 160 and nice and pink in the center. After slicing off enough for the meal I put the rest back in and ran the internal temp up to 190 - got some great pulled beef from it; will do the BBQ sauce routine with that.
Our favorite summer cold salad around this house is a Shrimp and Pasta Salad:
1 pound raw unshelled large shrimp
1 16 oz box of farfalle (bowtie) pasta
1 bunch green onions, sliced thin
2 thinly sliced carrots
2 stalks thinly sliced celery
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 small can of sliced black ripe olives (drained)
1 can baby artichoke hearts (drained and quartered)
1 bottle Girard’s Italian dressing (if you can find the Romano cheese one grab it - I haven’t been able to find it for a long time - or a good Italian one you like)
kosher salt and pepper
In a large pot bring to a boil about four quarts of water. Add a good tablespoon or so of kosher salt. Place the shrimp in a mesh colander with a handle and lower into the boiling water. Let cook in the colander* for about 2 or 3 minutes then lift them out and place in a bowl of ice water until cool enough to peel. Cut in half if they’re big and put aside. In the meantime, boil the pasta in the same water you cooked the shrimp 10-11 minutes until al dente. Drain well and then put into a large mixing bowl. Add the shrimp and the other ingredients while the pasta is still warm (soaks up the flavors better). Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to your liking. The dressing has salt so you may only need to add the pepper. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. It gets better the longer it sits.
* By using a fine mesh colander, you can make sure no little shrimp legs or shell particles get left behind in the pasta cooking water. Cooking the pasta in the same water you cooked the shrimp adds more flavor. Enjoy!
One of my favorite cold salads is the one made with ramen noodles. I lightly toast the crumbled noodles, sliced or slivered almonds, and sesame seeds, before I add them in with the broccoli slaw. I’ve seen some recipes that use the seasoning packet from the noodles, but I never do. The soy sauce, vinegar, oil, salt and sugar give it enough flavor, in my opinion. I do add a dash of sesame oil and sometimes a pinch of five spice powder, though.