Chicken Satay

Whoever "They" are, "They" say you shouldn't try out a recipe for the first time on guests.

Normally, I am a very rules oriented person, but when it comes to the creating in the kitchen and entertaining, I lean more towards coloring outside of the lines quite a bit, ok a lot.


Since everything that was being served to our guests was going to be homemade and I was being held to a criteria that I had committed to, when I came across this recipe at Eating Well dot com and I thought it would be perfect for our little get together last Saturday. Yes, sometimes at the Cafe, we get a little health conscious. This came together quickly and I knew the peanut/coconut flavor combined with the the grilled chicken would be marvelous.


The morning after A.J. opened the fridge looking for leftover Chicken Satay for breakfast, (yes he colors outside of the lines too) and was disappointed to find none. He settled for the real breakfast of champions, salsa and chips.


That's just how good this turned out!


Chicken Satay (adapted from EatingWell.com)

6 tablespoons lime juice
6 tablespoons canola oil
4 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
4 teaspoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 lbs. chicken tenders
Spicy Peanut Sauce (recipe follows)

To marinate chicken: Whisk lime juice, oil, soy sauce, fish sauce and crushed red pepper in a shallow baking dish until combined.

Add chicken and turn to coat. Let marinate in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Preheat grill to high.

Thread each chicken tender onto a wooden skewer. Grill the chicken skewers until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. Serve warm or chilled with Spicy Peanut Sauce for dipping.


Spicy Peanut Sauce:

2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons coconut coconut cream
2 tablespoons lime juice
3 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste

Whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar and crushed red pepper in a small bowl until smooth.


Don't wait to have a party to try this because then you'd have to share!

Have a great weekend!

Grilled Corn and Lime Crostini

Many of you seemed to really be interested in the Grilled Corn and Lime Crostini. Your wish is my command. I was lucky to snap off these two pictures. I was running a little late getting all of the food ready and a couple of my neighbors were really interested in what I was doing at the stove.

This recipe is courtesy of Fine Living with a couple of my tweaks.



2 ears corn, shucked
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing and drizzling
Coarse Sea Salt
4 strips bacon, julienned
1 Jalapeno, de-seeded, cut in half and thinly sliced
3 to 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
1 lime juiced
1 baguette sliced thin on a diagonal
2 cloves garlic


Preheat a grill to medium. Lightly brush the corn with olive oil and season with salt. Grill, turning occasionally, until the corn is charred on all sides. Remove and set aside until cool, then cut the kernels off the cobs.

Drizzle a saute pan with olive oil; add the bacon and bring to medium heat. When the bacon is browned and crispy, add the jalapenos and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the corn kernels and toss to combine. Season with salt and stir in the lime juice and vinegar. Toss in the scallions and remove from the heat.

Toast the baguette slices on the grill until lightly charred. Remove the toasts and rub with the garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and top with the corn-bacon mixture.


Watch them disappear from your serving tray. Can you see how many are missing from the time i placed the platter until I grabbed my camera? This one is a keeper!

Smirnoff Summer Entertaining Extravaganza

I am very excited to report that the wonderful people over at Foodbuzz chose me to host a party to introduce two new Smirnoff cocktails to my friends and neighbors. After a hectic first week of school we were all ready to let our hair down and relax with some tasty Smirnoff cocktails.

I received this package from Foodbuzz. What a perfect way to get a party off on the right foot. Thanks Foodbuzz!

I was very inspired with these two new cocktail flavors from Smirnoff. Tuscan Lemonade and Mojito. All of our guests enjoyed them both. It was hard for me to pick a favorite. The inspirational flavor or key ingredient was lime. I carried these citrus flavors into the food served. Watch!

We started off with Charred Corn Salsa with Blue Chips flavored with lots of lime!

The chips and salsa went down really smooth with this!

We marinated shrimp in lime juice, garlic, a touch of olive oil and a sprinkle of cayenne and grilled them on medium-high heat.

Jennifer and Joyce, our neighbors loved the shrimp.

The guys were loving watching the Sharpie 500.

How about some Roasted Corn with Lime Crostini? I'll have the recipe for you this week. This was a party favorite. Anyway, who said not to try new recipes when you're entertaining?

Here's our host and grill master, A.J. He really liked the Mojito.

We got Angie to switch from beer to Mojitos! She was blown away.

Even a rainbow showed up for a Tuscan Lemonade! Yes, they are just that good!

Doesn't this Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce look fantastic? The secret ingredient in the marinade and in the sauce is lime. I'll post the recipe this week!

We had a split vote here. A.J. liked the Mojito and Kent likes the Tuscan Lemonade. Actually Kent and A.J. liked them both.

Grilled Salmon with Mango, Key Lime Salsa was gone in a flash.

I couldn't have a party with lime as my key ingredient with out serving my favorite Nellie and Sal's Key Lime Pie.

How do you celebrate the end of summer?

Spicy Cocktail Nuts

Something about the Christmas holidays and the cold weather makes me crave pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, all kinds of nuts. I'm not the only one evidently, since nuts are in great abundance in the produce section of the grocery store.

I remember as a child during the holiday season, we had a wooden bowl in the kitchen with an assortment of nuts. These were the kind that needed to be shelled. We always went after the pecans and the walnuts. As I'm writing this, I'm wondering if my own children know how to shell a pecan or a walnut. Probably not, I bet if I gave them a bottle opener and a Coca-Cola bottle with a metal cap, they would not know how to open it and think I was totally nuts!

This is an easy recipe to make and I guarantee once you put these out for your family and friends to eat, they will not be able to stop themselves. The combination of the sugar and the spice is one of my favorite flavor combinations. This recipe is from Emeril Lagasse's book, "New Orleans Cooking".

Spicy Cocktail Nuts -

1 large egg white
1 teaspoon water
1 lb. assorted shelled nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds, peanuts)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Essence, recipe follows
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together egg white and water until frothy. Add the nuts and toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, Essence, cayenne, and salt. Add to the nuts and stir to coat evenly. Spread the nuts on the prepared pan and bake until dry, about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir to separate. Let cool on the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Essence:

1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container. Yield: about 2/3 cup

Fun Super Bowl Stuff

Well it's Super Bowl time again (hope the Giants win) and the Home Girlz and I have been discussing and actually (hope the Giants win) agreeing on what we'll have to munch on for game time. My hubby won't be sharing this momentous occasion with us (hope the Giants win) because he feels the need to go to New Orleans to visit "his Mom and dem" - translation his Mom and them. The girlz and I (hope the Giants win) had a meeting and have found that it's quite a coincidence his spur of the moment visit just happens to conveniently be during... yes... Mardi Gras. Anyway we will probably be the only all girl house in East Tennessee enthusiastically watching the BIG GAME Sunday and by the way, we hope the Giants win!


Artichoke Dip - One day before the game, drain 2 cans of artichoke hearts (they can be whole, half or quartered) in a colander. Squeeze the artichokes with your hands to get out the excess liquid and to break them up. Do not use a food processer or knofe to cut up the artichokes as this will severely change the tastes of the dip! Once the artichokes are thoroughly drained, place them in a medium sized bowl and add 1 cup of mayonnaise, one pacekt of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix (dry) and garlic powder to taste. Blend together with a fork, cover and chill over night in the fridge. Serve with Ritz crackers.


Buffalo Bites - Place into a bowl one package of chicken breasts strips cut into bite size pieces, season with salt and black pepper and toss in about 1/4 cup of hot sauce (I like Crystal or Frank's). Let them marinate for a few minutes until you get the batter together. Mix in a bowl with a wire wisk 1 to 1 1/2 cups (eye up how many chicken bites you have) of COMPLETE pancake mix with water - use table on the back of pancake mix box for water amount, add 1/4 of a cup of hot sauce, mix. You can add more hot sauce if you wish, but I PROMISE, this amount of hot sauce is really not very hot at all. Now, pour bout 1/2 cup of the pancake mix in a bowl by itself. Take your chicken bite, roll it in the pancake mix, dunk it in the batter and fry in hot oil until golden brown. The chicken will cook pretty quick since it's cut so small. Drain cooked chicken bites on paper towels, plate and serve with more hot sauce, ranch dressing and/or bleu cheese for dipping. You can even serve some celery and carrot sticks on the side.

Italian Waffle Fries - Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place one package of waffle fries in a bowl and drizzle some extra vigin olive oil and toss fries until they are all coated. Spread the fries in a single layer on a large cookie sheet and bake until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove fries from the oven and place in a heat safe bowl, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and 1/2 cup of frshly grated parmesan cheese and serve. Note: National brand grated parmeasan cheese are very high in salt. If you prefer to use this, go easy on the salt when seasoning the fries.

Sinful Brownies - Mix one package of your favorite brownie mix per package directions and pour half of the mix into a 9 x 13 disposable foil pan; use a knife or back of spoon to spread out evenly. Then place three large chocolate candy bars (I like the Hershey's Symphony Toffee Bars) in a row on top of the brownie batter, add remaining brownie batter on top of candy bars and spread evenly. Bake in oven per package directions. Cool and cut into small squares. These are also great for bribing teenagers to do stuff around the house you don't feel like doing. Enjoy!