Yesterday, Mark from our office, said that he had gotten and e-mail from one of the trucking companies we deal with for a great sounding sandwich using our Aviator Brown Ale Honey Mustard.  I am always up for a good sandwich, so I had Mark forward the e-mail. It was from Annette Morris at YRC Trucking’s Yakima Office and wow it did sound really good. She calls it Morris’s ABC Sandwich.
The ABC in the sandwich were apple, bacon and Cheddar.   I made the sandwich just as Annette instructed and it was delicious, but I am never able to just leave a recipe alone so I decided to do the whole thing as a panini.  Man, that gooey melted cheese with the cool, crisp apple and sweet, smokey bacon was dynamite!  Thank you Annette.

And don’t forget, I’m still giving away THREE 6-bottle condiment packages to three random posters who leave me a comment on my blog this week!  Tell me about your favorite condiment flavor right now, and on Friday I’ll select three people at random who will receive a hearty collection of my Saucy Mama condiments!

Morris’ ABC Sandwich

1/2 Sweet Crisp Apple (The Fuji Apples looked great at the store so that’s what I used)
2 slices sharp cheddar cheese (I used Tillamook Extra-sharp and it was
terrific)
2 slices bacon (crisp cooked)
Aviator Brown Ale Honey Mustard

Spread a thin layer of mustard on both slices of bread.  Layer in cheese, bacon and apple slices.  Enjoy.

My variation….Assemble the sandwich leaving out the apple layer. Butter the outside of the bread.  Place the sandwich in a heated panini press or in a heated skillet and weight the top (I use another heavy skillet).  Cook until golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted.  Open the sandwich and put in the apple layer.

In our small town of Pendleton there are so many get-togethers where everyone pitches in with food and even decorating, so  a great time can be had without host and/or hostess stress.  It also makes getting ready for a party as much fun as the party.  I have to bring an appetizer to one of those parties and leave for out of town early the next morning.  I am thinking really easy to make, really tasty, and really appetizing to look at.  Savory Smoked Salmon Spread fits the bill and I will still have lots of time to pack.

Savory Smoked Salmon Spread

2 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese
8 ounces smoked salmon, flaked (reserve about 2 tablespoons for garnish)
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Saucy Mama Horseradish
2 tablespoon minced chives (reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish)
1 teaspoon Saucy Mama Hot Wing Sauce

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients except for garnish and blend thoroughly.  At this point you can place the spread in a serving bowl or form into ball and wrap with plastic wrap.  Either way chill for at least 1 hour up to 1 day.  Place on serving platter topped with the reserved flaked salmon and minced chives, and surrounded with a sliced baguette or crackers.

I love to have this left over smeared on my morning whole wheat bagel and topped with thinly sliced sweet onion.

We are almost jittery with excitement from the absolutely overwhelming creativity we’ve discovered, thanks to our first (and most definitely NOT our last) recipe contest (Contest concluded).   We have been honored by the 25 fabulous bloggers who participated in this event, and are blown away by the beautiful, accessible, and obviously delicious recipes that have emerged from their kitchens.

The contest itself wraps up today; however, the next two weeks we’ll be in the enviable (yet challenging) position of testing, tasting, and selecting the winners.  While we’re at it, though, we’ll load up our blog with samples of these incredible recipes, and the talented chefs who submitted them.

Please let us know if you try out any of these Saucy Mama recipes, and let us know what you think! If you’re looking to buy some of your own Saucy Mama condiments, make sure to visit our website at www.barhyte.com, or look for us in specialty food and gourmet stores near you.

Make every meal extraordinary!

Summery Chicken Tostadas

submitted by:   Bella Eats (www.bellaeats.com)

serves 4 for a light dinner

Ingredients:

• 3 medium-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Saucy Mama Lime Chipotle Marinade, to marinate chicken in and also to drizzle on top of tostadas
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 1 poblano pepper, seeds removed and sliced into strips
• 1 medium onion, sliced into strips
• 2 ears of fresh corn, corn removed from husk
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt + pepper
• 4 oz chevre (goat cheese), crumbled
• 4 whole wheat pitas (8?), brushed with olive oil and toasted in oven

Method:

1. First, turn your oven on to 350*.  Coat chicken breasts with marinade and let sit in small glass dish for 10 minutes.
2. As the oven preheats and the chicken marinates, chop up your veggies and toss in a 9—13 glass dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Place in oven and set timer to 30 minutes.
3. When oven timer has 20 minutes remaining, pour excess marinade out of chicken dish.  Bake chicken for remaining 20 minutes at 350*.
4. Pull chicken from oven and bump oven temperature up to 400*.  Stir veggies and let roast for an additional 5 minutes, while chicken cools slightly.  Place pitas directly on rack to toast, turning halfway through 5 minutes.
5. After 5 minutes, shred chicken with a fork.  Pull pitas and veggies from oven.  Place one pita on each plate and top with shredded chicken, roasted veggies and crumbles of chevre.  Drizzle Lime Chipotle Marinade over top of tostada, to taste.

We have to admit that it’s always great to see a recipe in which the author says, “This is one of those recipes where it’s almost insulting how good it is when it was made with so little effort.”  Yet that is exactly the kind of quick, easy and delicious recipe we were looking for when we sent a call out for our Saucy Mama’s Extraordinary Condiment Contest. If you’re looking for a simple and quick side dish for supper tonight, this tangy offering is a fantastic solution.  Thanks to Coconut & Lime for offering up such a beautiful creation.

More to follow later this week!  Enjoy!

Parmesan-Caper Potato Salad

1 1/2 lb red skin potatoes, diced

for the dressing
1/3 cup Saucy Mama Parmesan Garlic Marinade
1/3 cup diced green onion
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
1 1/2 tablespoons nonpareil capers
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a large pot, boil the potatoes until fork-tender. Drain. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle dressing over still slightly warm potatoes, toss to coat.

My good friend Jo Simpson had our monthly Bunco night at her house out in the country last night. Cheryl Doyle, another very good friend and I were co-hostesses.  Jo ordered a Mediterranean Chicken light crust pizza from our local Papa Murphy’s www.papamurphys.com so she could just slip it into the oven after we all arrived.  I made an asparagus salad using Saucy Mama Sesame Ginger Dressing.  For dessert Cheryl brought raspberry sherbet and butter cookies.  It all made for a very tasty very easy meal with no stress and lots of fun.  It was great to sit out on her deck watching the evening colors change on our beautiful Blue Mountains, catching up on each others lives and doing a whole bunch of laughing.

This salad is easy to make and travels well.

Asparagus Orange Salad with Glazed Almonds

Serves 8

1/2 cup whole almonds
3 tablespoons Saucy Mama Sesame Ginger Dressing
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

4 bunches asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces
2 large oranges
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 large avocado cubed
1/3 cup Saucy Mama Sesame Ginger Dressing
2/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Place almonds in a heavy skillet set over medium heat.  I use my trusty old cast iron skillet.  Stir until almonds are lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.
Increase heat to medium high and add dressing and soy sauce.  Stir until the liquid has evaporated and the almonds are coated.  About 1 minute.  Transfer the almonds to a cutting board and coarsely chop as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Cook asparagus in a large pot of rapidly boiling water for about 2 minutes until bright green and just tender.  Immediately plunge the asparagus into ice water to stop the cooking.  Drain well.

Use a sharp knife to remove the peel and pith from the oranges and divide the orange sections removing the membrane.

Toss the asparagus, oranges, onions, avocado and dressing together.

Place into a pretty serving dish and top with cilantro and almonds.

Need something quick and pretty for an appetizer?  Try these quick and easy roll ups…  I took them to a party the other night and they were devoured right away.

I was thinking how good the roll-ups were while I was watering my basil this morning  and decided I wanted to try a roll-up made with the basil and sun-dried tomatoes.  As soon as I got to work I set to putting the roll-up together.  I used both spinach and sun-dried tomato tortillas, because they are pretty arranged together on a serving platter.  I put fresh mozzarella on some of the roll-ups and those were the big hit when I invited our crew up to my test kitchen for lunch.

Basil and Sun-Dried Tomato Roll-ups

2 – 8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Tablespoons Saucy Mama Hot Wing Sauce
1 Tablespoon Pesto
1/3 Cup grated Parmesan Cheese
4 Green Onions coarsely chopped
1/2 – .4 oz package Ranch Dressing mix
10 large sun-dried tomato or spinach tortillas (or both)
5 Cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
2 – 8.5 oz jars Julienne Cut Sun Dried Tomatoes
1 lb fresh mozzarella

Place cream cheese, wing sauce, pesto, parmesan, onions and ranch dressing mix in a food processor.  Process until well mixed.

With a spatula spread the cream cheese mixture onto each tortilla.  Arrange
1/2 cup basil and a few sun-dried tomato pieces on top of cream cheese mixture.

Roll each tortilla tightly and place on a large plate.  When all the tortillas are rolled up, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for a least 1 hour.

With a sharp knife cut the rolled tortillas into 1/2 inch thick rounds.

Arrange on a serving platter.

Jan and I have made it to Palm Springs and it is pouring rain and cold. I am sitting in our living room watching the steam rising from the pool.  It is beautiful with the palm trees in the background.
 
The house is great.  Very mid-century modern.  I love it.
 
I backed the ice chest with some things from my freezer at home, that I thought would be good for barbequeing down here.  For our  first dinner I planned a salmon fillet that had been given to us by a friend who had been fishing in Vancouver B.C.  I totally scrapped the going outside to the barbeque out of the dinner plans.  It’s wet and 45 degrees out there!  I am cooking it the oven.

Jan and I bought some toasted shelled pistachio nuts on our road trip down so I figure they will be great for the crust along with some whole wheat bread  we found at a small bakery in Alamo, Nevada.  I had also brought parmesan cheese from home that will be good mixed in.  We also have lemon, orange and grapefruit trees in the back yard of house to choose from for cooking.  For this meal I choose lemon.

 
Salmon Fillet with Pistachio Nuts and of course,
               Willamette Valley Sweet N Hot Stone Ground Mustard

 
1/4 cup Willamette Valley Sweet N Hot Stone Ground Mustard
3 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 lemon cut wedges for garnish
 
Mix together mustard and butter in a small bowl and set aside.
 
Mix nuts, bread crumbs, parmesan and lemon rind.
 
Place salmon fillet skin side down on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Brush with mustard-butter mixture.  Coat the fillet bread crumb mixture.
 
Place in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet.  It should reach an internal temperature of 165 F degrees and flake easily with a fork.
 
Season salmon fillet with salt and pepper.  Place salmon skin side down on a lightly greased baking sheet.