Simple and Oh So Tasty - Hal's Chicken Salad

My good friend Hal is a good cook. One of my favorite recipes of his is his chicken salad. It's a very simple recipe, what makes it so good is the ingredients he uses. He introduced me to this tinned chicken he buys from Cost Co. It comes in 12.5 oz cans and is sold in shrink wrapped sets of 6. It's just delicious!

Now Hal loves to travel and his wanderlust has afforded him the luxury of Micronesian pepper. This is his other secret ingredient for the chicken salad. I don't have that luxury, so I just use fresh ground pepper in mine. Here's his recipe:

You'll need:

Two cans of Kirkland chunk chicken breast
3 Tbs mayonnaise
Fresh ground pepper
Kosher salt
Salted cashews for garnish

Begin by draining two cans of chicken and putting the chunks in the bowl. Crush the chunks with a fork until they're shredded. Add the mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Season with the fresh ground pepper and kosher salt. Serve on a plate garnished with a lettuce leaf and sprinkle the salad with salted cashew nuts.

This is a delightful light lunch dish. The cashews give the salad a sparkle and crunch that adds to the flavor nicely. Because the dish is so simple, it's important to make sure that your ingredients are top notch. You can substitute sea salt for kosher salt if you wish, and if you find a source for Micronesian pepper let me know!

Those are my linen tablecloth check napkins up there with that salad. They're great for summer entertaining.

Sophistication with a Helping of Humor - The Esquire Party Book

While packing up my cook books, I ran across a copy of the Esquire Party Book. Originally published in 1935, it's the lesser known companion to the popular Esquire's Handbook for Hosts.

My edition is from 1965 and is replete with illustrations by the legendary Seymour Chwast. The art direction - also by Chwast - is a humorous tour de force that draws you in with its charm and irreverence.

The content is equally as diverting. It's chock full of great information on entertaining from sun-up to sun-down, including drinks, recipes, party games, decor, even music and wardrobe suggestions!

The recipes tend toward the haute side, with entries like Crown Roast of Lamb, Artichoke Leaves with Roquefort Dip and Shrimp Viennoise En Casserole. Not everything is complicated, though. There are simple recipes for things like Cocoanut Chips and Olives in Bacon.

They're all organized into menus for parties that have whimsical themes like "On a Polynesian Beach" and "For Old School Ties".

Here's their recipe for stuffed pineapple:

2 medium sized pineapples
1 box strawberries
1/2 lb seedless grapes
1 cantaloupe - cut into cubes or balls
1 honeydew melon - cut likewise
1 lb pitted black cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup liquor - curacao, triple sec, brandy, fruit brandy, rum, white wine, port - what ever your liquor cabinet is willing to donate

Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise, being careful to leave each half of the green tuft of leaves attached. (A serrated knife does the job well.) With a grapefruit knife, remove the fruit from the skin, leaving a thin shell (1/2" thick). Remove the eyes and the core from the fruit and cube it. Mix the pineapple with the other fruits (which have been washed, sliced, and otherwise prepared), add the sugar and the liquor and stir gently. Pile back into the four pineapple halves and refrigerate until dessert time. Serve with pre-scooped balls of lime ice on top. You can use any other fruits you have on hand that marry well with pineapple, but be sure to add lemon juice or ACM to fruits that darken upon waiting: apricots, peaches, apples or bananas.

It sounds like a delightful dessert for summer entertaining, doesn't it? If you like entertaining with a sophisticated flavor to it, I suggest finding a copy of Esquire's Party Book. They're available on sites like Amazon and eBay.

Summer's Coming - Get Out the Rum!

I'm heading to Fire Island this weekend for a friends birthday party (happy birthday, Gil!), and for me it's really the kick off for the summer season. So I thought I'd share one of my favorite summer cocktails with you to celebrate the coming summer.

This cocktail is in my book. I call it the Summer Breeze and it's very simple to make:

You'll need:

1.5 oz citrus flavored rum
1 oz pink grapefruit juice
1 oz orange juice
Dash of grenadine
Maraschino cherry for garnish

Shake all ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into cocktail glass (I used a rocks glass). Garnish with the cherry!

I'll have some big news for you on Monday, but for right now, mum's the word!

Pyrotechnics from the Kitchen - Flaming Kebabs

I don't know why, but I felt like I had to set something on fire today. To that end I thought I'd share a fun little tip with you. We did this on my show for the Style network. Summer entertaining is almost here, and Tiki themed parties are still popular, so why not get into the spirit with flaming fruit? This method will work for flaming fruit (or meat and vegetable, for that matter) kebabs or for flaming garnishes for drinks.

You'll need:

Skewers that have been soaking in water for a while
Fruit of various kinds (I'm using pineapple and strawberries)
Soft bread cubes
Lemon extract

Lemon extract has a very high alcohol content, so it burns beautifully.

Soak your bread cubes in the extract and stack them with the fruit on the water soaked skewers.

Light the cubes and serve right away. The cubes will burn for a little while, but should be extinguished before you try to eat the fruit. The flames will singe the fruit a little, but it's still tasty!

Blooming Napkins - Simple Napkin Embroidery

Hi people! It's spring! The weather is so beautiful here on the east coast. I was inspired to create something springy today, so I put together an embroidery project using my Felix Populi Tablecloth Check Napkins. It's the perfect base for daisies! The white, yellow and green look so cheerful on the red and white check ground. I love simple embroidery and this project is just that! I used three stitches and four different colors of yarn. Here's what you need: 

 Napkins  
Embroidery floss in ecru, yellow and two shades of green
Embroidery needle
Embroidery hoop
Scissors

I did this freehand, so no markings necessary. If you're new to embroidery, you'll want to practice the stitches on some scrap fabric first. I started with French knots, which formed the flower centers. To make a French knot, come up at the point you want the knot to sit, wrap the yarn around the needle twice.

 Then put the point down very close to where the yarn comes out of the fabric, but not in the same hole. Pull the yarn closely around the shaft of the needle and press it down to the surface of the fabric.

Then pull the needle through and it will catch the loops and make a nice little nubbly knot on the surface of the fabric.

When working on something like a napkin that will get a bit of wear, I like to leave a tail when I begin my knots and then tie them off with the tail that comes back through the fabric with a square knot or a granny knot.

The petals are a detached chain stitch. Come up through the fabric close to the French knot, then go down right next to the up-stitch but don't pull the loop flat - about 3/8" away from the French knot, perpendicular to the stitches you've just taken, come up and with the point of the needle, catch the loop.

 Insert the needle just beyond the first stitch and pull the stitch tight. It will catch the loop and create the petal. Tie off as you did your french knot. Keep your stitches short so they are less apt to get snagged.

 The leaves are done in satin stitch. I've separated one strand of the two different colors of green into three threads each and combined them.

The satin stitch is done by imagining a leaf shape on the surface of the fabric and filling it in by creating parallel stitches over the surface of the shape - coming up at the bottom and down at the top along the edges. Again, tie off with a knot on the back.

 To finish the design, I've scattered a few French knots in white through it to represent the charming potential of daisy buds. Once you get going this doesn't take long at all. You can complete a full set of napkins over a weekend - perfect for spring meals alfresco!

#12 Pool Ponderings

Hello people. It's almost officially summer! This weekend marks the beginning of the summer season for so many people I thought it would be a good idea to talk about opening up your pool on the show this week. 

In addition to the tips discussed in the show be sure and check your pool floats for leaks (they can be fixed with a bicycle repair kit) make sure your liner is intact, and your lounge cushions are free from mildew (a good spray with some bleach will kill any you find).  

Take a look at Episode 111 of my Style network show for some more great summer tips