chicken salad, YUM!

chicken salad. forget the bread and gimme a fork. this chicken salad is simple and can’t-get-enough delicious. make it easy on yourself and buy a Whole Foods rotisserie chicken & use the breast meat. it goes down like this:

you’ll need:

cooked chicken breast, diced
mayo
beau monde seasoning
2 celery ribs, diced
Coleman’s powdered mustard
white pepper
a pinch of cayenne pepper, ground
a couple grates of onion, about ½-1 teaspoon
½ lemon, freshly squeezed

you’ll do:

in a mixing bowl, grate the onion, dice and add celery, add a few shakes of Beau Monde seasoning. dice chicken breast and add to bowl. add white pepper, cayenne pepper, powdered mustard and another few shakes of Beau Monde seasoning. Add mayo - and stir. add lemon and stir. add more mayo to make it creamy but not gloppy. got it? good.

oh, hell yes.

a cheeseburger with boursin cheese. fantastic!salt & pepper the patties and grill. resist your urge to mash on them while they grill and err on the side of undercooking, ok? after they rest, they'll be perfecto. butter & griddle buns, smear on maille dijon mustard. throw on a pickle and slice of tomato. here's where the fabu comes in: add a hunk of boursin cheese - any savory flavor. the cheese that i had planned to use was moldy in the fridge. a happy accident? i think not, it was a divine culinary intervention. this was the best damn burger i’ve had in a loooooooong time. i love me.

beef o'brady's

beef o’brady’s. maumelle has been my recent stomping ground and when the combination of hunger and maumelle came about, i had a hankering for an upscale sammie - to go. i got one, a cuban hot pressed ($7.99), and it was pretty damn good. i have not had the pleasure of savoring an authentic pressed cuban from a miami dive, (but, i will) so, this review is based on, well, nothing more than taste. it was super delectable. there.

cuban hot pressed sammie

Beef O’Brady’s
115 Audubon Drive
Maumelle

(501) 803-3500

Fresh Spinach Soup!

spinach soup. go ahead, make fun of the color, but this is soup is a hug in a bowl. super quick, ultra airy, velvety smooth and fresh. start with butter and onions, add flour to make a velouté then use a blender to chop and aerate. easy. here’s how martha taught me to do it:

you’ll need:

2 bunches spinach, ends removed, washed
1 yellow onion, chopped finely
5 tablespoons butter
white pepper, finely ground
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon flour
stock (chicken or veg)
cream (totally optional)

boil a large pot of salted water. blanche spinach for 30 seconds, remove with spider and place directly into a salted ice bath. swirl with your hand. when spinach is completely cooled. remove from ice bath and squeeze out excess water.

in a dutch oven, add butter, when butter melts add onions. sauté for at least 6 minutes do not brown. salt and pepper the onions. when tender, add flour and stir for at least 1 minute. do not brown flour. add stock until the consistency of heavy cream. bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. there’s your velouté. put velouté in a blender with the center of the blender cap removed. if you choose not to remove the center piece of the blender top, you will have a mess on your hands, try it and see. add velouté to blender to fill blender about ⅓ full. add ⅓ of the spinach and blend. repeat until all velouté and spinach are blended. add soup back to dutch oven and warm through. adjust consistency with stock. serve with a splash of cream. FRESH.

note: after you blend the soup, warm gently and do not bring back to a boil that will darken the green color. don’t do it! you want it fresh green!

i don't get it.

freebies! i stopped by whole foods to buy something i normally do not: boneless, skinless chicken breasts. the norm is to buy a whole chicken and part it out. there they were, all 14 dollars and 34 cents of them. hmmm. wait, i see a sign, buy ‘em and get a 6 pack of everyday soda free. cool, that’s one of my staples anyway. ok. i am in the check out and the cashiers says: “you’re missing some stuff.” i said, “the sodas are there, don’t they count?” “yes, they do, but you also get deli veg macaroni salad ($9.98, huh?), a bottle of marinade ($2.99) and fresh deli made salsa ($4.99) along with your soda ($2.50). whoa. for the $14.34 chicken breast pack, i rec’d gratis: $20.46 worth of merch. i don’t get it, but, i’ll take it. go do it too!

Whole Foods
10700 North Rodney Parham Road
Little Rock
(501) 312-2326
note: the free veg macaroni salad is better than expected! chock full of red pepper, celery, green peppes & purple onion in a creamy canola oil mayo, with rice wine vinegar, cayenne, sugar, salt & pepper. yeah, i called and asked b/c the mayo dressing tasted light and creamy and not a bit heavy, gloppy or greasy like other deli mac salads around. YUM.

Little Rock Appetite

little rock appetite. when you're in dining limbo, head for little rock appetite to show you the way. this site lists area restaurants and has 8 menus to peruse. yeah, 8, that part is sad. just go.