the Friday Feeding; VOL. 85

It’s nice to be known I think you will agree. Comfort and familiarity, plus things you really need, are what you and so many from out of town come to the store for.  And because of that, we are known and were featured in a magazine article!  Click here to read the whole story.

There is a lot happening at the store…

The concert last night…

Independence Day celebration next week-end…

New…

Let’s cook.

As I write, our heat wave has subsided…but it will come again. It is always good to have a few nice meal recipes on hand to try outside on your grill. Simple burgers are always a hit but if you want to try something a little more creative try these rolled and tarragon-mustard stuffed chicken breasts with a tarragon strawberry-watermelon salsa.

Begin by selecting good quality chicken breasts. Open them onto a cutting board that can be cleaned and sanitized with the smooth, uncut side upwards. Cover the breasts with plastic wrap and pound them with a kitchen mallet or rolling pin until they are flattened to around 1/4″ thick and enlarged. We have some great all natural local chicken in our freezer for you.

Flip the breast over and spread with:

• 1T Edmond Fallot tarragon dijon mustard

• Top with slices of a Brie cheese. Here I used our Quinby goat brie…delicious.
• Sprinkle over those, 1/3 cup chopped fresh spinach

Firmly, squish and roll up the breast tucking in the edges, then pin it together with a bamboo skewer. This is a messy job and know that they will not be perfect. We have all of this in the store for you…

Brush them with the following mixture then refrigerate until ready to cook.

• 1T olive oil
• 1T melted butter
• 1tsp Tarragon Mustard as above
• 1tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Heat your grill to high. When fully hot, place a cast iron skillet onto the grill. Reduce the heat to medium.

When the skillet is hot, place the breasts onto it open side down first. When browned, flip to brown the other side. Continued flipping and browning and basting with more of the mixture until all sides are browned the chicken is fully cooked, 30-40 minutes.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes then remove the skewers and slice into rounds.

While chicken is resting, prepare your fresh salsa.

 “Salsa” is chunky sauce developed in Mexican American restaurants to serve cold to accompany Tex-Mex food or as a dip for tortilla chips.  This salsa is the tomato-based style with chili, some sort of acid like lemon or lime plus onion and garlic.

But since that Spanish word translates to mean sauce, any type of chunky sauce could be considered “salsa”.  Indian chutneys would fall into this category as would Middle Eastern Baba Ghanoush. The common denominator in all of them would be some sort of  acid (vinegar or citrus), onion and/or garlic, salt, chunky vegetables and/or fruit.

Understanding that, what an incredible jumping off point for playing in the kitchen to make your own salsas. This salsa is my garden twist utilizing fresh seasonal ingredients available right now and instead of cilantro or basil, I used fresh tarragon to compliment the mustard in the meat. I am bringing some fresh tarragon into the store free for the taking so you can try this.

Strawberry-Watermelon tarragon salsa

Toss together in a bowl:

• 1 1/2 cup small cubes of watermelon
• 1 1/2 cups small pieces strawberries
• 2T minced red onion
• 1T sliced tarragon leaves
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1T Leonardi Rosé Balsamic vinegar. This vinegar is so tasty; a bit sweet, not too tangy and compliments the strawberries so well.

NOTE: don’t make your salsa too far in advance because it can get watery as the salt pulls the moisture from the fruit.

Serve your sliced meat with the salsa and another blob of mustard for dipping. Enjoy!

Have a great week-end,

Jane and Dave