Honey Curry Chicken

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Jackie Mack

Honey Curry Chicken

Yesterday was the time for some good pre-winter cooking.  The leaves are all falling, although there a few left on the trees, to remember our beautiful October by.  It is cold in Portland by Portland standards.  Maybe it’s not as cold as Alaska or Minnesota but it’s wet and chilly and after living her for 13 years it does feel like winter.  So if you need a good pre-thanksgiving poultry recipe and one that’s tried and true, I have one for you.   This recipe came from the files of my mother, Carol.  I’ve been baking this chicken since before I was married and it has always been a crowd pleaser.  Over the years we have also grilled it.  The secret to this recipe is basting during baking so the sauce bakes on and coats the chicken.  The same it true if you are grilling.   Use the marinade to baste the chicken and you will be rewarded with the gooey sweet goodness of honey, butter and curry.   Last night, I served honey curry chicken with mashed yams and butter, baked red potatoes, a green salad and and seven grain bread.

Honey Curry Chicken

  • 2-3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • ½ cup honey
  • ¼ cup brown mustard (or yellow)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 tsp curry powder

In small saucepan, add butter, honey, brown mustard, salt and curry powder while cooking at medium to low heat.  As butter and honey melt, whisk to combine ingredients well.  Cook at least 5 minutes until marinade has thickened and is well combined.   Pour marinade over a single layer of chicken thighs in baking dish.  Bake at 375  for at least 1 hour uncovered until chicken is reddish/golden and well coated with honey curry sauce.  During baking it is important to baste the chicken with the honey curry marinade 3-4 times.  This allows the honey curry to coat the chicken.

Grilled Honey Curry Chicken

This recipe can also be grilled.  Prepare as described above marinating chicken until the grill is hot.  Place chicken on grill and baste 3-4 times to provide coating.

Posted in Chicken, Main Dishes, Winter Season | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Salmon Patties with Cheddar and Guacamole

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Jackie Mack

Salmon patties have become a comfort food in our home.  They’re a go to meal when I have 2 cans of good Alaskan sockeye salmon to spare and some nicely ripened avocados and a lime and not much time to prepare dinner.  I grew up eating salmon patties on occasion given that my Mom would can salmon and then some every summer so we had a stock for the year.  Salmon patties, salmon loaf and salmon salad sandwiches were staple meals in our home on the river.

Only in the past year in my own home have I added the guacamole to the salmon patties with melted cheese on top.  We thought it was a fantastic add and combination.  So, it has stuck and we love a good Alaskan salmon pattie night in Portland.

Salmon Patties w/Cheddar and Guacamole

Salmon Patties with Cheddar and Guacamole

  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 2 – 7.5 ounce cans, wild sockeye salmon, undrained
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill or dried kelp (omit salt if using kelp)
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1/2 red pepper, chopped
  • 1/4 red onion, chopped or 2 green onions, chopped
  • Juice of 1/2 of lime
  • Slices of cheddar cheese
  • Sea salt/Pepper to taste

Beat eggs in bottom of mixing bowl.  Add salmon and juices and flake the salmon with a fork while mixing with the eggs.  Add the rest of ingredients listed and mix well.

Divide into 8 small patties or 4 large patties.  Melt generous dollops of butter or coconut oil in non stick pan on medium heat. For 4 patties, I use a measuring cup and put 1/2 cup of salmon mixture in the pan and form the patties with a spatula.   Cook on first side until nicely browned.  Turn and add sliced cheddar cheese on browned side to melt.  Cover the pan to melt cheese faster.

Serve with guacamole.

Guacamole

  • 2 large avocados, mashed (I used small potato masher – so easy!)
  • juice of 1/2 of lime
  • Sea salt and pepper to taste

Serve immediately.

Posted in Main Dishes, Quick Dinners, Seafood | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Apple Cranberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Jackie Mack

Today was a quintessential fall day in Portland.  It started with frost on the grass and me bundled up in a hat and gloves to walk my dog, Oreo.  We meandered around the neighborhoods this morning and by the end of the walk were soaking in some vitamin D.   Beautiful and brisk it is this time of year.  But, in Portland, we know that can end quickly.

Fall Colors

On the evening of this beautiful day I listen to the rain on our rooftop and the creek running in the back.  I loved the sunshine today!  These are the days we Oregonians treasure in December and January.

Fall is the time for enjoying it’s bounty and the apples are so crunchy and fresh this time of year.  I picked up some organic honey crisp apples grown in Washington today with dried cranberries and greens.  With a few red onions for zip and some toasted almonds these ingredients joined the balsamic vinaigrette for an excellent combination of sweet, nutty and crunch.

Apple Cranberry Salad

Apple Cranberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

In a large bowl combine:

4 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup slivered and toasted almonds (toast in non-stick pan on low heat until golden)
1 tart apple, cored and chopped
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onions
1/4 cup dried cranberries
(optional adds: 1 avocado, sliced, 1/2 cup gorgonzola, feta or grated parmesan cheese)

Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl whisk the first 3 ingredients.  Drizzle olive oil while whisking.  Dressing will thicken as you stir.  Just before serving combine dressing with salad.   Serves 4.

Posted in Salads, Vegetarian | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Living Beyond Lingonberry Lane

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Jackie Mack

 

I write from my home in Portland, in suburbia, yet on the edge of the woods.  Oregon is the land of berries.  Oregon is famous for raspberries, blueberries, and marionberries.   Yesterday, I bought fresh cranberries grown in Bandon, Oregon on the coast.  Vincent Family Cranberries cultivated these berries with ‘love and pride’.  The cranberries are beautiful and fresh and tart without a little sweetener.  These cranberries are the closest berry I know to the lingonberry that I can find fresh in Oregon.

The lingonberry grows wild in the boreal forest on a low evergreen bush.  As a child, living on Lingonberry Lane, in Alaska, we used to spend our summer days in the forest by the river and watch the growth of the lingonberries.  The lingonberry would blossom as a pretty pink flower at the beginning of Alaska’s short growing season and in the fall became the ripe yummy beautiful scarlet berry that my Mom would make into crisps, lingonberry orange bread and lingonberry sauce at Thanksgiving.  Lingonberries were so important to our family during the holidays, my mother would send a package of the prized berries via USPS to our homes in the ‘lower 48’ so we could enjoy our very own lingonberry sauce in Ohio and Minnesota.

My relationship to the lingonberry and my love of good food began to cultivate on Lingonberry Lane in my youth.  I was surrounded by a host of good cooks including my mother, Carol, a home economist turned teacher and my Aunt Margie, the homesteader, gardener, community activist and environmentalist.  I grew up watching these wonder women growing fresh produce in their gardens and cooking from scratch after harvest.  I’ve been living the city life for many years since I left home and moved first to Minnesota and now in Oregon.  But the importance of good, nourishing, healthful food was not lost on me during my formative years.

Yesterday, after I purchased those lovely cranberries, I made a delicious berry crisp to celebrate the coming of fall.  With ‘Love and Pride’ I share my Mom’s recipe for Berry Crisp.  I’ve made this crisp many times with countless berry varieties and every time it’s a crowd pleaser.  I recommend a combination of blueberries and raspberries during the summer season and a cranberry/rhubarb combination is divine.  Frozen berries are an excellent choice if you want to create a winter dessert.   I made a slight change from the original recipe using raw cane sugar instead of white sugar mixed with the berries and 1/2 cup raw cane sugar and 1/2 brown sugar in the topping in hopes that I’d still get the carmel effect in the topping after baking.  I’d say my wish was granted, I thoroughly enjoyed the taste of baked cranberries in the crisp with a topping of fresh whipped cream and a little vanilla.

Carol’s Berry Crisp

Berries…..mix in 9×13 pan:
  • 6 cups berries (lingonberries, cranberries, raspberries, blueberries…frozen or fresh)
  • 1 cup raw cane sugar (or 1 cup sugar)
  • 3 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)
Topping….in large bowl with pastry blender mix:
  • 1/2 cup raw cane sugar (or 1/2 cup brown sugar)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)
  • 1  cube (1/2 cup) frozen or chilled butter, cut up
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Thoroughly mix topping with pastry blender.   Butter should be blended as fine as possible.  Pour topping and evenly spread over berries.  Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until berries are bubbly and topping is lightly browned.

Serve warm w/freshly whipped cream or your favorite vanilla ice cream.

Posted in Desserts | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments