Pork Medallions Milanese

Our Valentine's Dinner

I really didn't know what to call this dish.  It was served on top of cheesy polenta...and it was topped with a Cheesy Tomato Sauce with Onions and Mushrooms and Basil.  The pork tenderloin medallions were "sort of" in the Milanese style.  They were pounded with a mallet and coated in Italian style bread crumbs...but not dipped in egg - and fried.  So I don't know if it qualifies.  I don't really care either. I suspect I'm mixing regions... I just know it was really, really good!  I'm calling it Pork Medallions Milanese and that's that.

It came together so quickly I had no time to take preparation photos.  All I have are a couple of photos of the finished product ready to take to the table...and there was so much it was almost overflowing the platter.  It was attacked with gusto by the family as we had not had lunch...just the Sunday morning breakfast tacos and we were all starved.  We had a simple side of steamed asparagus...and a lovely brownie cake waiting for dessert.  (More on that tomorrow)

This was our Valentine's Day celebratory meal.  There was no patience for photos at this table...no nicely set up plated meal...hell no.  They were on it like dogs on a plate of rib bones.  I didn't know whether to laugh or pull my hands back for safety.

The sounds of enjoyment were my rewards.  After a few bites, there were the appropriate ooohs and ahhhs and "honey this is good" which always warms my heart. 

Here's how I pulled it together.

1.  . Before starting the pork, clean and slice 1/2 pound of mushrooms and dice 1/2 small or 1/4 large sweet onion. Saute in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add large pinch of salt once they are in the oil as well as 1/2 teaspoon dried basil. Once onions are translucent, add your favorite marinara or pasta sauce. I used Bertolli 5-Cheese Sauce. Stir and leave on low to use on top of the medallions. (if you haven't already prepped your side(s) - do that now.  Once the tenderloin and polenta get going, it goes fast.

2.  Trim a pork tenderloin of all silver skin and white stuff (that's a technical term).  Slice into about 1 inch medallions, placing each piece between pieces of plastic wrap, and pounding thin with a mallet.

3.  Place pounded medallions into a bed of seasoned bread crumbs, flipping back and forth to coat.  I used Progresso Italian Bread Crumbs.

4.  In a small amount of oil in a wide bottomed fry pan, over a medium high heat, begin browning the pieces of pork.  They go fairly quickly.  Remove browned pieces to a paper towel coated rack and lightly salt.  Put in another batch.  I had about 6 batches all together.

5.  Prepare your favorite polenta - I used Colavita fast cooking polenta for the first time - holy smokes, they weren't kidding that it only took 5 minutes - I had to hustle to stir with one hand and flip medallions with the other.  I must say, here, you really need to whisk from the start.  The directions say "stir" but whisk if you don't want any lumps.  And, when they say slowly pour in the polenta, they mean slowly...if you don't want lumps.  My addtion:  Add 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup grated Mozzarella and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan to the thickened polenta right before serving.  Stir until melted.

6.  Pour the polenta into a large serving platter, top with fried pork tenderloin medallions, and ladle the mushroom and onion tomato sauce over the top...and serve!

Okay, here's the other picture...looks pretty much like the other picture.  That's it!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

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Breakfast Tacos With a New Product...new to me anyway!

When planning for our week-end meals, I try to at least make a family breakfast one of those mornings.  We all get up at different times, so making breakfast falls to the individual wanting to eat at that particular moment.  This Sunday morning, I nibbled a banana with my coffee and waited for my husband to get up.  The teen had already eaten (but with a teen-age appetite, I figured he would likely accept an offer of a second, late morning breakfast).

This week-end I wanted to try a product that I saw on the shelves before Christmas but had not tried.  I went looking for it, and found another "new to me" product available.  That product was Jimmy Dean fully-cooked seasoned Turkey Sausage Crumbles. 

I grew up a Texan girl with the regular week-end breakfasts including either Jimmy Dean or Owen's Country Sausage and/or bacon with eggs - fried, scrambled, baked...never an omelette....never a frittata.  Basic Southern fare...sometimes sausage gravy and biscuits, sometimes fried pork chops...it was the base of my cholesterol problems of today.  I love that food.

However, if I can find something that tastes good and is somewhat better for my innards, I'm willing to give it a whirl.  The front of the package touts 60% less fat than pork sausage.  I decided to give it a go this week-end in our breakfast tacos.

Breakfast tacos are everywhere now...but when I was younger, you only found them in Tex-Mex venues and were often called breakfast burritos.  You sure never found them at the local McDonald's or other fast-food restaurant.  I think I became aware of them in the early 80's...maybe the late 70's.  They almost always had chorizo, potato, and egg with some muy caliente salsa ...and sometimes cheese.

As they evolved to common availability in Texas, in our household they became a staple breakfast for when we had overnight company...you can basically cook them up in one pan, slap the ingredients onto a tortilla, sprinkle some cheese and breakfast is done.  You can offer salsa, guacamole, and sour cream on the side for individualization.  I don't make them as often...for some reason the teen didn't like them.  Now, however, the teen has definitely acquired the taste for them - preferably bacon and egg wrapped in a tortilla and nothing else.

This morning I made the breakfast tacos with egg, green onion, Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles, grated Monterrey Jack cheese, avocado, and salsa.  The teen had one with just egg, green onion, and sausage...and loved it.  Came back for more (after everything was all gone) and I was telling him how easy they were to fix...and that he could make one himself if he wanted more.  When he saw the words Turkey Sausage I thought he was going to gag.  Funny how the mind plays tricks on you.  He has the idea that he wouldn't like turkey sausage and had to wrap his brain around the fact that it was good.  He didn't make another one so we'll see how this all shakes out in the future.


It is so easy to make - I whisked some eggs with green onion slices, a dash of cream, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

I scrambled them in a pan prepped with a small amount of butter.

I added the sausage when they were almost done just to bring the sausage to temperature.

I warmed the tortillas in my microwave for 45 seconds, laid down a line of egg ingredients on one of those warm tortillas, quickly sprinkled with cheese so it would melt, and topped with avocado slices.  Served with a side of chunky jarred salsa that I had on hand.

My husband reports they were deeelicious.  I second that emotion!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Pier 19 Revisted...and Better! Followed by New Treasures!

My reviews of Pier 19, in the past, have been up and down.  It's always a nice place for a good bay-front meal...view-wise.  However, I've had a few problems with service and quality... mixed in with good.  Last time I decided I would not be returning.  My husband, however, not having experienced as much of the bad, requested to go there today for lunch while we were out and about doing errands.

I'm happy to report, that today, being a gorgeous sunny day for the first time in dayyyssss, we decided to take that chance (it's been over a year since I've been there).  I must say the service was exceptional (our server Sheila was very attentive), the shrimp baskets, which we all ordered, were filled with deliciousness, and the dessert they were showing around looked scrumptious.  Since I'll be baking this afternoon, I waived THAT away!

A manager stopped by the table to ensure all was well (yay), and I was happy to report it was delicious.  Still, in my opinion, one of the best places EVER for onion rings!  Additionally, the shrimp they are using are MUCH improved over the last time I had a shrimp basket there. 

They have added a bowl of coleslaw to the basket and it was surprisingly quite good.  It had broccoli in with the cabbage and carrot, which I thoroughly enjoyed and the mayo-based sauce had just enough sweet and tart balance to make me a happy girl.  A couple of hush puppies rounded it all off to make an excellent Shrimp Basket.  Our sodas were kept refilled, I got extra tartar sauce quickly, and the place was packed!

We get tired of shrimp (what?  Yes, it's true, living on the coast, we get tired of shrimp) but today we all ordered shrimp baskets.  We all walked out stuffed, and not one of us could finish it all.  I'm glad my hubby convinced me to give it another go.  I was pleased!

Like us, I bet visitors, locals, and obviously lots of Winter Texans were out enjoying the sunshine and the lovely bay views, pelicans, ducks, and shore birds surrounding Pier 19.  Their location on the bay, on a pier jutting out into the bay, provides a really nice place for a meal or a drink.  They often have live music, although not at lunch today.  We really enjoy when they do.

Good job, Pier 19, for bringing the quality up to what I had enjoyed back when you first opened and it was one of our favorites.  I'll be back soon to make sure it's not an anomaly...but it seems like a good team at the restaurant is making for a successful venue once again!

Yay!


Now, for the treasures...
When we were leaving our condo complex, my husband says "hey, look at that bird"...there was a good-sized egret walking, almost stalking, behind the condos by the parking lot...I've seen them fly into the center of the complex before, but had not seen one hunting in the grass...and that is what it looked like he or she was doing.  Sure enough, the bird went behind the shrubs and caught a lizard!  Well, that hacked my husband off...and he was holding the camera (on my cell phone) and he didn't shoot the photo where the egret lifted its wings in triumph and shook the lizard and started the swallowing.  We nearly had a fight over it.  He likes lizards.  They eat bugs.  Oh brother.  I said I was okay with a few less lizards because in the summer we have some that look like they are from Jurassic Park - they jump and lunge when you go by and they have literally raced me up the stairs trying to get into my condo.  I like the ones on my deck but the Jurassic Park dudes are way too fast and too many.  I hope the egret ate one of those!  I count this encounter as a treasure, because I love these birds!

The bay is on the other side of this building

Got it...

Tenderizing before swallowing

Next, we went to get Mr. Flip Flop and the teen a haircut with James at Virginia's Hair Salon.  With all the Winter Texans in town, you have to get an appointment in advance!  I dropped them off and shopped for a bit at The Rusty Pelican.  I bought some birthday cards and a little sign to add to the rest of the signage in the hallway by our entry door. 

The teen doesn't like the sign - he says "do you have ANY IDEA how hard it is to get sand out of your shoes Mom?  Why would you think that was good?"  Uh, no, smarty pants, I have NO IDEA how much trouble it is to get sand out of your shoes...I wear freaking FLIP FLOPS 99% of the days of my life now.  I just wash them off at the outside faucet :-)))))

My final treasure comes from Etsy.  I was looking online for some sea horse cookie cutters and wanted to see if Etsy had listed any decorated sea horse cookies for sale.  I'm always shocked at how much people will pay for decorated sugar cookies!  No sea horse cookies to be found...but when I broadened my search, I found these gorgeous earrings that I just fell in love with.  I don't often buy jewelry for myself.  It's a real rarity in fact.  These stole my heart.  They are an artistic rendition of a mermaid riding a sea horse in the ocean...and it has beautiful filigree around it and a scallop shell hanging off the bottom.  The back of the earrings are almost as beautiful as the front, lots of filigree there as well.  So, anyway, and I hope no one is offended by this comment, my husband looks at them and says "for you that's like wearing the Virgin Mary on your ears I guess".  I knew what he meant - the ocean is magical and mysterious to me and gives me a spiritual feeling of well-being when I'm near it.  So, yes, I guess that is true to an extent.  Whatever, I just love them!

Hard to get a clear shot on my ears...but you get the idea.

Better shot of front and back of earring on my hand...I just LOVE them!!!!

OK - that's it for today.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday before Valentine's Day.  I'm sure enjoying it!  Now, off to the kitchen for baking...both my men are having an after-fried-food-lunch nap.  I'll have to do some kitchen Zumba to keep my motor running!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

We "Heart" Pizza!

My honey is home - it's Friday night - homemade pizza always on the menu...it's a teen requirement!

Used my favorite dough recipe - shaped a couple of sweet hearts - toppings galore (bacon, ham, pepperoni, black olives, green olives, green onions, mozzarella, asiago, parmesan).  Ta Da!

Early Happy Valentine's Honey Bear!  "Awwww" he said.  I'm happy :-) I thought to myself.  Groannnnn said the teen.  All is normal in our world!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Turtle Cookies and a Book Signing

A couple of weeks ago I received a Facebook event invitation to a Meet the Author Series at Paragraphs on Padre Boulevard.  If you've read my blog for a while, you've picked up on the fact that I love our indie bookstore on the island and am very fond of owners Joni and Griff.   I have, for one reason or another, been unable to attend any function there for several months but this particular event was drawing me in as I am fascinated by Allison the Sea Turtle!  I clicked "yes", I would attend.  I clipped the following from the online event invitation from Paragraphs.

“Allison: The mostly true story of a one-flippered sea turtle”
Book discussion, reception and signing with David Cromwell

Allison is a Green Sea Turtle living at Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island. Greens are endangered. They are considered to be the second-largest ...and longest lived of the sea turtle species. Allison was found on the South Padre beach June 16 2005, one of 73 sea turtles that stranded that year. She was missing three flippers thought to have occurred with a shark encounter. Weighing a mere .73kg (1.6 lbs), she was taken to Sea Turtle Rescue for evaluation and medical care. Her story of survival and rehabilitation is chronicled in this book by David Cromwell. Combining a fictional story and the true rescue of Allison, the book is an entertaining and educational work that is appealing to all ages. 

Event scheduled Monday, 2/6/2012, from 1:00-3:00.  Come if you can!

Much of what I've come to love about living on the bay and near South Padre Island, are the wonderful people who love the wildlife and sea life of the Gulf of Mexico, the Laguna Madre, and the land between and around.  Whether it be sea turtles, our tribe of dolphins, year-round shore birds and sea birds, the migratory birds who stop for a breather and renourishment on their way south or north, the butterflies, the fish, and the plants and flowers....it all bonds together to make an amazing interdependent ecosystem that has grabbed my heart and held firm.

I've visited the Sea Turtles, Inc. facility many times and enjoy watching the rescued sea turtles via the live cam powered by the wonderful folks at South Padre Travel Lodge and SouthPadreLive.com.  I have that one and the live cam at The Sea Life Center on my favorites bar.  The teen and I enjoyed to the depths of our souls observing a hatchling release of sea turtles.  A great pleasure of mine is viewing the birds on the bay and the lovely flora outside my door, but equally so at the South Padre Island Convention Center's walkway.  I get to enjoy the lovely butterfly garden there as well. Not much beats the beaches here.  The waves and solitude of off-season are glorious.  The tourists and happy families of high season bring financial sustenance to the island and the Winter Texans bring their enjoyment of the sub-tropics and birding during the winter months. 

We moved here to facilitate the teen going to a small high school where he could grow more independent... and found, in addition, a place that makes my heart sing with joy. I don't know if I'll live here forever...but my heart tells me that it wants me to.  I hope it is what my future holds...but who knows?

So, anyway, I really digress sometimes!  I decided to make some turtle sugar cookies and take them to the book signing.  It's been lovely the past few days.  I baked two dozen cut-out turtle cookies on Saturday and prepared to lower my a/c thermostat to clear out the moisture on Sunday so that I could get the royal icing to dry appropriately.  The weather ceased cooperation Saturday afternoon when the big rains began to fall and by Sunday morning the cold front moved in and the temperature dropped to the upper 40's (brrr, not very tropical) and the rain continued to fall.  Hmmm...I was not going to be able to use the a/c to remove the humidity and my well-insulated home was maintaining a low 70's temp, so I couldn't really turn on the heater to accomplish the humidity removal.  I think that makes it the cross-my-fingers-and-say-a-prayer play.  So, here goes the tale of my frustrating attempt to decorate sea turtle cookies to take to the Meet the Author event!

From the beginning the royal icing thumbed its nose at me...first too thick, then little clumps of stuff clogging my tips, despite well beaten, well sifted, and appropriately covered at every point.  Grrrr, the frustration mounted.  The green icing separated to different shades on several cookies - the colors not consistent. Dang humidity.  Big sigh...but, I told myself, turtle shells aren't a smooth consistent color either.  The brown was lighter than I thought it would be when it was time to use that color - it became more "tan" than brown.  Again, I gave the "oh well", it is what it is talk to myself.  Overall, they still turned out "okay".  Not my very best work - but not my worst!  Here are pictures of the process - warts and all!

Baked 25 cut-out sugar cookies.  The teen ate one.
First, outlined the green and filled.  Allowed to dry several hours.
Then, outlined the head and flippers in "brown".

Filled in the head and flippers and allowed to dry

Drew my interpretation of the shell markings on the green surface

Finished up with an edible food marker and gave some eyes and flipper detail
(none of the markings are anatomically correct just fyi!)
The turtle on the left shows the mottling that occurred on some of the cookies.

A few of the turtles I'll be taking to Paragraphs on Padre today - I ended
up with two dozen and expect most of them to arrive intact as
my offering at the event!

BON APPETIT, Y'ALL!

Tuddles...just love them.  Sea Turtle, Inc. does good work - rescue, rehabilitate, release when they can.  Educating the public and helping to conserve these glorious creatures - all started by The Turtle Lady, the late Ms. Ila.  It's a wonderful thing to see her work continue.  If you have spare dollars - a contribution to their cause would be awesome.  They have cool things in their online shop as well.  Take a look - order the book, a calendar, or other cool turtle themed items.

Kemps Ridley Hatchling Release June 2011 - it was awesome!
Maybe one of the most moving events of my life...
certainly an unforgettable highlight!

Update after the book signing event.

The staff and volunteers from Sea Turtle Inc. brought a pool and Allison to visit at Paragraphs.  It was wonderful to see her - it's been over a year since I last saw her and I swear she has grown a lot.  I realized that the first time I saw her was the year she was rescued when she was so small she would have fit in both of my hands together.  Look at her now!  Her prosthesis has evolved and they are planning a new pool for her which will help the staff get the prothsesis on in shallow water and allow her to have a few hours of swim time in deeper water with the prosthesis on.  Good folks at Sea Turtle, Inc.  I enjoyed visiting with the author, David Cromwell, and the others from Sea Turtle, Inc.  It was a great afternoon.  Here are a few photos of Allison in her portable pool!

Thank you Sea Turtle, Inc. and all the many volunteers and financial donors who make the work they do possible!

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Cafe Kranzler - A Most Excellent Brunch!

1:30 on a Sunday afternoon, seeking a place with no televisions blaring, tranquility, and good food.  Preferably someplace perhaps serving a late breakfast.  It's cold and rainy...need something warm and inviting.

The answer?  Cafe Kranzler.

As previously blogged - every visit to Cafe Kranzler has been a winner.  Excellent food, excellent service, beautiful atmosphere.  Just can't be beat.

My hubby had never been there.  His remarks included "this is nice!" and "mmfff hnnh" when asked (mouth full) if his omelette was good.  That was a positive remark...I speak the lingo ;-)

I had a frittata and John had an omelette.  His was called the Bellingham Omelette and had salmon, tomatoes, cheese and other stuff he didn't say. 

My frittata - name has escaped my brain - had bacon, cheese, roasted tomato, avocado, sour cream...alongside the nicely browned potato slices and perfectly toasted baguette slices.  Perfect serving size...not too much, not too little.

Next time, I'm going for the Champagne Brunch.  It sounded delicious! (served Saturday and Sunday until 2:00 per the menu)

It's not the cheapest place on the island.  But, you get what you pay for...and Cafe Kranzler's meals are worth the price (and they aren't expensive for breakfast or lunch, just not cheap!  Dinner, I understand, is a bit pricier).

Give it a try - but check with them for their hours.  I heard our waitress explaining the hours to someone at the next table...and they weren't the hours posted on the door.  This is common on the island - the ebb and flow of tourists and long-term visitors often results in changing hours of service at local restaurants.  Cafe Kranzler did have a sign up that they were closing for Super Bowl Sunday evening.  Just fyi :-)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

Chicken Salad Spread...As a Dip!

I've written about this fabulous Chicken Salad Spread before...the base recipe is from my old and dear friend (she's not old, she's an old friend), Sandy Crump.  It was always known as our special beach vacation sandwich spread.

Nowadays, Sandy says she doesn't make it much...her husband is not a fan.  My husband, however, is a huge fan, and he got an unexpected day off, giving him a 3-day week-end and he is on the road home!  Now that we live on a bay with easy beach access, this treat is no longer reserved for vacation.  I think he'll be plesantly surprised to find it ready upon his arrival home.

Now, here's the deal....we don't watch sports on television....GASP...I know, I know...we are weird.  On Super Bowl Sunday, we are almost considered unpatriotic.  I am, however, compelled to bake or cook something to snack on while we watch a movie or one of our DVRd shows Sunday evening.  We participate...just without the football.  I will, like many others, review the commercials on Monday...and I'll find the half-time show and secretly watch it (my husband is not a Madonna fan).  That's about as "superbowlish" as we get in our household.

So, since my hubby has this unexpected week-end at home, I wasn't prepared for "man food" and scurried to Wal-mart where I grabbed a rotisserie chicken, some parsley, and some celery.  I had everything else on hand.  I decided I'd make the chicken salad spread a bit more creamy than usual and use it as a dip.  I'll use the excess celery for dipping sticks along with some whole grain crackers.  Using a rotisserie chicken makes this a GREAT last-minute dish...as a dip, a sandwich, or even spread on a tortilla, rolled up and sliced as a chicken salad spiral!

I'll also mix up a bowl of non-fat Greek Yogurt and some chunky jarred salsa, add some fresh avocado chunks and that will be another tasty dip to go along with our baked Tostitos Scoops.  (I'm still in my New Year's "try to eat healthier" mode...so the usual Velveeta based Queso with pork sausage is out this year).  That's what I had planned for myself before I knew Papa Bear would be arriving.

The teen had suggested I make some pizza puffs...so that will likely be the other offering of the day.  He'll probably be in his man cave watching DVR'd stupid stuff, listening to music, and playing his PSP...all simultaneously.  Jeez I sound old when I complain about that.  I don't know how he stands it.  He turns the captions on the television, plugs into the music, and I guess the PSP doesn't require sound to play successfully.  I don't know...really don't WANT to know!  At least it's not loud...and for that I'm thankful.  He doesn't watch much televised sports either - he might channel surf by the Super Bowl and watch for a bit, but I'll be surprised if it keeps his attention for long.  It must be genetic.

Between all of the above, this will be more than adequate snacking for our non-Super Bowl television night!

Here's the recipe again (this time the full version - the previous post was a half version) for Sandy's World Famous Chicken Salad - ala Flip Flop Foodie (who uses a rotisserie chicken and tweaks it a bit).

CHICKEN SALAD SPREAD

Ingredients:

1 Traditional Rotisserie Chicken

5 stalks celery

1 medium yellow onion

1/2 bunch fresh curly parsley leaves (pick them off the big stems)

1 teaspoon dried thyme - depending on the pungency of your dried thyme may need more

3 heaping teaspoons yellow mustard (like French's - not the dried stuff - the sandwich stuff)

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Miracle Whip Salad Dressing (I use the Light product) - enough to make it a spreadable consistency - today I used 1 cup to get the correct dipping consistency...normally it's a little less for sandwich spreading.

Method:

Allow the chicken to sit long enough that it may be handled without burning your fingers.  Clean the chicken skin off first, and pick the bones clean of good meat.  I use every last bit - back, front, sides...the whole shebang.

That chicken was picked clean!

Place meat in the large bowl of your food processor with chopping blade in place. 

Pulse meat until it is large crumbed.  Don't go too far, you don't want chicken paste.  It should be crumbly textured.

Remove the chopped chicken to a good sized mixing bowl.  Return blade and bowl to processor.

Clean an entire bunch of celery.  Use 5 sticks of celery cut into smaller pieces to go into the bowl of the food processor.  Process it until finely chopped.  Remove the celery to the bowl with the chopped chicken.  Return blade and bowl to processor.

Reserve the rest of the celery, cut into 3-4 inch chunks or so, for dipping into the chicken salad "dip" at service.

Peel and rough chop the onion and place in food processor bowl.

Take half of the bunch of curly parsley and pick the leaves off the large stems.  It seems like a lot, but it pulses down a lot.  Don't skip the parsley either - the sharp bite of the parsley really adds to the flavor of this particular recipe.  Add the prepared parsley to the onion in the food processor bowl.  Pulse the two together until very fine. 

Remove the onion and parsley to the mixing bowl with the chicken and celery.

You are finished with the processor now.
Thoroughly incorporate the processed ingredients in the mixing bowl.

Add the thyme, ginger, salt, pepper, mustard, and salad dressing to the mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly blended.  Add more Miracle Whip if needed for desired consistency.

Move to a tightly covered storage bowl and allow to chill for several hours.  The flavors will intensify as a couple of hours pass.  I like it best the next day.  Sometimes, the day after, there is separated watery stuff from the celery and onions and you have to mix everything well again...but that's no biggie.

It tastes wonderful - and I bow to Queen Sandy's creation...for us, it is indeed, the best chicken salad which brings us many fond memories of family vacations with every bite.  Her original recipe calls for cooking a whole chicken in a pot, seasoned with veggies.  That seemed like so much work that we didn't get to eat this very often.  A rotisserie chicken works great...it's not 100% like Sandy's, but it does the trick!

My husband arrived and ate the entire bowl of chicken salad
that I had set up for the photograph.  He was a happy man
and is now sitting in his recliner sound asleep. 
That six hour drive is killer!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!