I found this recipe in an advertisment for Texas Pete hotsauce! I don’t eat alot of fried food, but this sounded like fun and it’s not a heavy fry; the chicken is not buried under a greasy, crusted topcoat.
It calls for regular chicken breasts, but I, instead, used chicken breast tenderloins.
It’s surprisingly delightful how the hot sauce peeks it’s flavor out through the buttermilk.
I served it with roasted potatoes and an avocado, red onion, cucumber, tomaoto salad with a vinegarette dressing.
This recipe has you soak the chicken breasts in the buttermilk-hot sauce for 30 minutes before cooking. I made the mixture, placed the pounded chicken tenderloins in the mixture, covered it, and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours while I took the convertible out for a spin. It was fine.

4 4-oz. chicken breasts, pounded
1 quart buttermilk
1 cup Texas Pete Original Hot Sauce
3 cups all-purpose flour (at least)
3 Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1/2 cup canola oil

In a medium size baking dish, combine buttermilk and Texas Pete hot sauce. Add pounded chicken breasts and let sit for 30 minutes. Remove chicken breasts from buttermilk and dredge in all-purpose flour seasoned with the salt and pepper.
In a medium saute pan on medium-high heat, add canola oil. Let the oil get warm for 1 minute. Place chicken in pan and cook one each side until golden brown or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees.

Wine served: 2011 Pio Cesare, Gavi

This “oh so easy” recipe comes from Bon Appetit magazine. It packs a punch! Serve it with a loaf of crunchy crusted bread. (4 servings)

6 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced, divided
2 dried chiles de arbol
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
1 1/4 cups chopped tomato (about 8 oz.)
Kosher salt, freshly grounded black pepper
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 15-oz. cans white beans (such as cannellini, rinsed, drained
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 Lb. medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 Tsp. smoked paprika
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

Preheat broiler. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large, heavy, ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add 1 garlic clove, chiles, and bay leaf and cook, stirring constantly, just until fragrant. 1-2 minutes. (do not allow garlic to burn) Add tomato; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring and smashing tomato with the back of a wooden spoon until tomato is completely broken down, about 5 minutes.
Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until paste is deep red and caramelized, 3-4 minutes. Stir in beans and broth. Bring to a brisk simmer and cook until juices are slightly reduced and thickened, 3-4 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Combine remaining 2 garlic cloves, 2 Tbsp. oil, shrimp, and paprika in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper and toss to evenly coat shrimp. Scatter shrimp over beans in an even layer.
Broil until shrimp are golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Drizzle remaining 2 Tbsp. oil over shrimp and beans; garnish with parsley.

Wine served: 2010 Ransom Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon

This is the outstanding dish our friend and neighbor brought to our house last night. The recipe comes from Epicurious, and makes 12 servings. Very refreshing!
I believe she might have changed out some of the herbs. Perhaps she’ll go to the comment box and tell us how she made this recipe her own creation.

3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 Tsp. salt
3 large galic cloves, chopped
1 red jalapeno or serrano chile, seeded, chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. oriental sesame oil
1 1/2 Tsp. grated lime peel
12 ounces green soba or chuka soba (Japanese-style) noodles
1 large English hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
1 large ripe mango, peeled, halved, pitted, thinly sliced crosswise
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup chopped fresh mint
1 cup chopped toasted salted peanuts
lime wedges

Warm vinegar, sugar, and salt in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Stir in garlic and jalapeno. Cool. Mix in lime juice, sesame oil, and lime peel.
Cook noodles in large pot of boiling water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain well. Rinse under cold water; drain again. Transfer noodles to dish-towel-lined platter to drain. Transfer noodles to large bowl. Add dressing to coat. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Add cucumber, mango, basil, and mint to noodles and toss gently. Arrange salad on platter. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts. Garnish with lime wedges. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Last night there were four of us, here at our house, and not through any specific planning we ate vegan. This recipe is from Women’s Health Magazine and the wonton’s were delicious, but I have three suggestions: don’t cook them for as long as they suggest, make twice the amount of orange ponzi sauce and you might want to cut this recipe in half. I had a lot of stuffing left over, and I filled all fifty of the 4″ square wontons that I used. That being said, it was a fun meal and as soon as I get the recipe of our friends dish, I’ll post it with a photo.
Surprisingly we only went through two Cosmos and one bottle of Robert Foley “The Griffin”!

Gyoza:
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
4 cups finely chopped shitake mushrooms, stems removed
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tsp. minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. roasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. roasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup panko bread crumbs
flour for dusting work surface
1 package gyoza or wonton wrappers (40-50)
1 Tbsp. canola oil, plus more if needed

Orange Ponzu Sauce:
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tsp. fresh orange zest
1 Tsp. sugar (optional)

1. In a mixing bowl, toss cabbage, mushrooms, onions, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds. Combine soy sauce, roasted sesame oil, and sugar and add all at once. Stir until well combined. Fold in panko.
2. To assemble the gyoza, dust your work surface with flour and have a small bowl of water ready. Set out 10 wrappers on the floured area and place 2 teaspoons of gyoza filling in the center of each.
3. Use your finger to moisten the edge of 1 wrapper with water, then fold it over the filling (as if you were making a turnover) and press the edges together. Pinch the edge with your index finger and thumb as though you were fluting a piecrust. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
4. Warm canola oil in a skillet over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Working in batches, add gyoza and cover with a lid. Cook for 3-4 minutes on one side, or until golden brown. (I flipped ours after about a minute or a minute and a half) Use a slotted spoon to transfer cooked gyoza to a plate; keep warm. You may want to wipe the pan and add more oil as needed between batches.
5. Whisk together all ingredients for the orange ponzu sauce. (I did this ahead of time and put it in the fridge) Serve with hot gyoza.

This recipe was given to us by Lynn, our good friend and neighbor. Pour yourself a green beer and have a delicious St. Patrick’s Day!

Ingredients

1 pork shoulder butt (firm) It has a thin wrapping, be sure to remove.
1 green cabbage, cut into 8ths
1 Lb. green beans
5 medium russet potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
water, to cover ingredients

Cover cabbage and beans with water, bring to a boil. Cook until cabbage wilts down a bit. Add pork shoulder, simmer for 1 hour. Add cut potatoes, simmer for 1 more hour.