In honor of National Picnic
Day which was last week and the gorgeous weather we have been having here we
have made the perfect picnic sandwich which has been deconstructed…so that when
you get to your picnic…you can reconstruct! Avoid gross soggy bread, and bring
your components to your next picnic. Your friends will not only be impressed,
but they can make their sandwich their own way, and hey, maybe you can compare
tupperware.
What we have made for you
today is a grilled chicken sandwich on sourdough, with a bit of arugula, gouda
cheese, pickled onions, and a roasted artichoke aioli. Picnic away!
*Requires a grill pan, or
grill if you feel up to it!
Ingredients: serves 2
1 loaf sourdough bread
Gouda
Chicken:
2 skinless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Pickled Onion:
1 small yellow onion
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup sugar
1 star anise
3 juniper berries
2 cloves
Grilled artichoke aioli:
2 artichokes
1 egg
¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon olive
oil
¼ cup grape seed oil
Salt to taste
Michael and I started making
this food thinking about what we would want to eat New Year’s Eve, but our
cooking took a turn towards the rustic and the hangover cure side of things. I
truly believe that the hair of the dog and a little bit of eggs will fix
whatever it is you are hurting form the night before…or can just make a
wonderful start to your New Year. We present to you a fabulous New Year’s Day
brunch of horseradish deviled eggs, a smoked gouda and asparagus quiche, along
with a wonderful bruschetta!
*A pinch means taking your
index finger, middle finger, and your thumb. All three fingers means a pinch.
*These Ingredients make food
for 4 people.
Ingredients:
Deviled Eggs:
4 eggs
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 pinches salt
2 teaspoon horseradish
1 slice bacon
Bruschetta:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 large tomatoes
1 lemon
1 pinch salt
½ a baguette
Quiche:
2 slices smoked Gouda
5 eggs
1 teaspoon thyme
1 pinch salt
4 spears of asparagus
Sour cream
To make the deviled eggs,
boil water in a sauce pan, one the water reaches a boil, reduce to a simmer and
carefully place eggs in boiling water. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove eggs and
place in cold water so they aren’t hot when you peel them. Peel the eggs, and
slice in half, removing the yolk and placing in a small bowl.
In the bowl mix together the
yolks, mayonnaise, salt, and horseradish, using a fork to whip together until
there are no lumps yet. If you don’t like the texture and want it to be
smoother you can add a little more mayo.
In a small pan cook the bacon
until crisp. Pat dry with a paper towel and slice thin strips of bacon to use
as a garnish.
Using either a piping bag, or
a sandwich bag with the corner tip cut off, pipe the yolk mix back in to your
egg, and now garnish with bacon!
To make the bruschetta, start
by slicing the demi baguette into ½ inch pieces and toast. Once bread is
toasted take your peeled clove of garlic and lightly rub the bread with it.
Dice the two tomatoes, and
mix together with the salt, olive oil, and squeeze half of a lemon over and mix
together. No spoon the tomato mix on top of the bread. We topped our bruschetta
with some red Hawaiian salt for a garnish and because it looks nice, just be
sure that it isn’t too salty if you do this.
To make the little quiches
preheat your oven to 375 and take out your muffin tin and grease the sides and
bottom. Beat together you eggs, salt, and thyme. Chop the asparagus up into
small pieces, now cook the asparagus in a small pan until they start to brown a
little; reserve the tops of the asparagus as garnish.
Mix the asparagus into the
egg mix and then pour into the muffin tin. Next dice up two slices of smoked
gouda and place in the middle of the egg mix in the tin. Place in oven and bake
for 15 minutes until the egg cooks all the way through and nothing sticks to a
tooth pick when you pierce it.
Let cool to room temperature,
top with a dollop of sour cream and the asparagus tip!
Now serve up with some
mimosas or just a glass of champagne!
