Barbecue Monterey Chicken

Monterey Chicken with side of broccoli salad


The weather is really staring to feel like summer.  I've had about enough of all the rain (although my garden really loves it).  With this little break from the rain, it gave us an opportunity to BBQ.   We BBQ chicken quite often, but I didn't want to use one of my regular recipes.  Instead, I decided to try something different.  I came across a recipe on Pinterest for Monterey Chicken, and figured I would give it a try.  I mean, the chicken has bacon on it, so it has to be fantastic.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

I didn't want to use bottled BBQ sauce either, especially since making your own is so easy and it tastes a million times better.  The recipe I used took 15 minutes and tasted amazing!  It was a great combination of sweet and spicy, and perfect for BBQ Monterey Chicken.

Check out that extra crispy bacon - just how I like it

Needless to say, it was a huge hit. Definitely one to make again and again.  And I have plenty of barbecue sauce left over to use again!

Barbecue Sauce

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 garlic clove

1 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (I used 2-3 tbsp of Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning)

Directions:

Set a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and cook until melted. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.



Mix in the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire, lime juice and chipotle. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer.

Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced to 1 1/3 cups, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Barbecue Monterey Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Homemade BBQ sauce for basting

4 strips of bacon

1/2 cup of colby and monterey jack cheeses, shredded

green onion, sliced

Directions:

Preheat grill.  While waiting, let the chicken marinade in the BBQ sauce.

Preheat oven to 400°F

Lightly oil the grill, and grill each breast for about 8-10 minutes per side, or until chicken is no longer pink inside, occasionally basting with additional sauce.  Remove from heat.

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, and cook until brown.  Drain, and place two pieces of bacon on each chicken breast. 

Top each breast with 1/4 cup of cheese and place in oven until cheese has melted (I used my toaster oven instead of my regular oven.  I'm sure you could just put the chicken back on the grill and close the lid until the cheese melted).  Top with green onions and tomatoes. 

Enjoy :-)

Barbecue sauce from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Chicken inspiration from All Thing's Simple

Cornflake-Chocolate-Chip-Marshmallow Cookies

My sister Stacey and I got together this weekend to bake.  Generally, it involves me doing all the baking, and Stacey does all the cleaning.   This type of arrangement works perfect for us, considering I’m a control freak in the kitchen and she is totally OCD about cleaning.

We had originally decided on a different cookie, but as soon as Stacey found the Cornflake-chocolate chip-marshmallow cookie in my Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, our minds changed immediately.   Having a bowl of cereal is Stacey's favorite meal, so this cookie was a perfect fit.

The cookies in the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook are unique in that they have an added texture component.  This particular cookie has an added “crunch” component, made from cornflakes, powered milk, sugar and salt.  The crunch is made in advance and cooled, before being added to the cookie dough.  I personally could eat the cornflake crunch by the handful as a snack….every day.

Dough rolled into balls, ready to be chilled

Round one was a total fail, for many reasons.  For
 one, we rushed the process.  The dough needs to be  well chilled.  We chilled it for about a half hour, and when baked, the cookies did not hold their shape and spread way too much.  We also used a silpat (which, according to the cookbook, should have been fine) but alas, we did not have success.  When I researched other bakers who have made cookies from this book, they all used parchment, and had no issues.

This is one of the cookies from failed round one. 

Round two I had great success due to a few minor changes to the recipe.   I pulled out my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe to compare the amounts of flour in each recipe.  I ended up adding an additional ½ cup of flour to this recipe so that the dough was a bit thicker. I reduced the sugar as well and used parchement paper to line my cookie sheets.   I also made the cookies about half the size suggested. The recipe recommended an oven temperature of 375°F, but I found that to be too hot.  I reduced the oven to 360°F and baked the cookies for 10 minutes instead of the recommended 18 minutes.  You know your oven, so adjust your temperature accordingly.

The result is a perfectly crispy-on-the-outside, fudgy-in-the-center cookie.

Step 1: Cornflake Crunch

5 cups Cornflakes

½ cup powered milk

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

9 tbsp butter, melted.

Directions:

Heat oven to 275°F

Pour cornflakes into a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to one-quarter of their original size.  Add milk powder, sugar and salt and toss to mix. Add the butter and toss to coat.  The butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cereal and creating small clusters.

Spread the clusters on parchment lined sheet and bake for 20 minutes, at which point they should look toasted, smell buttery and crunch gently when you chew them.

Cool the cornflake crunch completely before storing or using in a recipe.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer, it will keep for 1 month. 

Step 2: Cornflake-Chocolate-Chip-Marshmallow Cookies

2 sticks of butter

1 cup sugar (reduced from 1 1/4 cup)

½ cup brown sugar, tightly packed (reduced from 2/3 cup)

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour (increased from 1 1/2 cup)

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 ¼ tsp kosher salt

3 cups Cornflake Crunch

2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1 ¼ cups mini marshmallows.

Directions:

Heat oven to 360°F (recipe originally recommended 375°F, but I found it to be too hot)

Combine the butter and in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes. 
Don't skip this 10 minute creaming step!

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step, or you will risk over mixing the dough.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Still on low speed, paddle in the cornflake crunch and mini chocolate chips just until they’re incorporated, no more than 30 to 45 seconds.  Paddle in the mini marshmallows just until incorporated.

 I used a cookie scoop from Crate and Barrel, which equals about 1 ½ tbsp.  Scoop out the dough and portion it onto a parchment lined sheet.  I rolled the cookies into perfect balls.  Wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week.  Do not bake your cookies from room temperature - they will not hold their shape.

Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment.  I fit 6 on a sheet.  Bake for 18 minutes.  I needed much less time.  I suggest checking them at around the  10-12 minute mark.  10 minutes was perfect for me.  The cookies will puff, crackle and spread.  At this point, the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. 

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or to an airtight container for storage.  At room temperature, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar with some light changes made my me.

Broccoli Salad

So here it is….
My very first blog post. Welcome to Culinary Cool.

Summer is upon us, and that means its BBQ season! To celebrate my friend Edith’s graduation from University, we had a BBQ. Burgers and hot dogs on the grill are a summer staple in these parts. But to round out the meal, I feel like a salad is necessary. More often than not, the go-to salad around here is potato or macaroni. Don’t get me wrong, I love potato salad, but sometimes it’s nice to change it up and offer a (slightly) healthier, lighter option.


This broccoli salad was first introduced to me by a close family friend. Now, let it be known, that I am not the biggest fan of broccoli. There are only a handful of ways I will eat the stuff. And one of my favorite ways is this salad. It’s so versatile. You can use almonds, cashews, crasins, raisins, whatever you heart desires. The recipe below includes my favorite ingredients. Feel free to play around with it to suit the tastes of you and your family. I use both red and green grapes in mine.  I cut some of the grapes in half and leave some of the smaller ones whole.  It adds great texture

with dressing, bacon and sunflower seeds added

Broccoli Salad

8-10 slices of bacon, crumbled

3 crowns of broccoli, chopped

¾ cup celery, chopped

¼ cup minced red onion

1 ½ cup seedless grapes (red or green)

½ cup craisins

¾ cup unsalted sunflower seeds

Dressing

¼ cup sugar

1 cup Mayonnaise

2 tbsp white vinegar

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, celery, onion, grapes and craisins.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss to coat.

Refrigerate before serving, toss salad with crumbled bacon and sunflower seeds.

**This salad tastes best if made ahead and refrigerated for several hours or overnight.