Cooking a sandwich

Okay, that was a totally lame blog title, but I had no ideas. If you think you can do better, please post your suggestions in the comments, and I may even change it.

But back to the cooked sandwich....

Really it's about having a nasty cold and needing to eat something, but having no appetite.

I had no appetite, but I did have a jar of honey mustard, so in the hopes that the bite of the mustard would do something to clear the sinuses, I did a riff on a summer favorite.

I had some cooked chicken breast, so I slathered it with honey mustard and then heaped lettuce on top. I put that in the oven for about ten minutes sealed up in it's foil packet.

The lettuce wilts a bit as it cooks.

The first time I made this was on a baguette and it was definitely better. The second time was on low salt mini-pitas. Still good, but lacking that satisfying crunch.

The first time, I sliced oranges on top of the chicken and lettuce on the baguette. That remains my favorite way to enjoy this. However, I was experimenting the second time around, so I tried adding butternut squash and some pomegranate arils. They made a nice variation.

 So, what do you think? Is there a better name for this blog post?

And now to the happy part - my favorite part of decorating for the holidays is greens with little white lights. Is anyone surprised that my fireplace is filled with books??  Hubby's idea.

One last summer salad

I know I've gone kind of overboard on salads this summer, but since this is technically the last day of summer, I'm safe for one last summer salad. (Plus the temps are still flirting with 90 here and the humidity is just plain gross!)

Honestly, this is a case of last is BEST!

This was an I'm starving, what can I eat kind of salad, and OH.MY.WORD it was delicious!

And so simple!

I started with the lettuce that made a salad convert of me this summer - my baby romaine mix.

I added a chopped up honeycrisp apple.

Some toasted sunflower seeds!

Red wine vinegar and oil - just splashed it on.

And what made it a meal a filet of salmon poached in honey mustard.

The flavors blended so beautifully and it was a salad that was both filling and so tasty.

So are you done with salads now that autumn is in the air?

Or are you looking forward to some autumn versions?

Honey Mustard Pork with Apples

I really owe everyone at the Yankee Belle a debt of gratitude.

Were it not for the pressure to come up with recipes to share, I'd probably settle for eating a bowl of cereal most nights.

I'm particularly fond of this one.




Alas, posting a picture of a cereal box isn't really a Yankee Belle Cafe-worthy post, is it?

So, while I'm still on my honey mustard kick, I was intrigued to try mixing it with with apple cider, a honey crisp apple, and some pork.

My husband was having his Wednesday standby - pork with peppers. Instead of looking for something completely different, I made some extra boneless pork chops (simmered in the oven in a pan of water). Then I simmered a sliced up honeycrisp apple.

When the apple was mostly soft, I added in a dollop of honey mustard and a splash of apple cider. I shredded the cooked pork cutlets into the mix, simmered a few more minutes and served alongside the sweet potato I'd thrown in the oven.

I may have finally reached the limit of things I can add honey mustard sauce to, but at least I ended on a tasty one. The mustard blended nicely with the pork and was a tangy counterpart to the cider and apples.

As I was eating, it occurred to me it would make a tasty casserole too.
Layer the mashed sweet potatoes on the bottom of a baking dish, then a layer of shredded pork and apples. It tasted really good all blended together.

Dessert - apple pie shortbread cookies and warm cider. Not bad for a weeknight.


PS - it tasted even better when I had the leftovers for lunch the next day.


If there's food, Fenway is guaranteed to be there.