With the very last insurance payment for the late lamented Mitsubishi coupe (totaled last spring in a collision at the I-35\/Division off-ramp) which was not received until after we returned home, don\u2019t ask for the long and involved explanation of how this came to pass \u2013 Blondie went straight to Lowes\u2019 and bought a gas barbeque grill. Then she hied herself to the local Humongously-Enormous Big-Ass Grocery store for all the grill impedimenta to go with it \u2013 including one of those little stands for doing beer-can chicken, which I would swear was invented by one of the clients from the inventions-consultant that I was working at when I began blogging, yeah on many years ago. (five and half, if you want to get really technical \u2013 not quite the dark ages, but nearly there.) The beer-can chicken came out well, BTW, but last night we did something else, entirely. <\/p>\n
To celebrate Blondie\u2019s birthday, we had a sort of garden-party dinner; catching the weather at just the right moment. Yesterday was mild and only tenuously cloudy, and Blondie cleaned up the garden and adorned it with candles, lanterns and tea-lights from her vast collection gleaned at various yard-sales and the Extremely Marked Down shelves at various retail outlets. She invited her co-workers and I invited mine; making a nice mixed crowd, since some of them knew each other. Dave the Computer Genius has sorted out the computers at Blondie\u2019s place of employment on a couple of occasions. There didn\u2019t seem to be any of those awkward pauses, and there was very little leftover food. Always reassuring, that \u2013 even better, no one had to go to the emergency room for treatment of food poisoning. Look, that is always a worry, when you have people over and feed them. Projectile vomiting \u2013 not a memory to hold on to, although I seem to have retained mine for all those AFRTS food-safety spots.<\/p>\n
Anyway, we did a very nice pasta salad, from one of the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, and a splendid barbequed chicken \u2013 also from the same source. My sister, Pippy is a fan, pointing out that the beauty of Ina Gartons\u2019 cookbooks are that just about everything can be done in advance. All we had to do for the chicken was throw it on the grill. This is the recipe, and it was splendid! We have enough that we will do \u201cpulled chicken BBQ\u201d sandwiches tonight.
\n
\nFor the Sauce \u2013 saut\u00e9 until translucent in \u00bd cup oil: 1 \u00bd cups chopped onions and 1 Tbsp minced garlic. Add: 1 cup tomato paste, 1 cup cider vinegar, 1 cup honey, \u00bd cup Worcestershire sauce, 1 cup Dijon mustard, \u00bd cup soy sauce, 1 cup Hoisin sauce, 2 Tbsp chili powder, 1 Tbsp ground cumin, and \u00bd tsp crushed red pepper flakes. Simmer uncovered, over low heat for half an hour.<\/p>\n
Cut up 2 2\u00bd -3 lb chickens, and marinate them overnight in 2\/3rds of the sauce. Roast them over low heat for about 45 minutes, basting them with marinade. Serve with the reserved sauce on the side. <\/p>\n
(From the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook<\/a>)<\/p>\n The pasta salad \u2013 <\/p>\n Cook \u00bd pound fuselli pasta in boiling salted water with a splash of olive oil. When done (about twelve minutes) drain well and allow to cool. Add: 1 lb ripe tomatoes, cut into medium dice, \u00bd cup good black olives, pitted and diced, 1 lb fresh mozzarella, medium-diced, and 6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped.<\/p>\n For the dressing, combine in a food processor until smooth: 5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped, 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 6 Tbsp olive oil, 1 diced garlic clove, 1 tsp drained capers, 2 tsp kosher salt and \u00be tsp ground pepper.<\/p>\n Pour the dressing over the pasta and top with 1 cup grated parmesan cheese and 1 cup fresh julienned basil leaves.<\/p>\n