I'll Have My Way with You, Chicken: Mexicana Chicken Soup

MEXICAN CHICKEN SOUP

- Whack to pieces a whole chicken and dredge it in cumin, coriander and a good quality chile powder, salt and pepper

- Pan fry it and set aside. Don't throw juices out.

- Saute sliced onion and smashed garlic in pan the chicken was fried in. As much as you like. I add one medium onion and several cloves of garlic. Add olive oil if needed. Add one can of diced tomato and cook until that raw taste is gone. Add mild pepper like the canned chiles in the 'imported' section at Publix and add to pot.

- Add chicken back to pot with juices.

- Add a very good broth- I like Imagine Chicken Broth  that's organic or I will use what I made at another time. Like 4 cups. Then add another 3 cups or so of water...

Bring to slow simmer. DO NOT LET IT BOIL ON HIGH! It's very important that you don't break the proteins apart in a broth or it becomes cloudy. You want this on a verrrry gentle simmer....

I roast either butternut, sweet potato or acorn squash just to the firm stage. Cut into chunks and set aside while chicken cooks.

**When the chicken is done (it will start to fall off the bone. Don't over cook it!) add the vegetable of choice plus plenty of fresh lime juice and cilantro, salt (try using a nicer salt than the fine grained crap: kosher or thicker sea salt better) and fresh ground pepper to taste.**

As an accoutrement:
- chunks of avocado
- toasted pumpkin seeds
- cilantro
- dollop light sour cream or greek yogurt
- fresh tortilla strips: I used  the corn/flour blend that I fried quickly.

Yum.

SALMON: I Can't Believe I Made Croquettes..

So, I like salmon okay. That gray layer on the bottom kinda grosses me out but when Harold bought a beautiful piece of wild-cat salmon from New Leaf I cooked it and we had it with some fresh garden greens. With a good bottle of wine I was like, okay-not bad, I'll eat this again...

Getting tipsy on another night a couple days later we discussed salmon croquettes which my mother would NEVER have made. She knew all 9 of her brood would have revolted so kept it from the menu. I decided on a whim that I would make the patties with the left over Harold had so he showed up today to the shop, fish in hand, and I came up with this recipe.

They were to die for. I can't wait for more left over salmon!

CAT LOVERS SALMON CROQUES:

You'll have to figure out the proportions yourself. Use your intuition. You can do it.

PATTIES:
- Leftover salmon, preferably good wild stuff.
- dollop of mayo
- some light cream cheese
- one egg
- finely diced sweet onion
- chopped parsley/cilantro ( I had both in the garden..)
- small amount of minced capers
- nice squeeze of Meyer lemon
- pepper
- Panko crumbs to bind

Once the consistency is moist enough to bind patty them up and dredge in more Panko. I sauted in olive oil/butter blend- fairly high heat. You're just going to brown them because the fish is already cooked.

DRESSING FOR SALAD:
- mayo
- olive oil
- Meyer lemon
- seasoned rice wine vinegar
- fresh ground pepper
- chopped parsley/cilantro

I pulled butter crunch lettuce and Asian greens from the garden minutes before serving and added only thinly sliced sweet onion. I dressed the salad before I started cooking the croques. And, I had extra to drizzle to taste.

We ate them ALL and Tracy said she has new respect for Salmon Croquettes. that made me happy!

Choosing to Play Dirty: Floyd Fest 9 (...it's all about the people)

What's your limit when it comes to close quarters in the woods? Tents pitched back to back, barely a path between the thin nylon bubble that is your abode for days. You open a window flap and there's the neighbor. You step out your door in pajamas, there's the neighbor. Coolers emptied of their water in dusty, bustling walkways that serve as the inroads to this Tent City at music festivals all over the country. Up and down the alleys there are people brushing their teeth, discreetly spitting in the nooks and crannies around their temporary homes. Peeing goes on too, sometimes not so discreetly, late at night outside your window. Outside the City the Port-o-Lets are lined up, ready and waiting for the thousands of people that would NEVER use these odoriferous pods otherwise. Thye'll walk a mile for a spit of water to bathe with. More likely you walk around with dirty feet for several days or take a bird bath in that dusty pathway in front of your tent.

We manage to accept these short term, no luxury lifestyles with gusto and a sense of verve because we get to be with our pals. We've all had the Festival Koolaid and will turn a blind eye to those Port-o-Lets and dirty feet for a long weekend just so we can spend time with friends we adore to listen to often great, sometimes lousy music and dance our asses off in either case.

But, just a thought, what if we ended up in these very same circumstances- a Tent City with limited amenities-because suddenly our homes got blown away by a dastardly hurricane or similar catastrophe? Would our attitudes be the same? Full of fun and frivolity, patting ourselves on the back for being able to give up our cushy cyber lives for a few days because we know that Sunday evening we'll be back in the sanctuaries of our homes: clean sheets, clean feet, clean toilets. Just a thought...

( Special thanks to my Tent City friends for once again thinking, foolishly I'm sure, that I might be an okay companion for Floyd Fest 2010. We did, actually, have a helluva good time. Living the Good Life no matter what the conditions are is all about the people...)

Social Tickets Redeemed

SATURDAY by the SEA

For ever so long I have not spared any of my social tickets on anything other than my own pomp and circumstance of Life on The Party Patio, conjuring up one gala soiree or another, gathering around me all the # 1's that make each evening "the best one ever". And we would say that after each party: the Casino Party, the Cowgirl Party, the Italian Red Party..."Wow! That was the best party ever!!" And then after that, I would be pooped and had no more social tickets to spend: festivals, late night music, other people's parties....I turned them all down. Of course, the Mutant Teenager who is still with the Aliens held me captive as well for years.

But now I am emerging from my tiny life, redeeming some of those tickets and saying yes yes yes to all sorts of things and having a big time doing it. Hangout festival? "Really- you guys are inviting me?"... Canoe ride for Ed's Non Birthday? Hell yea!....Crowding up to watch World Cup soccer at Finnegan's, sweating profusely, with Jack? I'll be there...

Then I issued my own invite for a Saturday by the Sea weekend to the clan that allowed me the privilege of hanging at the Hangout Fest. Alligator Point, Asian wonder of a house, all night cards, tequila, summer storms, incredible eats: we had it all...