Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Cheap Bastid's Left-Over Chicken and Grits--It's My Anniversary

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary. This is the 3rd marriage for both of us. (Or perhaps as we joke it’s the last for both of us). Anyway we got married 4 years ago today in a “Cheap Bastid” wedding in Reno, Nevada. It was a planned elopement just for the 2 of us complete with a 6 day honeymoon in Reno. I used Southwest Rapid Rewards for our plane tickets (1 for me plus a bonus Companion Pass for Carolyn) and I used HHonors rewards for our hotel—Harrah’s Hilton. Even better, the Hilton messed up our reservations and we ended up in a “whale suite” for 5 nights!

Don’t get me wrong about being Cheap Bastid. This is what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. We had fun, including a white water kayak trip down the Truckee River in which I got in a fight with a willow tree growing out over the river. Carolyn laughed so hard that she got twisted around and started through a bunch of rocks backward. The willow tree won the fight too.

Anyhow, I’ll get to a recipe in a little bit. I just wanted to tell you a bit about the love of my life. It took me 54 years to find her.

And here’s a little piece of music to go along with this anniversary mushiness, “Special Lady” by Ray, Goodman & Brown. (Recipe follows)



One night last week, Carolyn said she wanted something with grits for dinner (now THAT’s PROOF that she’s a “Special Lady”). So, I had some left over grilled chicken breast (the official cheffing term is “paillard” meaning that I pounded the crap out of the breasts with a heavy saucepan before I grilled them) and decided to see what I could do with it. And here’s what I came up with.

Special Lady Chicken and Grits
2 cups stone ground yellow grits
1 grilled chicken breast
4 thick slices of bacon
½ diced fresh jalapeno pepper
½ cup (appx) diced onion
1 roma tomato diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or jack)
Chicken Broth
2 tbsp flour

Prep
Cut chicken into ½ inch cubes. Cut bacon slices into about 1 inch pieces. Dice jalapeno, onion and tomato. Put 4 cups water in a large pot and turn temp to high. Put large skillet on stove and turn heat to medium.

Cooking
Put bacon in skillet to brown. Bring water to a boil. When bacon just starts to color add the onion and jalapeno and let bacon continue to brown. When water boils, stir in the grits and turn the heat down to low. When bacon is brown sprinkle in the 2 tbsp flour and stir into the mix (including the bacon grease). Add about 1/3 cup chicken broth and chicken. Add ½ cup chicken broth to the grits and stir in the cheese (cover and let simmer) but return for a stir every couple of minutes. Turn heat down on skillet. Gently scrape bottom of skillet to loosen the bits and incorporate them into the blend. Add the diced tomato (I like the tomato for both the color and the little bit of acid). Turn heat off on the skillet. Turn heat off grits.

Plate grits with the “sauce” over the top. This is some good “country style” eating full of flavor and a great use of leftovers.

That’s the Cheap Bastid way! Eat well. Eat cheap. Be grateful.
And….I’m grateful for my “Special Lady”

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