Garlicky Remoulade

We have a Cajun restaurant near our house that makes a wonderful remoulade. The only problem is, you can't buy small amounts; you have to buy at least a pint at a time. When I decided to make crab cakes on New Year's Eve, I thought it would be a good idea to make my own remoulade, so that I would no longer have to waste so much (not to mention, it's much cheaper to make it at home!). I read a few recipes, then decided to give it a go. I ended up just piecemealing together a recipe of my own. Traditionally remoulade has celery in it, but I'm not a big fan. Below is my recipe~ the proportions are approximations, since I pretty much added and tasted my way through making it. I definitely suggest you doing the same~ this way you can control the flavors and add whatever you feel is lacking. I served this with crabcakes on New Year's, then used it to top burgers and as a dipping sauce for fries later in the week. YUM!

Makes about 6 generous servings

Ingredients:
1 cup of mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
3 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp. horseradish
1 tbsp. dijon mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne
2 cornichons (mini-dill pickles)
salt
black pepper

Assembly:
Blend all ingredients in a food processor and chill for at least an hour before serving.

*Check back soon for my crab cake recipe! It goes wonderfully with this remoulade!

Honey Dijon Grilled Chicken Wraps

My husband is a huge fan of these chicken wraps which really surprised me at first because they are completely loaded with raw vegetables! This is one of my favorite things to make for a quick dinner~ it's got all sorts of crunchy, fresh vegetables, but it also has deliciously marinated chicken, pepper jack cheese and, of course, bacon! It's one of those great sandwiches that everyone will like, even if they swear up and down they don't like raw veggies. You can just go right ahead and forget that you're eating bacon, cheese and mayo (they're cancelled out by the veggies, of course). Because I'm posting this on Thanksgiving, I wanted to mention that you can easily swap out the chicken for turkey. You can also combine some cranberry sauce with mayonnaise instead of using the mayonnaise/dijon blend. YUM. Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the wrap:
2 large flour tortillas

4 strips of cooked bacon

2-4 sliced mushrooms

julienned red pepper

julienned red onion

a small handful of greens (I prefer spring mix)

sliced avocado

sliced pepperjack

For the mayonnaise: mix 3 tbsp. mayonnaise with 1 tbsp. djion mustard

For the chicken:
1 chicken breast

juice of 2 lemon

3 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. dijon mustard

salt

black pepper

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

Assembly:

Grill the chicken for 5-6 minutes on each side over medium heat. Let the chicken rest for about 5-10 minutes then slice it on the bias. Using a spoon, smear the mayonnaise/dijon mixture on the tortilla then add a few slices of chicken and each of the vegetables. Be careful not to overfill the tortilla, otherwise you will have problems closing it, and it might rip. Wrap one side over, then wrap the bottom and roll the tortilla over (burrito-style). Slice in the center and serve.

Basic Macaroni Salad

This is such a great and yummy side dish for any kind of sandwich or barbecue dinner! It takes only a few minutes and is great as leftovers. Delicious red peppers and flavorful green onions give this side dish zip and crunch. Made with ingredients that most people have in their refrigerator and pantry, it's a great addition to any meal on a night when you need a side dish without running to the store. One of the great things about this recipe, like many of my others, is that you can swap out ingredients to make it exactly the way you want it. For example, if you love green peppers, you can add them. If you hate onions, leave them out. It's a great, kid friendly recipe (and yes, mayonnaise has DHA!) that the whole family will love!
*This recipe serves about eight people
Ingredients:
1 cup of macaroni noodles, cooked and cooled
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1-2 green onions, diced
1/3 cup mayonnaise (do not use Miracle Whip!!)
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tbsp. pickle relish
salt, pepper

Assembly:
Combine noodles, pepper and onion. Add mayonnaise, mustard and pickle relish and stir until combined. Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate 15 minutes before serving.

*If you eat this as a leftover dish, you may want to add a tablespoon or so of extra mayonnaise right before serving.

Technique Tuesday: Messing with Mayo

There are a million different ways to make mayonnaise exciting~ you can add just about any herb or flavoring to make a delicious spread for a sandwich, sauce for grilled potatoes, or a dipping sauce for veggies, chips or fries. I'm not a big fan of making mayonnaise from scratch; I think it's because I don't a) want to go through the trouble for as often as I use mayonnaise and b) I'm not so fond of raw eggs. I tend to just buy the big old jar of full-fat Hellman's and add all sorts of things to it so that it complements whatever I'm making for dinner. The key ingredients for me are a hint of citrus, salt, pepper and an additional element such as garlic, chipotle, or cumin. I will post on some of these recipes as I go (for example, chipotle mayo that is great on fries and chipotle chicken sadwiches), but I will start with my recipe for the fancy, shmancy mayo below...otherwise known as aioli, or a savory, garlic-infused mayonnaise.

Basic Aioli:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 lemon wedge
ground black pepper (you can use white, but I kind of like the speckled look of black pepper)

a pinch of salt
2 garlic cloves, minced (use the technique from last week to ensure you're not actually biting into garlic when you eat this)

Mix all ingredients together and chill. I recommend making this a few hours in advance so the garlic really soaks into the mayonnaise mixture. This aioli is great on a sandwich, as a dipping sauce for fries (and you can definitely justify dipping your fries into mayo if you make my oven-baked fries!) or thinned with a little extra lemon and drizzled over asparagus or roasted potatoes.