Thinking, hoping, wishing and praying for a sandwich...

Do you ever have those days when you wake up craving your favorite sandwich/salad/soup from your favorite restaurant and then you plan your day around getting to that restaurant to eat said meal??? What do you do when that restaurant has closed? Well, I tell you what I do, I sit at home and cry. And cry. And cry. Well, no not really. But I do tend to sit at home and ponder what to do about it. What's even worse, is craving food from your very own restaurant that is now closed and gone forever.

I woke up yesterday wishing I could have a Carolyn's pork and apple sandwich and a cup of French onion soup. A delicious pork and apple sandwich...roasted pork, caramelized onions, white cheddar, cinnamon apples and garlic aioli on grilled ciabatta bread with a side of crusty cheesy French onion soup in a bowl hand made by a good friend. How I wish I could have this meal right now. Or maybe Carolyn's baked brie--pastry wrapped brie stuffed with dried apricots, toasted walnuts and bleu cheese baked to golden brown and drizzled with honey served with toasty fresh bread. Or maybe a roast beef and mozzarella wrap with southwestern ranch and caramelized onions, or an Elizabeth salad, or a honey chicken wrap, or...agh..the list goes on and on. I miss my food. I miss making good food for consumption by strangers and friends alike. I miss being responsible for making great food. I don't miss the bills, the pressure, the employees, but I do miss the food.

These days I try to make at least one item off my old menu a week, but it's hard to have all the parts at once. It's a lot of work. Think about this the next time you go to a restaurant. Someone had to prepare each individual item that you are enjoying...someone had to cut the onions to caramelize them, someone had to roast and slice the pork, the apples had to be peeled and cooked, the bread had to be baked, the garlic had to be roasted and then blended with mayonnaise and herbs, the lettuce had to be washed, the tomatoes cleaned and sliced etc... It takes time to create all the elements that go into your sandwich and of course you could make it at home, but if you had to pay yourself an hourly wage it would not be so inexpensive. So when you go to a non-chain restaurant and you have to pay $8 or $9 for a chicken sandwich, it's because an individual actually prepared the item for you. Not a large warehouse where they put out 30,000 pieces of chicken a day, cryovac them and send them out on a refrigerated truck to destinations all over the country. Your chicken started raw, seasoned with love and grilled just before you ate the sandwich. But I digress...back to cooking.

This week I was in need of some comfort food, so I made myself some tarragon-pecan chicken salad. I generally keep pecans, mayo, frozen chicken breasts and tarragon in the house, so all that I needed from the store was a little celery, roasted red peppers and a lettuce. The recipe was adapted from another great Silver Palate recipe that I learned at my very first real restaurant job, Truffles Cafe on Hilton Head Island. I've altered the recipe a bit for my own taste, but it's still great. It is the basis for one of my all time favorite sandwiches; grilled tarragon chicken salad and cheddar on multi-grain bread from Truffles circa 1989. Yummy!

Carolyn's Tarragon Pecan Chicken Salad...this is for about 3 cups of salad.

2 boneless chicken breasts (around 2 lbs), seasoned with Beau Monde seasoning, available from Spice Island Seasonings (the ones with the green caps in the grocery store) and coated with heavy cream
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper
3 T dried tarragon
2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
Mayonnaise--enough to hold everything together ( I use Duke's or Hellman's)

Bake chicken at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. Let cool. Dice small..you want all the ingredients to be about the same size. Place in bowl with celery, red pepper, tarragon and pecans. Add mayo one heaping spoonful at a time until all the ingredients hold together. Season with salt, pepper and Beau Monde to taste.

I like this salad best on a warm croissant with a little bit of leaf lettuce or mixed greens, but its great all by itself or stuffed in a tomato. A great addition to any picnic or ladies luncheon.

Signing off now. Enjoy your Food Frenzy.