Tyler's Summer Minestrone and Ina's Chicken Salad on Sour Dough Toast

Tyler's Summer Minestrone and Ina's Chicken Salad on Sour Dough Toast

Well, it's apparently Tyler Florence week at So Many Cookbooks! This should make my friend Donna at My Tasty Treasures happy! She's obsessed with our guy Tyler and never forgets to tell us all about her fantasies. Donna, you do keep me smiling with that sense of humor of yours! Thanks for that.

Anyway, all of my cook books are packed so I'm digging through my magazines pulling out recipes and watching FN during the day to come up with things to cook until we get moved. So, Monday I saw the hunky guy make this and it looked so excellent and healthy (and I actually had all of the ingredients for it) I figured a nice light supper after the turkey tetrazzini last night was in order. I also still hadn't used all of my leftover cooked turkey breast so I decided to use it to make Ina's Chicken Salad recipe to add a little substance to our meal. One word of warning: the pesto is strong so just a few drops here and there is more than enough or just back off on the garlic (4 cloves is at least 2 too many).


What a wonderful combination these two recipes turned out to be together. I will be saving it for when it really is summer around here...if that ever happens. We haven't even gotten to Spring yet! Ugh. Enjoy!


Recipe: Summer Minestrone
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, 2008


























Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs fresh marjoram
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 celery ribs, peeled and chopped
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups young green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups shelled English peas (or substitute frozen)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 quarts low-sodium chicken stock, enough to cover
1 cup heavy cream


Basil and Mint Pesto, recipe follows
1 bunch watercress or parsley


Directions
In a large, heavy pot add a 3-count of extra-virgin olive oil. Add garlic, onion, bay leaf, marjoram and basil. Saute gently until fragrant. Add the vegetables and cook a little of the moisture out, about 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Dump in the chicken stock and heavy cream bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 so the flavours can come together - do not let it boil hard. Remove half of the vegetables from the pot and puree and add back to the pot to thicken. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the vegetables are just tender. Serve each bowl with a spoonful of basil and mint pesto on top, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper. Garnish with watercress or parsley.

Basil and Mint Pesto:
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil


Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until just combined and the pesto still has a lot of texture.



If the sun doesn't come out soon they're gonna take me away in a rubber truck!

"Someone's in the kitchen with Ina!
Someone's in the kitchen I know!
Someone's in the kitchen with Ina!
Strumming on the old banjo..."

The same thing will happen if I don't run out of leftover turkey breast!
Here's the sandwich that went with the soup that Dani made. Enjoy!


Recipe: Ina's Chicken Salad Sandwiches
(With 2 Embellishments per moi)

























Ingredients
4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup good mayonnaise, plus more for the bread
1-2t. Dijon Mustard (I added this), to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup small-diced celery (2 stalks)
1 large shallot, minced (I added this too)
8 to 10 slices health or seven-grain bread (I used sour dough. Why? Because I could)
1 package mesclun salad mix

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside to cool.

When the chicken is cool, remove and discard the skin and bones and cut the chicken into 3/4-inch dice. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the mayonnaise, tarragon, celery, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss well.

To assemble, spread a little mayonnaise on half the bread slices, top with the chicken salad and mesclun mix, and cover with the remaining slices of bread. Cut in half and serve.