INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint strawberries, cleaned and sliced
• 1 pint blueberries
• 2 T. good quality blue cheese
• ½ cup loosely packed, basil chiffonade* or torn mint
• ½ cups toasted coarsely cut pecans
• Pinch of sea salt
• Balsamic vinaigrette

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all ingredients except dressing in a large bowl. Add just enough dressing to lightly coat everything and toss well. Serve.

*cut into thin ribbons

For the Crepes

• ¾ cup flour
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 1 T. sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 T. butter
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs

Place flour and salt in food processor and pulse to mix. Melt butter in milk in small saucepan over low heat. Add milk mixture to flour, running processor constantly to blend well. Add eggs one at a time and blend well. Let batter sit for at least 30 minutes before using. To cook crepes, heat a 6-inch non-stick pan until sizzling. Spray pan with pan release. Pour 1 oz. of batter in pan and swirl until batter coats bottom of pan (very thin!). Cook for about one minute or until you can see the edges of the crepe turning brown. Remove crepe and place on parchment paper to cool.

For the Berries

• 2 T. butter
• 2 pints of mixed, fresh berries
• ½ cup sugar

Heat a small saucepan over medium high heat and add butter. Cook berries in butter until they begin to burst. Add sugar and continue to cook until sauce thickens. Pour warm over crepes and garnish with whipped cream and powdered sugar.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon shallot or white onion; minced
• 1 garlic clove; minced
• ¾ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 pint organic blueberries
• ½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
• 4 fillets of fresh blue marlin
• Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

For the sauce:

Heat a small saucepan on medium high heat for 3-5 minutes. Add olive oil, shallot, and garlic and sauté, stirring frequently until vegetables are soft. Add vinegar, bring to a boil then reduce heat by half. Add blueberries and salt and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until berries have released their juice and sauce has thickened slightly.

For the fish:

Brush a light coat of olive oil over fish fillets. Cook over a hot fire on the grill until fish just begins to flake apart. Depending on the size of the fillet, this should take from 5-8 minutes per side. Fish can also be cooked in a 450° oven for 15-20 minutes. Plate the fish and pour sauce over and serve.

A Note From Our Chef

As some of you may know, Price Cutter has recently opened a new venture at the corner of Walnut and South Avenue in Springfield called Bistro Market. Bistro Market is the first of its kind in Downtown Springfield and we believe that it fills a niche that was long overdue. In addition to the products and quality that you have come to expect from Price Cutter, Bistro Market features a full-service restaurant, 24-foot salad bar with many organic foods, a gelato location with 24 flavors, full-service bar, Starbucks, and a full-service meat counter with specialty meats that are not to be found anywhere else in the metro area. I will be spending the next several weeks at the market cooking, training staff, and helping to create a shopping experience unlike anything you can imagine. To that end, we will be revisiting some past recipes that have been featured on the Price Cutter blog and will resume our regular program in the autumn. Come and see me at Bistro Market at 401 South Avenue in Springfield; I look forward to seeing you there!   – Chef Clary

In This Menu:

• BBQ Chicken
• Guacamole
• Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake

People tell me all the time that they have trouble with BBQ chicken. They say it is either burnt on the outside, not done in the middle, or dry. I will admit that doing chicken on the grill outside can be a bit tricky, but with some basic tools and common sense it can be one of the best things you cook. Because I like the flavor of chicken on the grill, I probably grill chicken twice as much as any other meat. I have encountered all of the issues mentioned above and over time learned how to BBQ chicken that has a great fire-roasted flavor, is cooked through, and is still moist. I hope this helps!

Secrets to success with BBQ chicken

Grill temperature – One of the cardinal rules of BBQ chicken is a low fire. Since chicken has to be cooked completely through, it takes longer to cook than a steak. Because of this, if your fire is too hot, the chicken will be burnt before it is cooked! If you have an open top grill with no lid, use less coals than you normally would. After the coals are all glowing, move them to one side. Place the chicken on the other side and rotate and move the chicken frequently throughout the cooking process to ensure it doesn’t get too dark on any one side. If you have a Weber, Green Egg, or other grill with the ability to close the lid and adjust the air flow, close the vents to allow just a small opening for air. This will lower the temperature, reduce or eliminate flare ups, and leave you with a perfect chicken.

Different Pieces, Different Time – A chicken leg cooks in half the time as a chicken breast. So why do we put all of the bird on at the same time? Because no one ever told us differently! I usually start my breasts first and cook for about 15 minutes. Then I put the legs and thighs on and cook for another 20 minutes or so until the chicken is done.

Don’t Sauce Too Early – Chicken burns so easily because most of us think that if we start slopping the BBQ on the meat right away it will be better. The problem with this philosophy is that BBQ sauce is full of sugar. When cooked, sugar turns brown or “caramelizes”; the burnt crust you often see on BBQ chicken is usually made up of sauce. I water down my sauce so that the sugar content is thinned. Never add sauce until the last 10 or 15 minutes of cooking.

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 4 chicken thighs
• 4 chicken legs

For the Dry Rub:

• ¼ cup chile powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano

PREPARATION

The Sauce:
1 part your favorite BBQ sauce mixed with 1 part water

To make the dry rub, mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. Rinse the chicken, pat dry with a paper towel then add the chicken, one piece at a time to the spice bowl and turn chicken until it is completely coated with the dry rub. Shake off excess rub, then repeat until all of the chicken pieces are coated.

Place the chicken on the grill, following the procedures outlined above. Check every 10 minutes or so and turn frequently to ensure that the fire is not getting too hot and that the chicken is not burning on any particular side. Start basting the chicken with the sauce and water mixture after the chicken has been cooking for about 20 to 25 minutes. The total cooking time for the chicken, depending of course on the size of the pieces and the temperature of your grill, will be about an hour for the breasts and 30 to 45 minutes for the thighs and legs. This is assuming you are using average-sized chicken cooked over a fire that is about 300°.

When chicken is done, remove from grill and let chicken rest for 10 minutes, cooling a bit. This gives the juices a chance to reabsorb into the tissue. Serve hot with fresh, and buttered, corn on the cobb.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 ripe avocados
• 1 medium red onion-diced
• 1 large, ripe tomato-diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 Poblano chiles, roasted, skinned, seeded, and diced*
• ½ cup loose packed cilantro
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce or Cholula
• 2 teaspoons salt

PREPARATION

Peel and seed the avocados. In a small bowl, mash the avocados with the back of a spoon. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

*To roast Poblanos; rub peppers with olive oil evenly coating the skin. Place on a greased cookie sheet and cook in a 450° oven for 15 minutes, turn over, then cook for another 15 minutes. Total cooking time is 30 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place in a brown bag or other tight fitting container. Wait 20 minutes or so then remove chiles from bag and peel skin from the peppers. Open them up and remove seeds. They are now ready to dice. This procedure can be used to skin and seed any pepper.

INGREDIENTS

For the Crust:

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 4 oz. butter
• 2 eggs

For the Filling:

• 2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Topping:

• 4½ cups powdered sugar
• 12 oz. cream cheese
• 3 eggs

PREPARATION

In a medium mixing bowl, mix cake mix with butter and eggs until a thick dough is formed. Make sure that the cream cheese is room temperature then mix topping ingredients well.

For a large cake, wet your hands with cold water then press crust evenly into a 9″x13″ pan. Sprinkle berries evenly over crust. Pour topping over berries. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

You can do individual cakes by using soufflé dishes, cupcake molds, or other single serving bakeware. The number you end up with depends on the size of the pans you are using. Just follow the same procedure; crust in bottom followed by berries then topping. Bake until golden brown on top.

In This Menu:

• Warm Spinach Salad
• T-Bone Steaks with Chimichurri
• Blueberry Crumble

To continue our culinary journey this week, I thought we would visit the Pampas of Argentina. Argentina is a place that produces some of the best beef cattle in the world and is renowned for their steaks. The Chimichurri sauce for the steaks is a very common and popular condiment for meat. The sauce really gets its flavor from the parsley. To that end, it is important to use the flat leaf or Italian parsley as it has a much better and more pronounced flavor than the curly parsley. Since I have personally been trying to eat healthier and avoid processed foods, I will try to give those of you also trying to eat better some healthful hints within these blog posts. Fortunately, we have just hired a registered nutritionist to be part of our team and she is assisting me in my effort to eat better as well as passing along good information to you, our customers.

In looking at this menu I realized that the salad, corn, and steak go right along with my plan. No changes. Instead of frying the fries, you could bake them, remove the skin, and mash them with some salt, pepper, and creamy goat cheese; these are wonderful and the goat cheese is very good for you as are the potatoes. As far as the dessert goes, try using unbleached flour instead of all purpose and substituting Stevia (a natural sweetener) and/or honey for the white sugar since fat is not the enemy, processed foods are (at least in my program). Use regular sour cream, not the “light brand”.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. baby spinach
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1 small red onion
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup fresh mozzarella
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper

PREPARATION

Cut Romas in half vertically and run your paring knife round the seeds inside the tomato. Now remove the seeds and run under cold water to remove any seeds that remain. Peel the onion, cut in quarters, then into thin slices. Cut mozzarella into ¼” cubes.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and spinach. Stir spinach constantly until it just begins to wilt. Remove spinach from pan, season with salt and pepper, and place in a large salad bowl. Put pan back on stove, turn heat to high and add other tablespoon of oil. When pan is hot, add the tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms to the pan along with a light dusting of salt and pepper. Sauté quickly, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. You don’t want the vegetables to overcook. Pour vegetables over spinach and top with mozzarella. Drizzle vinegar over salad and toss to combine.

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 6 garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1½ tablespoons of salt
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian (sometimes called flat leaf) parsley
• ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

For Sweet Potato Fries and Steaks:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 2 to 3 cups canola oil

For Steaks:

• 3 T-bone steaks, 1 inch thick or as desired

PREPARATION

For Chimichurri:

Place the vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, jalapeños, and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the parsley and oregano, and pulse until well blended. Keep machine running and slowly drizzle in oil. Remove from food processor, cover tightly and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400° F and prepare the grill (or, alternatively, the steaks can be broiled).

For Fries:

Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, bake in the oven for 20 minutes, and let cool. Neatly cut the potatoes, still with their skins on, into thin sticks. Heat the oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to 350° F and fry the potatoes for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Season with salt and keep warm. This is the traditional Argentina way of cooking these fries, but I prefer the French two step method that we have discussed before.
(http://www.pricecutteronline.com/blog/?p=1666)

For Steaks:

Lay steaks out on baking sheet and rub each side with a generous amount of olive oil, salt, and pepper and place on the hot grill. Grill the steaks for about 5 minutes per side for medium or to the desired doneness. Top with a liberal dose of the Chimichurri sauce and put some sauce in a bowl for dipping.

For Corn:

Remove husks from corn and rinse in cold water to remove any stringy material left on cob. Take out a one foot length of foil and lay cob on top of it. Brush all sides of corn cob with olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll in foil and seal the ends. Place corn on grill or in oven about 5 minutes before steaks go on. Turn corn frequently to avoid burning any side. Corn takes about 15 minutes to completely cook.

INGREDIENTS

For the Streusel:

• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the Cake:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (¾ stick)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the Streusel:

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the Cake:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar.

[Picture does not necessarily represent the recipe below]

It appears that the hot weather is here to stay for awhile. The heat often lessens one’s appetite, particularly for hot and heavy food. A great way to eat in the summer is to serve an “all cold” menu and this week’s menu starts with my version of the Caprese salad; I love the presentation of stacking the salad versus shingling on the plate. We move on to a cold chicken salad and a macaroni salad; both of these can be done well in advance. Finally, we finish with a light and tangy blueberry mousse. WOW! A chilled summer menu is a great way to beat the heat. Healthy, light, tasty, and cold!

In This Menu:

• Chicken Salad with Grapes and Pecans
• Caprese Salad
• Macaroni Salad
• Blueberry Mousse

INGREDIENTS

• 3 quarts water
• 1 whole fryer, cut up
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
• Juice of one lemon
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 bunch green onions, cut finely
• 1 lb. seedless green grapes, cut in half
• 2 cups pecan halves
• 1 cup chopped dill
• ¾ tsp. salt
• ¾ tsp. black pepper
• 2 bunches salad greens
• Dill sprigs, optional garnish

PREPARATION

Add water to a large saucepan. Add chicken, onion, carrots, and bay leaf. Bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and simmer for about one hour until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken from the pan, discarding vegetables, and let cool. When chicken has cooled, remove skin and bones from chicken pieces. Dice chicken meat into one quarter inch pieces and set aside. In a large bowl mix garlic and parsley with lemon juice, sour cream, mayonnaise, green onions and diced celery. Stir in chicken, grapes, pecans, dill, salt and pepper, to taste.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to blend flavors.

Serve chicken salad on a bed of greens; garnish with dill sprigs. Serve with fresh fruit and/or croissants.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 vine ripe tomato
• 3 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese
• 4 or 5 fresh basil leaves and 1 basil top
  for garnish

• Kosher salt and pepper mix
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T. balsamic vinegar
• Kalamata olives for garnish

PREPARATION

Slice tomato into ¼ inch thick slices. Slice mozzarella into ¼ inch slices. Chilling the plate ahead of time will ensure a crisper, colder product. Place a slice of tomato in center of plate and top tomato with ½ teaspoon each oil and vinegar. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper (¼ teaspoon). Stack a slice of cheese on top of salted tomato, then add a basil leaf. Repeat process with remaining tomato slices, cheese and basil. When top layer is reached, garnish with basil top instead of leaf. Place olives around edge of plate.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2½ tablespoons prepared brown mustard
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped, roasted red peppers (optional)

PREPARATION

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.

In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion, celery, green pepper, pimentos and macaroni. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving, but preferably overnight.

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup apple juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 8 oz blueberries
• 1 cup vanilla yogurt
• 2 large egg whites; at room temp
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

PREPARATION

Cover a small pan of water and place over high heat. Mix the apple juice and the honey in a small cup. Stir to dissolve the honey. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and place the cup in the small pan of water, double boiler style, until the gelatin dissolves (6-7 minutes). Puree the berries in a blender or food processor fitted with the steel blade or through a food mill. Strain through a fine sieve to remove the skins. Press well with a spatula to remove all the juice. Discard the solids. Stir the yogurt into the berry juice. When the gelatin is melted, add it to the berry juice and yogurt mixture. Stir to incorporate gelatin. With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they start to foam. Add a dash of cream of tartar and continue beating until the whites are stiff but not dry. Fold into the berry-yogurt mixture. Gently pour or spoon the mousse into 4 wine glasses. Chill for at least two hours. Top with whipped dessert topping or whipped cream. Garnish with mint.