Yesterday I had lunch with my friend Jill. Jill’s husband is Dominican and she talked about her big family dinner party she had on Saturday night for her in-laws and other relatives. She recently moved from a co-op to a house in NJ with two young kids, so this was a special dinner with both sides of the family in her new home. Her food was met with rave reviews!
Then she talked about her mother-in-law’s “special sauce.” She said they all have one in the Dominican Republic – the aunts – everyone – and they’re all a bit different. She does not know what’s in it – the fast talking Spanish makes it hard. But it seems like it’s vegetables and all goodness, and sounds like a lot of LOVE. Her husband brings home food from his mother’s house – simple things – like quinoa – but with the special sauce they are spectacular. I asked her if it was tomato based – no. Was it like a chimichurri – no. But her mother-in-law was so respectful of Jill, telling her son, oh well Jill certainly has her “own sauce” and she wouldn’t want to intrude. Larry laughed and said no, Jill doesn’t have a sauce. She said she tried to make one once and it was inedible. So she uses a great bottled sauce that her mother-in-law loved (thought it was her “special sauce”) on the grilled skirt steak she served.
Boy would I love to have that woman’s “special sauce” recipe or be a fly on her kitchen wall when she’s making it!
Meanwhile, last night, being tired and hungry, I used some “bottled sauces” and actually made a very good dinner. It didn’t look all so pretty, but it was darn tasty. I made the chicken and the squash all in the same baking pan, roasting all at once – easy! Providing you have the pesto sauce already made, you can honestly make this whole dinner in about 40 minutes. Really!! – no Rachel Ray joke.
CHICKEN BREASTS WITH GRAINY MUSTARD, JALAPENO & LIME – serves 3 – 4
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tbs. grainy mustard
Salt
6 slices of fresh jalapeno pepper
6 slices of fresh lime
Olive oil
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Wash and pat dry the chicken, trimming off any fat. Slick a baking pan with a little olive oil. Place chicken breasts on the pan, and brush 1 tbs. of grainy mustard on the top of each. Lightly salt them and place 2 jalapeno slices on top of each. Then cover each jalapeno slice with a lime slice. Roast for 15 – 22 minutes, until the thickest part registers 155 – 160 degrees. Remove to a platter and let rest for 5 – 8 minutes. Lightly drizzle good quality extra virgin olive oil on top and serve.
SQUASH WITH TAMARIND CONCENTRATE – serves 4
2 squash – I zucchini and 1 yellow
4 tsp. tamarind concentrate
Salt
Olive oil
Wash and trim ends of squash. Cut lengthwise and score with crosshatching. Paint one tsp. of tamarind concentrate on each half and salt lightly. Roast at 475 degrees for 25 minutes or until crisp tender. Remove to a serving plate and lightly drizzle olive oil on top and serve.
I served with this with brown rice pasta topped with some pesto sauce I had taken out of the freezer yesterday along with some farmer’s market sunny gold tomatoes, sliced in half. It was yummy – a dinner my husband talked about again this morning!
Garlic Scape Pesto
Oscar night chili
Eleven pounds of tomatoes!
Pesto!!
Super easy nachos
I like the idea that they all have a special sauce. Maybe we should each make one and share 🙂
I like your dinner!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef recently posted…The Garden Share Collective – August 2013
I LOVE your idea – see Margaret’s comment below too. We’re all up for it!!
Tamarind is a wonderful flavour. I keep some in a preserving jar in the fridge and love to use it. I’ve never thought of using it on squash. I often wonder what exactly “squash” is. It looks like courgette/zucchin. Anyway, the food looks and sounds delicious. When you said your friends husband was Dominican, I was thinking he was a Catholic monk: I quickly realised that was wrong, even in our now, permissive age!i
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I love tamarind – and I always think of the Blake Edwards movie The Tamarind Seed with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif – a wonderful love story!!
Yes – that is zucchini and a version of yellow squash that’s light green on the outside.
Great story. It reminds me of my Italian relatives, each with their own “gravy” (Italian tomato sauce). I bet the chicken was delicious. I also like the idea of using nontraditional pastas to see how they taste with traditional sauce.
Jovina Coughlin recently posted…No Cook Summer Sauces
When Jill first talked about the “sauces” I immediately thought of Italian tomato sauces!
I’m really not a lover of brown rice pasta – it’s ok – but my husband is on this “4 Minute Abs” diet (ha! – but he is working out 3 times a week so that’s good), so I’m obeying the rules of nothing “white” – white flour, etc. The chicken was delicious – just had some for lunch today!
Never thought of using tamarind concentrate that way. What a great idea. And the chicken with lime and jalapeno looks good too. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!! 🙂
Love the story, having a special sauce can take a dish from mundane to unforgettable. Wish I had a special sauce, they can be carefully guarded secrets within families. Your dinner looks fantastic. Love tamarind and the grainy mustard with jalapeno and lime sounds amazing on the chicken.
apuginthekitchen recently posted…Kreative Bloggers Award
Thanks!! The chicken was really delicious – just had some of it today for lunch. Would you like to be part of a sauce exchange?
Having a mother who was a tired cook, I feel myself to be an orphan when it comes to secret sauces. Won’t someone take some pity on those of us who are bereft of heirlooms to put on the dinner table? Mary’s solution is good — passing off good store-bought — but I’m hoping to pass on YOUR mother’s secret sauce to my daughter and her children. Think of it as a sauce finding a new family.
Margaret – I’m working on it!! See the above comments!
Sauces. Of the adults with whom I was raised, 5 prepared a tomato sauce, each using the same ingredients, yet each was distinctive. I still don’t know how they did it. This meal looks fantastic, Mary Frances. I would love to have it set before me. I’ve seen tamarind paste but was not quite sure what to do with it. I do now, thanks to you. 🙂
ChgoJohn recently posted…Salted Cod Salad
🙂 That’s an amazing story! I have another Tamarind chicken dish I’ll have to do soon for you!
I’m checking out your salted cod salad now!!
Bottled sauce could be very handy for a quick dinner! Love the way you prepared the veggies!
Julia | JuliasAlbum.com recently posted…Greek yogurt pancakes
Definitely!! Thanks!
Grainy mustard?!? Well, I’m becoming more tolerant of it, so I’ll have to try it on chicken.
yummychunklet recently posted…Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cake
Grainy mustard is great!! It is a bit more vinegary but mellows in the roasting process. Give it a go!
What a beautiful meal, Mary Frances! That chicken, with grainy mustard and limes, looks just amazing! I wish I had a special, secret sauce in my family. I admit I use a lot of bottled sauces and marinades. But your beautiful chicken dish has given me a new perspective! Can’t wait to try it this summer! : )
Anne@FromMySweetHeart recently posted…Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Strawberries
🙂 🙂 🙂 Do let me know how you like it!