Mixing and Matching Condiments Creates Masterful Meals by Lisa Messinger on Creators.com

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Mixing and Matching Condiments Creates Masterful Meals

I learned an important lesson from California Chicken Cafe, a popular seven-location West Coast "convenience dining" chain — a recently coined food- service industry term for quick service locales that stack up a cut above everyday "fast food" in cuisine and decor. No, it wasn't how to prepare the critically raved-over rotisserie chicken or the delicious sides, like a highly memorable broccoli pasta salad.

While staring at the contents of my three-quarters empty refrigerator the day after enjoying a California Chicken feast, I saw a small container of their thick, sweet barbecue sauce; next to it was a similar amount of their equally tasty hot salsa. I thought why not simply dump the remnants of two condiments from a "convenience dining" chain into a bowl, add a dab of mayonnaise and pass it off as a homemade sauce?

I did just that after cutting some "filets" to saute from the restaurant's plump breasts, from which we had already foraged the deliciously seasoned skin (thereby, making them healthfully skinless for this new meal!). Coating them with crushed high-fiber cereal, I seasoned as I had seen on a TV cooking show that day. Just as I pictured, it was the "homemade" sauce that turned the whole thing into a meal rivaling in convenience the original from the "convenience dining" haunt.

When I looked more carefully at their menu, too, I soon realized why California Chicken's broccoli pasta salad had such a strong standout flavor. It followed the same easy philosophy of which I had just become a follower. The rotini pasta and vegetables were coated in not just Italian dressing and not just ranch dressing, but instead in a brilliantly creamy and delicious mixture of both.

Soon, I was mixing-and-matching previously stand-alone condiments into standout combinations. Here are a few favorites:

— The leftover excellent creamy curry salad dressing from what only can be described as gourmet coffee shop Magnolia Grille in North Hollywood, Calif., combined with Thousand Island salad dressing for a uniquely flavored coating for a hot, mixed vegetable side dish or a cold fruit salad. You could use a similar store-bought, curry-flavored salad dressing. Or try some sauce from a leftover Thai takeout curry dish blended with a bit of mayonnaise before joining with the Thousand Island dressing.

— Leftover tartar sauce from a Carl's Jr. fast food fish 'n' chips meal blended with some leftover Chinese takeout plum sauce or sweet 'n' sour sauce as a baste for oven-grilled shrimp kebabs that have also been threaded with pineapple chunks and those tiny baby corns often found in Chinese dishes (yes, baby corn is their official name and they can be bought canned or jarred in the ethnic aisles of many supermarkets and Asian markets).

— Chocolate syrup mixed with strawberry jam and sour cream as a quick dessert dip for strawberries and bananas. Or use as a thick filling between a store-bought pound cake you have sliced in half lengthwise and also sprinkled with fresh blueberries, chopped pistachios and chocolate-chip cookie crumbs, before replacing the top half.

Here are a few more goodies:

FIBER CEREAL-CRUSTED CHICKEN WITH SALSA-BBQ SAUCE

1/4 cup leftover or barbecue sauce of your choice

1/4 cup leftover or salsa of your choice

1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 cups multibran flakes cereal, crushed

1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

Ground cayenne pepper, to taste

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 eggs

1/4 whole-wheat flour

2 large leftover cooked skinless chicken breasts, meat cut into small "filets" from the bone

Yields 2 servings.

In a medium bowl, mix together barbecue sauce, salsa and mayonnaise until well-blended, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Mix cereal flakes, basil, cayenne pepper and parmesan cheese together in a small bowl.

Add salt and pepper.

Using a separate medium bowl, beat eggs with a fork for 1 minute. Put flour in another large bowl. Making sure chicken filets are dry, dip pieces into the flour and into beaten egg. Scoop them out of eggs with a slotted spoon, draining well. Then dip into dry mixture, coating well.

Place 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet and preheat. Carefully place chicken in pan and cook for 3 minutes per side, or until cereal is browned and chicken is heated through. Do not overcook or chicken can dry out. Serve with salsa-barbecue sauce for dipping.

— Adapted from dLife-TV/CNBC

This unique Waldorf salad recipe, from Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals" on Food Network, makes great use of combining the cream and Dijon mustard you may have in the refrigerator.

DIJON-CREAM WALDORF SALAD

1 cup whole walnut halves

1 heart celery with greens, wiped clean and chopped

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup red seedless grapes, split

2 Gala apples, seeded and chopped

1 lemon, juiced

3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 to 3 tablespoons cream

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 head Bibb lettuce or butter lettuce

Yields 4 servings.

Toast nuts in a small skillet over moderate heat in a small pan, until aroma develops and nuts crisp a bit, 5 to 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine walnuts, celery, onion, grapes and apples in a medium bowl. Whisk lemon juice, honey, vinegar, cardamom, dill and mustard, then whisk in extra-virgin olive oil in a slow stream. When oil becomes incorporated, stream in cream, and then season the dressing with salt and pepper, to taste.

Dress salad and adjust salt and pepper, to taste. Use 2 large lettuce leaves per serving to form a bed for the salad.

— Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals"/Food Network

A mixture of the leftover cream and Dijon mustard in your refrigerator makes this Waldorf salad a standout. Photo courtesy of "30 Minute Meals"/Food Network.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks' Books" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.