Tour of Fifty States: California's meal

Menu:  Monterey Chicken, Almond Cupcakes
Outcome:  The Monterey chicken was good -- at the last minute, we decided to grill the onion slices and I think that came out nicely.  I kind of forgot the bacon though ... oops! To go with the chicken, we made a garden salad to represent the abundance of produce farms that California is known for.  We included Monterey Jack cubes, roasted California almonds, sunflower seeds, and some California raisins, as well. 
The almond cupcakes were divine!  For some reason, they came out on the small side, but no worries because they sure did taste good.  At first, I thought that placing a fortune cookie on top of the cupcake would be a good idea, but then ... wrapped or unwrapped?  We didn't want chocolate frosting on the wrapper, and we didn't want the cookies to become soft or stale if unwrapped, so we served them on the side!  Problem solved.
Next up:  Paula’s turn!  She chose Arkansas!  THE LAST STATE!

Garden Salad

 

Monterey Chicken

 

Monterey Jack was made by the Mexican Franciscan friars of Monterey, California, during the 19th century. Californian businessman David Jack sold the cheese commercially. He produced a mild, white cheese, which came to be known as "Jack's Cheese", and eventually "Monterey Jack."

Prep time: 15 min. Inactive time:  30 min.  Cook time:  12-15 min.

 

Ingredients

 

• 6 bacon strips, halved
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz.  each)
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. dried oregano
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 6 thin slices sweet onion
• 6 thin slices tomato
• 6 thin slices Avocado
• 6 thin slices Monterey Jack cheese
  

  

  Monterey Chicken

Directions

 

1. Cook bacon according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, flatten chicken to ¼ inch thickness.
2. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the oil, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, salt, oregano and pepper; add chicken.
3. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Drain and discard marinade. Grill chicken, uncovered, over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink.
5. Move chicken to edges of grill. Top each with two bacon pieces and one slice of onion, tomato, avocado and cheese. Cover and grill 4-6 minutes until warm and melted.  

Serves 6.

 

Almond Cupcakes

Prep time: 10 min.  Cook time:  20 min. 

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp. almond extract
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 ½ cups flour
• 1 ¼ cups milk
• 1/2 cup roasted almonds
• 1 box fortune cookies

 

Directions

 

1. Preheat oven to 375 º.
2. Cream butter at medium speed until smooth, add sugar and beat until well.
3. Add two eggs, beat until smooth.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients (whisk the dry ones together in a separate bowl first as way to "quick-sift" them) and beat until nice and smooth.
5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full, bake until golden brown (about 20 minutes, depending on the oven).
6. Frost with chocolate frosting and top with roasted almonds and a fortune cookie to reference the origin of the fortune cookie, Chinatown, in San Francisco, California.

 Makes 24 cupcakes.