Thai Spiced Chicken Pitas

Assemble ingredients for chicken patties:

1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 lb ground chicken
1 TBS fresh ground ginger root
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp Thai seasoning (I used Spice Islands Thai Seasoning blend)
1/2 tsp salt

* Combine in a medium bowl, shape into patties and grill fully cooked. (Internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F)


Next, prepare the sauce and vegetables to fill the Pita with the grilled chicken patties:

For sauce -

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt

* Combine sauce ingredients well in a small dish

Veggies -

1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into small thin sticks
1/2 small red onion, sliced


Fill 1/2 split Pita round (we used Whole Wheat) with a chicken patty, sauce, and vegetables.
This is a quick and delicious twist on the pitas we normally eat. The Thai seasoning really adds an interesting flavor!

Mackerel Cakes

Mmmmmm, Mackerel Cakes.

Comfort food. These rank right up there in my book with my Grandmother's fried potatoes and blackberry dumplings. The holy grail of Grandma's cooking used to be her yeast rolls, but she doesn't cook them anymore.

That's a shame too.

As a child, we ate home cooking. Grandma's home cooking when my mom was at work. Our vegetables came from the garden, our fruit came from the fruit trees below the pump house or the blackberry bushes along the pasture fence line. Strawberries? If we didn't eat them all before we got back to the house, we even had a small bunch of strawberry plants.

When I got married, (19 years ago this month), I couldn't cook to save my life. My new husband and I ate a lot of fast food that first year. I tried and failed to recreate the delicious recipes of my childhood and never quite got them to come together to make an edible meal.

Last month we put Mackerel Cakes back into our menu plan. Honestly, they fell apart on the griddle. The Mackerel Cakes tasted good but they were more like hash instead of the Mackerel Cakes of my childhood.

Tonight, was a re-do. A very successful re-do!

As I type, I am happy to say there are no leftovers and all 5 family members loved the Mackerel Cakes tonight.

This is definitely a recipe we need to keep in our rotation!



Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can mackerel, undrained
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1/2 chopped white onion
3 TBS buttermilk
2 eggs, beat lightly
1 cup bread crumbs

- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

- Proper consistency is reached when a spatula stands up in Mackerel mixture.

- Preheat griddle or grill pan to Medium heat.

- Scoop Mackerel Cake mixture onto hot non-stick griddle and squash into patty form.

- Cook Mackerel Cakes 3-4 minutes on each side. Cakes should be firm, crispy, and easy to turn.

**Makes excellent sandwiches with sliced tomatoes**