#MEwx Warm, sunny and a Ranch Chicken Sandwich

Good morning Augusta

The Red Sox lost to the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday afternoon 6-1. We are now 42 and 37. 

A direct, real-time feed from my personal weather station is available for you here.

This morning it’s sunny with highs in the mid 70s. Light and variable winds.

Tonight we’ll have mostly clear skies with lows around 50. Light and variable winds.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Our outdoor temperature is 64.4 °F, the humidity is 60% and the Dew Point is 50.2°F.

The wind direction is North Northwest between 0.1 MPH and 0.3 MPH.

The Relative pressure is 29.76, the Absolute pressure is 29.56 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun.

Visibility is 10.0 Miles / 16.1 Kilometers with bright and sunny skies.

The UV rating is 1 out of 16, Sunrise is 4:55 AM, Sunset is 8:27 PM, Moonrise is 12:32 AM,  Moonset is 11:50 AM  and the moon phase is waning Gibbous. 

I will resume posting Augusta RAW METAR readings if/when Augusta’s airport ever resumes posting them.  

We didn’t receive any rain here over the past 24 hours.

How about a real good twist on a poultry sandwich?

Ranch Chicken Sandwiches

Original recipe by Ree Drummond on “Pioneer Woman” TV show

Ingredients:

4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or chicken thighs)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup Dijon mustard (or country/grainy mustard) (or whatever kind of mustard you like)

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

Crushed red pepper, for sprinkling, optional

1 pound thick-cut bacon, sliced in half

2 cups grated sharp Cheddar or slices of your favorite cheese

8 soft whole grain buns, or whatever you have

Directions:

With a very sharp knife, cut the chicken breasts in half down the middle. This will result in 8 chicken breast pieces that are thinner and uniform in size. Trim chicken thighs, if necessary.

Next, make the marinade. In a large bowl mix together the honey, mustard, paprika, salt, pepper to taste, lemon juice and crushed red pepper flakes if using. Stir to combine.

Add the chicken to the marinade and toss to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge, 2 to 4 hours or longer depending on your time.

While the chicken marinates, fry the bacon until chewy. When finished cooking, reserve 1/4 cup of the bacon grease and pour off the rest of the grease (but do not clean the skillet).

When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the marinade and cook it in the skillet over medium-high heat, 3 to 4 minutes each side. Brush a little reserved bacon grease on the chicken as you cook it (skip this step if you’re watching your fat intake). (Or you can grill the chicken breasts on an indoor or outdoor grill; a skillet should work, too!)

When a couple of minutes grilling time are left, lay 2 pieces of bacon onto each chicken breast. Top with some cheese and allow it to melt on the grill (if you need to remove the chicken you can finish melting the cheese under the broiler).

Halve the rolls and immediately load with the bacon-and-cheese covered chicken.

You can skip the rolls and serve along with a salad, pilaf, whatever.

PS: This is great the next day too!