#MEwx fog, clear skies later and Ranch Chicken sandwiches for lunch

Good morning Augusta

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

Today it’s going to be mostly sunny with expected  highs in the lower 60s. Light and variable winds.

Tonight we’ll have mostly clear skies during evening hours, becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s with light and variable winds.

The readings from my weather instruments are:

Our outdoor temperature is 43.9°F, the humidity is 97% and the Dew Point is 43.3°F.

The wind direction is Northwest between 0.0 MPH and 0.3 MPH.  

The Relative pressure is 30.08, the Absolute pressure is 29.88 and rising with a weather graphic indicating sun.

Visibility is 0.2 Miles / 0.4 Kilometers with clear skies above this fog somewhere.

The UV rating is 0 out of 16, Sunrise is 7:01 AM Sunset is 5:45 PM, Moonrise is 11:49 PM, moonset is 2:24 PM and the moon phase is Waning Gibbous.

The RAW METAR readings from Augusta’s airport are:

SPECI KAUG 211106Z AUTO 00000KT 1/4SM FG VV001 07/07 A3012 RMK AO2 T00670067

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

Let’s shift from dinners to lunch.

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!clear skies above this fog somewhere.