Brussels Sprout Salad Splendor

For most people look forward to Fridays because it's the end of the work week.  I keep a pretty unconventional work schedule, so that isn't always the case.  But I still look forward to Fridays because I get to wake up and read the Cook's Illustrated e-Newsletter.  Each week it highlights 3 or 4 recipes from the archives, many of which I probably would never think of or search for if they didn't show up in my inbox each Friday morning.  I don't always want to cook each and every one of them, but there's usually at least one that strikes my fancy.  Last month this awesome Brussels sprout salad recipe was in the newsletter, and it immediately made the leap to my "Things from Cook's Illustrated to Make" list.  (Yes, there is such a list in my life.)

A Fresh Take On An Old School Recipe

Friends, I am going retro on you, in the form of shredded carrot salad.  I am OBSESSED right now!  Seriously, I made some in May when I was trying to use up food in fridge, and since then I've made it THREE more times, because I liked it so much.  I've been tweaking the recipe a bit, and I've come up with something I'm really happy with.  I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with my particular combination of ingredients, particularly because there are only 5, but I'm pretty darn pleased with it.

So, other than the fun retro factor, carrot salad is great for all these reasons, in no particular order:  

1. It's super easy to make.
2. It's fairly quick to make (provided you have a food processor with a grating disk.  If you don't, you probably want to stop reading, because grating tons of carrots by hand is time consuming, annoying, and you're guaranteed to lose a fair bit of knuckle skin, and no one likes that.
3. It's cheap.  Which is good when you want to make a lot to feed your friends, or bring to a BBQ or a potluck.
4. The ingredients are in season year-round (in the grocery store, anyway),  so once you discover how great this, you can make it forever. 
5. It's actually quite healthy and surprisingly filling.
6. It's the perfect make-ahead dish because it actually tastes better after sitting for a day.  The carrots soften and sweeten slightly, the raisins soak up the dressing and get plump and juicy, and the shallot mellows and provides just the right amount of subtle onion flavor.  
7. It continues to keep really well in the fridge for a whole week up to two weeks.  (I'm doing an experiment to see how long it stays tasty, but I'm 12 days in and it tastes as good as day 2)
8. It can be eaten directly out of the tupperware and viola, instant lunch!  (Or dinner!)
9. It can be mixed with greens and viola, instant salad!

So many ways to eat it!  So many reasons to make it!

I was reminded of carrot salad when I uncovered my copy of Fanny at Chez Panisse, a kid-centric take on cooking at Chez Panisse, by Alice Waters.  Someone gave it to me when I was about 9 years old. (How did they know that food was my destiny?!)  The carrot salad in that cookbook is seasoned with garlic and parsley, and a simple oil and vinegar dressing--tres Francais!  American carrot salads often have a creamy mayonaise-based dressing, and incorporate a sweet, fruity component, like apples, raisins, or pineapple.  I have borrowed components of each type, nixing the chopped parsley (mostly because I always get it stuck in my teeth, which is awkward), keeping the vinaigrette because I prefer it to creamy dressings, incorporating raisins (or currants), and adding finely diced shallot or red onion.  Salt, pepper, and 24 hours in the fridge--you'll be shocked at how delicious this simple combination can be. 

Shredded Carrot Salad

Makes approximately 12 cups 

I've written the recipe to feed a crowd (or me for like, four meals).  However, it's easy to divide if you need to.  However, the leftovers are fantastic, so don't be scared to make a lot!

* 3 pounds of carrots, preferably organic (approximately 10 large carrots)

* 1 large shallot, finely diced, or about ½ cup of finely diced red onion

* 1 ¾ cups of raisins or currants.  I prefer brown raisins for contrast, but golden raisins are also fine

* 5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

* 4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

* 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste

1. Set up your food processor with the shredder disk. 

2. Scrub your carrots, peel them if you want (I don't, personally), and trim the ends.  Cut the carrots into lengths so that they will fit into the feed tube of the food processor horizontally (see picture below).  I like shredding them this way instead of feeding them vertically because you get longer shreds.

3. Dump the carrots in a large mixing bowl, along with the diced shallot and raisins.  Drizzle with the oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, and toss with your (clean) hands.  

4.  Cover with plastic wrap, or transfer to tupperware, and refrigerate overnight.  

5.  Before serving, taste for salt, pepper, and acidity, and adjust seasoning if necessary.  

Enjoy!!

An Oldie, A Quickie, But A Goodie

Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have noticed a lot of beach plum chatter this past week or so.  I know this, because I have gotten multiple messages asking what a beach plum is, and what the heck does one do with it.  If you're still wondering, a beach plum is a small fruit that grows in mid to northern Atlantic coastal areas.  They range in size from a cranberry to a large grape, and have a hard pit inside.  They are quite sour, and not so good for eating plain, due to the sourness and the fruit to pit ratio, they are good for making into jelly, which is the Nantucket craze, as well as infusing in booze.

However, this post is not about beach plums...not yet!  I do have more to say on them, but I'm not quite ready yet, because a) I have a lot of photos to upload and edit, and b) I don't know how my experiments have turned out!  I'll get back to you on the liquor infusion projects in, oh, a year, and the jelly a little sooner than that.  I haven't opened a jar of the jelly yet, although I have had several nightmares about it in the past week.  In one the jelly didn't set (the horror!) and in the other, the jars didn't seal properly.  Honestly, if those aren't the lamest nightmares you've ever heard of...

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a recipe that I remade this week for the first time in nearly 3 years.  It comes from Food & Wine magazine, and was actually the recipe that inspired me to become a subscriber.  The recipe is Lentil and Potato Salad with Goat Cheese, and it's so simple, easy, and wholesome, and just all around perfect, I think.  Lentils are such a super food: mild tasting, quick cooking, and absolutely packed with fiber, which makes them extra healthy.  Creamy potatoes balance the lentils' earthiness, and then a mix of fresh herbs, garlic, scallions and tomatoes add additional dimensions of flavor.  And for the final punch, creamy, tangy goat cheese ties this whole yummy mixture together.  And probably best of all, the entire meal comes together in 30 minutes.  When I was looking for goat cheese, for some reason I couldn't find a container of the "crumbled cheese for salads" that you often see in grocery stores' specialty cheese sections, so I just used dollops of Chavrie, that sort of ubiquitous block of pasteurized goat cheese log that is actually kind of yummy in its own processed sort of way.  However, I think that crumbled feta would also be a fantastic alternative.  Also, the recipe calls for French green lentils, and honestly, I have no idea what kind of lentils I used.  They came in a generic bag that said "Lentils."  They were probably common brown lentils, however, I think they worked just fine.  I also substituted red potatoes for the Yukon Golds, because I already had them, and left the skins on--I know, I'm so daring.  And I used a little less olive oil and cheese than the recipe specifies, probably closer to a 1/4 cup of EVOO and 6 oz of cheese, total.  Finally, F&W suggests, although I did not do this, that a runnily poached or soft boiled egg atop each serving of this salad would really make it a meal, and I suspect it would be quite good, if you like runny eggs, which, as discussed in April, I do not.  Despite my substitutions, I will say this recipe is pretty perfect.  I made a full batch, and have had it for 2 dinners and a lunch (I'm all about cooking a lot and generating lots of leftovers these days.  I totally don't mind eating the same thing for several meals in a row.)  It's fantastic on its own, but could easily become part of a bigger meal at a picnic or potluck.

Lentil, Potato, and Goat Cheese Salad (Food and Wine Magazine, October 2007)

(Serves 2-4 as a main dish, more as a side dish)

*1 1/4 cups French green lentils (9 ounces), rinsed and drained

 * 2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 14 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

* 3 scallions, thinly sliced

* 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely diced

* 1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

* 1/4 cup finely chopped mint

* 1 large garlic clove, minced

* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

* Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

* 8 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled (1 3/4 cup)

1. In a large saucepan, cover the lentils with cold water and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 18 minutes. Drain the lentils well and transfer to a large bowl.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain very well and add to the lentils. 

3. While the lentils and potatoes are cooking, chop the scallions, tomatoes, parsley, mint, and garlic.  When both lentils and potatoes are cooked and drained and in a large mixing bowl, add the chopped ingredients, and dress with olive oil and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Toss gently but thoroughly.  Spoon the lentil salad onto plates and top with the goat cheese. Serve at once.

Note:  The lentils and potatoes can be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated overnight.  Bring them to room temperature before incorporating the other ingredients and serving.

Enjoy this one, and let me know what you think!

A Monstrously Good Salad

 

I may have created a monster.  This is what happened: 

My family came to visit this weekend, and brought with them several bags of Trader Joe's goodies.  Happiness!  Among those things was a bag of haricots verts, yummy skinny green beans (pre-trimmed!), and a box of cherry tomatoes.  On Saturday, after a long walk around town and on the beach, and a quick visit to the Whaling Museum, we were hungry for lunch, but it was already 2 o'clock, and I didn't want to eat anything that would spoil my appetite for what I knew would be a delicious dinner at Centre Street Bistro, where we had 7 o'clock reservations. (Dinner was fantastic, by the way.)  My dad suggested we use the green beans, so working with what we had in the house, I boiled the green beans, sliced some of the cherry tomatoes, and tossed them with a simple mustard-y dressing with just a hint of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Meanwhile my mother soft(ish) boiled two eggs, which she peeled and sliced, and tossed on top of the green beans and tomatoes.  Instant success!  My dad loved the salad so much that he insisted we make it again for Easter breakfast/brunch, so we did, and had it alongside scrambled eggs and bacon, and chocolate cake (another post for another time).  Unconventional, but delicious.  Erik had the green bean salad for the first time on Easter, and liked it so much that today he called me at work, and asked if it would be okay if he made it again for dinner!  I said yes, and so tonight we had it again alongside delicious spicy turkey burgers with grilled red onion, avocado slices, and pepperjack cheese.  Slightly unconventional yet again, but you see, this simple combo is so yummy that we'll eat it with just about anything!  Erik hadn't seen me make the salad the first two time, so his take was slightly different : he used apple cider vinegar instead of balsamic and tossed in a minced shallot.  These little changes were delicious, and I couldn't say which version I like better.  But either way, this quick salad is a winner, on its own or alongside any unconventional thing you can think of.

UPDATE:  I have received several questions about the egg issue: what constitutes soft boiled, and if it's soft, does the yolk mix into the dressing?  For the past three days when we've made this salad, the egg topping has been slightly different.  When my mom made the eggs, the yolks were not completely set, but were not runny, either.  The yolks mixed in a bit, but I wouldn't say they coated the beans.  On Easter I lost track of time and ended up hard boiling the egg, so when the egg was sliced and tossed into the salad the yolk chunks sort of distributed themselves.  Erik's egg was somewhere between those two.  If I make this salad once or twice more I will probably cover all points along the egg-boiling spectrum!  Personally, I hate runny yolks, so I always want them to set up at least a bit.  However, if you like runny yolks, by all means, just cook your egg until your whites are set and the yolks are still liquid-y enough to coat the beans along with the dressing.  I'm pretty sure there is no wrong way to do this, and I'd love to hear from anyone who tries the runny yolk method to hear how it is!

Although I didn't take pictures, my mom captured this image on her iPhone.  

The huge hand belongs to my dad.

Impromptu Green Bean Salad

Serves as many as you like, just scale accordingly

* Haricot Verts or regular green beans, ends trimmed

* Grape or Cherry tomatoes, halved

* Minced shallot (optional)

* Good Dijon mustard

* Balsamic or Apple Cider vinegar

* EVOO

* 1 or 2 soft or hard boiled eggs

1. Prepare your eggs:  I like the Julia Child method, which is to cover the eggs with water, bring to a boil, then remove from the heat, cover the pan, and let sit 17 minutes (for a hard boiled egg), then transfer to an ice bath until the eggs are cool enough to peel and slice.  I haven't experimented with the perfect length of time for a soft-er boiled egg, and I'm simply too lazy right now to go downstairs and find out if the cookbook says what it is, so let's guess that it's maybe 10 minutes? 12 minutes?  Who knows?  I ended up overcooking the egg the second time around, and the salad was still delish.

2. Bring a larger pot of water to a boil, add salt, and then boil the green beans until they are about 90% cooked.  Drain and refill the pan with very cold water and a handful of ice cubes to stop the cooking process.  (It's always best to pull the beans off the stove just before they're finished, because they always cook just a tiny bit more before you get them in the ice bath.)

3.  In the bottom of your serving dish of choice, mix together equal parts mustard and vinegar.  When they are combined, slowly add about the same amount of EVOO.  The dressing here should be a bit thicker than regular salad dressing.  Taste, adjust components if necessary, and season liberally with freshly ground black pepper, and salt, if desired.

4.  Wash and halve cherry tomatoes and add to the serving bowl. 

5. When green beans have cooled, pat them dry(ish), cut them in half, and toss in with the tomatoes.  Add minced shallot, if using, and toss all together.

6.  Slice eggs and add to the salad, and toss once more just to incorporate the eggs.  Serve and enjoy!

Luckily for me, tonight's salad used the last of the green beans, and Erik promises that we won't make it tomorrow (but then added a moment later that haricot verts are on sale at the Stop n Shop right now :)  While three days in a row might be my limit, I know this is one simple salad I will return to again and again (and again and again...)

Homemade "Bottled" Dressing

 
Making your own salad dressings is a great way to avoid buying icky bottled dressings full of weird ingredients and preservatives, and making them in bulk is a great way to encourage yourself to eat more salads, because who hasn't been in a situation when they know they should eat a salad, but they don't because they don't have any dressing?  I have definitely done that...

My family never bought salad dressing growing up--the whole concept was totally foreign to me until college, when of course the cafeteria salad bars would feature scary pink "raspberry vinaigrette" and thick, gelatinous white "ranch."  We were definitely not a ranch dressing kind of family!  Once I started living on my own I did buy a few bottled dressings, because I thought, hey, this is cheap and convenient!  But I am forced to admit, most of those bottles are still sitting in my fridge, barely used, and I didn't graduate all that recently, despite what I tell myself.  (What, I'm not 22 anymore?  Are you sure?)  Instead, I prefer to mix up my own dressings, something else I learned from my family.  I run glass peanut butter or jelly jars through the dishwasher when they're empty and mix up my dressings in those jars, which hold enough dressing for many salads.  I usually have 2 or 3 different dressings mixed at once.  To keep them straight and to remember what I put in them when it's time to make a new batch, I write the ingredients in permanent marker on the glass or lids. (Permanent marker wipes off instantly with a little bit of nail polish remover on a cotton ball if you want to reassign your jars, too).

Some of my favorite salad dressings are:

EVOO + balsamic vinegar + grainy Dijon + S & P to taste.

EVOO + lemon juice + regular Dijon + S & P + a drop of agave nectar (or sugar) to taste

EVOO + lemon juice + oregano + S & P to taste

EVOO + honey mustard + water to dilute + S & P

EVOO+ apple cider vinegar + Dijon + maple syrup + S & P to taste

For any dressing that involves mustard, it's best to mix your mustard and acid together (either vinegar or lemon juice), and then slowly drizzle in the EVOO while whisking constantly.  If you whisk enough, you will get a thick, creamy dressing that you may even have to dilute with a tiny bit of water.  Then add your salt and pepper.  Sometimes a little bit of sweetness can take the edge off of a strong dijon and lemon dressing--I have used both white sugar and agave nectar with success.  Dressing with a fruity vinegar and just a touch of maple syrup pairs very nicely with salads with fruits, nuts, and cheese, such as a spinach salad with granny smith apples, walnuts, and cranberries.

The key to making yummy homemade dressing that tastes SO MUCH better than anything you'll buy in a store is to get quality ingredients.  There whole point of salad dressing is to make your veggies taste yummier, and are only a few ingredients in dressing, so why make something that could taste really good taste just so-so because you buy low quality stuff?  I used to buy store brand mustard, but I realized that it's just not as good, (with the exception of the Trader Joe's brand stuff).  However, if I haven't been to TJ's in a while, I will go for Grey Poupon or Maille, both widely available, over Stop n' Shop brand, because they do taste better (to me).  For a simple honey mustard dressing, great over romaine and grilled chicken for a fast meal, I love Inglehoffer honey mustard, which is sweet but not cloying.  Another yummy twist is dijon with tarragon, which I first tried from a gourmet store, but TJ's also has their own store brand.  The tarragon adds a nice herbiness to the dressing, or you can just enhance your own regular dijon based dressings with dried or fresh tarragon.  And I've said it before, but I'll say it again: find a GOOD (affordable) EVOO, because you really taste it in dressing.  There are plenty of decent oils that don't cost too much (again, I always turn to Trader Joe's).  But, just like any ingredient, olive oil can get funky if it's been kicking around for too long (think 18-24 months, opened).  You won't necessarily see a difference in color, but it will just smell and taste off, and the last thing you want to do is coat your delicious greens and veggies with funny tasting oil.  I never let my EVOO go rancid because I just go through the stuff too darn fast, but I have encountered some funky oils in my day.  To prolong the life of any oil, buy the biggest bottle that you think you will use up in a year (obviously bigger bottles = better value, but anything that you have to chuck is an instant bad value, since you're just throwing money away), and store in a cool cupboard or pantry.

As for storing your homemade dressings, I prefer the fridge, although my dad, from whom I learned making dressings in bulk trick, leaves his out on the counter all the time.  He eats so much salad that he goes through dressing very quickly, and he's completely indifferent to proper food storage techniques to boot, so that method works for him.  For me, the fridge is best, and I simply set them out while I'm making dinner to help them come to room temperature, or I nuke them for about 10 seconds (lids removed--they're metal!) to loosen up any congealed oil, stir it up again, and I'm ready to pour.

Whew!  I had no idea I had so much to stay about salad dressing!  And I just realized I didn't address the issue of quantities--and that's because I never measure.  If I had to guess, and if I'm starting with a large jelly jar, I will add two heaping tablespoons of mustard, and then slightly more vinegar than mustard, mix those, then add two or three times more oil that vinegar.  If I'm using a sweetener, I start with just a tiny bit because I don't want the whole thing to taste sugary--it's just supposed to take the edge off.  The key to making something you will love and use is to taste as you go; once a dressing has emulsified it's fairly easy to add in more oil or vinegar or mustard, just stir well and keep tasting until you make your perfect dressing.  While none of the above dressing suggestions are groundbreakingly original, making homemade salad dressings is an easy way to enhance your salads with pure, tasty ingredients without all the extra preservatives and lower quality ingredients that show up in bottled dressings.  If you have a favorite dressing, please share it with me, because I love to try new flavor combos!

Grilled Flat Bread & Greek Style Salad

  

Grilled flat bread is an easy, customizable accompaniment to any dish, but I particularly like it along side a hearty salad, such as my Greek-inspired salad.  By mixing in any flavorings you like to homemade or store-bought pizza dough, you match the flavors of your bread to the flavors of your dish, for a cohesive, balanced meal.  The following is just a simple onion and herb flat bread, but your imagination is the limit on the types of spices or herbs that you add.  Brushing the finished bread with garlic butter or a flavored oil can even intensify the flavors and add an extra layer of decadence. 

Onion and Herb Flat Bread

* 16 oz of pizza dough--homemade, (recipe follows) or purchased from the grocery store

* 1/4 cup finely diced red onion

* 2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary, or chopped fresh rosemary

* 1 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Roll out pizza dough so it's about 1 inch thick.  Sprinkle the dough with the onion, rosemary, and salt, and fold in half and half again.  Knead the dough a few times, until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated.  Set aside in a bowl for 20 minutes to allow the dough to rest.

2. Heat a grill pan over medium heat and brush with olive oil.  Roll out the dough until it's about 1/2 inch thick (depending on the size of your pan, you may have to do this in 2 batches).  Place the dough on the oiled pan and cook for 4-5 minutes, until the bottom is golden and firm enough to hold its shape when flip the dough.  Brush the top of the dough with oil, then flip and cook on the other side for 4-5 minutes.  Remove from the pan, and using a knife or a pizza wheel, slice into wedges and serve.

Easy Pizza  Dough (From the new Gourmet cookbook)

This pizza dough can be used for grilled flat bread, or any other pizza you'd like.

* 1 1/4 oz package (or 2 1/4 teaspoons if it's from a jar) of active dry yeast

* About 1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour, divided, plus more for kneading

* 3/4 cups warm water, divided. (105-115 degrees F)--if you don't have a thermometer, this is quite warm to the touch, just slightly cooler than shower water

* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1. Mix 1/4 cup of the warm water, the yeast and 1 tablespoon of flour in a cup and let sit for 5 minutes. The yeast mixture should look creamy

2. In a mixing bowl, combine 1 1/4 cups flour and the salt. Pour in the yeast mixture, the rest of the water, and the olive oil, and stir until smooth.

3. Mix in the enough of the remaining flour (about 1/2 a cup) until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

4. Turn the dough out on to a clean surface and knead with lightly floured hands, adding more flour if the dough starts to stick to your hands. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Here is a good YouTube video that demonstrates kneading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWj8oHMPFm0

5. Form the dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Dust with flour and cover with saran wrap and allow to rise in a warm, draft free place for about an hour and a quarter, until doubled in size.

At this point you can roll out the dough, add the fillings, and proceed as described above. 

Greek-Inspired Salad

A trip to Greece three years ago taught me that a true Greek salad is little more than large slabs of feta cheese with a few slices of cucumber, tomato, thick red onion rings, and olives along side, all drizzled with olive oil.  Because of the saltiness of feta, I found the cheese to vegetable ratio too skewed for my palate.  I like to add crunchy romaine lettuce to my Greek-inspired salad and dice my vegetables and feta cheese a little bit smaller for an even distribution of flavor and texture.  I wouldn't exactly say I follow a recipe for my salad, so let this list of ingredients be a guide, but alter the amounts of each component to please your own palate.

For the salad:

* Romaine hearts, sliced crosswise into 1 inch pieces

* Grape tomatoes, halved

* English cucumber, cut lengthwise into quarters, and then sliced about 1/4 inch thick

* Red bell peppers, cut into bite-sized pieces

* Red onion, thinly sliced

* Kalamata olives, halved

* Feta cheese, cut into 1/3 inch cubes

For the Dressing:

* 1 part fresh lemon juice

* 2 parts extra virgin olive oil

* A hearty sprinkle of dried oregano

* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine ingredients in desired ratios in a large salad bowl.  Squeeze lemon juice in a separate bowl, and slowly add EVOO, whisking as you go.  Whisk in oregano, salt, and pepper, and adjust seasonings, if necessary.  Dress the salad, tossing gently to coat all the greens and veg, but not breaking up the feta cubes.  Serve with grilled flat bread, and enjoy!

Radloff Salad with a Twist

In my July post "BBQ, Overachiever Style" I gave you the recipe for "Radloff Salad," the romaine salad with tomato, corn, and parmesan that I make in the summer. Today, while browsing through an old issue of Gourmet Magazine that Erik snagged from my parent's house, I came across a salad called "Romaine, Grilled Avocado, and Smoky Corn Salad with Chipotle-Caesar Dressing." See why I might find this appealing?

So, Erik and I were finally able to see Julie & Julia last night due to a ferry booking snafu that was actually my fault, although I tried to pass it off on the Steamship Authority. I thought we were on the 5, it turns out I booked for the 2:45, which we couldn't make, so we ended up on the 8. So we had a couple of hours to kill... After watching the movie I was so inspired by the food that I wanted something worthy of Julia, but was restricted to whatever we could find on a whirlwind tour through Trader Joe's before boarding the ferry. I ended up with brie, the last loaf of bread in the store, (which sadly wasn't a fresh baguette), and a Toblerone bar. Healthy, no? Tonight I thought I might make something truly Julia-esque, but my inner practical person said I should use what I had in the house first, before I went out and bought a duck or something...hence the aforementioned salad.

It was simple to make but very tasty. It uses the same components as my Radloff Salad but replaces tomatoes with avocados, (though I used both), and jazzes the dressing up with lime juice and chipotle chilis in adobo. Do you guys see as many recipes calling for chipotle chilis in adobo as I do? I always wrote those recipes off because I assumed these special chilis would be impossible to find on island, but not so. Easy to find, and actually cheap. A new outlook! My culinary world has been broadened! But back to the recipe at hand... The dressing was easy to whisk up, the grilling was easy (other than my gas tank running out, but that's unrelated). Toss it together and serve. I served grilled chicken breasts marinated in bottled Caribbean Jerk 30-minute marinade alongside, and voila, dinner! I was running kind of late though due to the grill running out of gas, so I didn't bother taking any photos, so just picture it ;)

Romaine, Grilled Avocado, and Smoky Corn Salad with Chipotle-Caesar Dressing (Gourmet Magazine, June 2009)

* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
* 1 tsp minced garlic
* 1 TBS minced canned chipotle chilis in adobo
* 3 TBS vegetable oil
* 2 ears of corn, shucked
* 2 firm-ripe avocados, halved and pitted but not peeled
* 1 head romaine (1 lb), tough outer leaves discarded (if necessary--mine were just fine), quartered lenghtwise and then sliced crosswise into 1 inch pieces.
* 1 large tomato, cored and diced (if desired--I did!)

1. Preheat grill high or prepare charcoal grill for direct heat cooking (whatever that means. I use gas.)

2. Put grated parmesan in a medium bown and add EVOO in a slow stream, whisking. Whisk in lime juice, garlic, chipotles, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

3. Rub vegetable oil on the corn and the cut sides of the avocados and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill corn and avocados (cut side down). Cover the grill if you're using gas, for charcoal leave it open. Cook for 3-4 minutes (according to Gourmet--mine took longer, but I don't know how soon my grill ran out of gas) or until golden brown. Turn corn occasionally.

(If you are going to grill chicken or some other meat, throw it on as soon as you pull the veg, and the timing should work out nicely)

4. While the corn & avocado are cooling, dress the lettuce (and tomato, if using) in a salad bowl. Working carefully, slice the kernels off the corn cobs and peel and thinly slice the avocados. Serve the lettuce topped with the corn and avocado.

A final note on quantity: Gourmet says this recipe is a 6 side/4 main course serving recipe. I would disagree. I actually followed all of the quantities and found that Erik and I collectively ate 3/4 of the salad in addition to a chicken breast apeice. I think it would only serve 2 as a main course, unless you and your dinner mates are light eaters. Erik and I are not. Also, I only used half the dressing (and I actually measured things, which almost never happens), so either halve it or save the rest for another day.

Enjoy!

BBQ, Overachiever style.

I really enjoy entertaining, but as anyone who has ever seen my cottage will attest, there is not much room to do it. Which I why I savor the summer and the opportunity to throw a backyard BBQ, because I have a lot more backyard than living room. Which is not to say that my backyard is large, because it's not. But my living room is very, very tiny.

Yesterday night we threw our first BBQ of the summer. Hard to believe that it's mid July, and still the weather has been unseasonably cool. Luckily yesterday was a beautiful day, but even so, the temps never even reached 70, and by 7 pm is was definitely cooler than that. Nonetheless, my wonderful guests persevered and we enjoyed some yummy BBQ fare in the backyard, mosquitoes and all, until it got too dark and chilly. (Incidentally, yesterday night had a record low temperature for Nantucket--48 degrees! July indeed!)

When throwing a BBQ, many people are content to slap pre-made burger patties on a grill, top with American cheese, ketchup and yellow mustard, and call it good. Maybe have a tub of deli potato salad or some other side dishes. I am not one of those people. I need appetizers, main course, sides and dessert, and I like at least a modicum of cohesiveness. I also require real plates & silverware, and bunches of fresh flowers and lots of candles for ambiance, to elevate my hand-me-down vinyl and aluminum lawn furniture. I'm probably tooting my own horn too much by labeling this post "BBQ, Overachiever Style"--I don't want to mislead you into thinking that this was some gourmet meal or that it rivals the parties that are photographed and featured in style magazines. But I do the best I can with my limited space and resources.

Conventional entertaining wisdom dictates that the first time you try a new recipe should not be when you're cooking for a crowd, but somehow I always manage to overlook this bit of (sage) advice. Last night I tried out a handful of untested recipes, and I am glad to report that they were about 75% good, but there was room for improvement. (The % good thing is a reference to my father, who last weekend told my mother that her sole--not to be confused with soul--was 80% good. I was amused.) The menu was as follows: Apps: Crudite platter with roasted garlic and artichoke dip (courtesy of Cottage Living. Yes, I read it. Since I live in a cottage and all). Tortilla chips with mango salsa (courtesy of People Magazine. Surprisingly delicious). Main course: Turkey burgers with guacamole and caramelized onions (suggested by my sister, Ali). Potato Salad. Romaine salad with corn, tomatoes, and scallions. Dessert: Fruit salad (courtesy of Beth), homemade ice cream sandwiches, and pound cake (courtesy of Sean). You can never have too much dessert!

And now, some of the recipes, and suggestions on things that I would do differently.


Crudite Platter (as inspired by Cottage Living):

I was not so in love with the veg dip to bother publishing it, although I will say that it provided a more interesting alternative to ranch dressing. Will update this when I find a dip that I like more. Cottage Living suggested blanching some of the veggies to give them more flavor & color. It had never occurred to me to do this before, but I was actually a fan of this technique. This will probably sound silly, but my jaw gets tired when I'm chewing lots of raw veggies. Additionally, and more importantly, by blanching veggies, you can serve a wider array of vegetables. On a raw veggie platter you're restricted to things that you can eat raw: carrots, celery, peppers, tomatoes, cukes, and cauliflower & broccoli, if you like those raw. By incorporating cooked veggies as well, you can have stuff like green beans, asparagus, and potatoes. Plus, I prefer broccoli cooked. So anyway, that's what I did. To my surprise, the potatoes were the biggest hit of all.

Vegetables that you like. I used:
* Bell peppers (red and yellow are my faves)
* Grape tomatoes
* Fingerling potatoes
* Broccoli
* Green beans
* Carrots (the recipe suggests true baby carrots, i.e., actual small carrots with the greens still attached, as opposed to the baby carrots that are whittled from full sized imperfect carrots. I could not find these, so I just cut sticks from regular carrots)

Other suggestions include cauliflower cut into florets and blanched and endive pulled into leaves and served raw.

Remove the seeds and membrane from the bell peppers and cut them into nice thin strips. Prepare the rest of the vegetables for blanching: for the beans this means trimming the ends, for the broccoli or cauliflower, this means cutting them into bite size florets, and for the asparagus this means cutting off the bottom ends. A handy trick for figuring out where to cut the asparagus is to snap one or two ends off. Line up the snapped asparagus with the bunch and then cut the whole bunch about an inch longer than the snapped stalks. Some people say that you should cut at the snap, but to me it seems wasteful because you will probably find that the stalk snaps pretty high, and I think that the vegetable is still perfectly edible up to an inch below where it snaps naturally. Potatoes should be scrubbed but whole, and carrots should be peeled and cut into sticks, if using big carrots, or have the greens trimmed if using true baby carrots. Boil a large pot of water. Cook each vegetable in the boiling water separately. Remove with a slotted spoon, and dunk them in an ice bath for a few minutes, then drain. Bring the water back to a boil between each vegetable. Cooking times are as follows:

Potatoes: 10 minutes or so. Start checking for doneness after 8 minutes. Once cooled, cut in half or thirds.
Broccoli & asparagus: 30 seconds
Carrots & green beans: 1 minute

Arrange blanched veggies, along with peppers and grape tomatoes on a platter with your dip of choice in the middle. (Unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of mine yesterday, since I was rushing so much. It was pretty, though. I like to arrange the colors so that none of the greens or reds are touching. It makes it more festive that way.)

Mango Salsa (adapted from People Magazine)

This salsa was excellent. It came from a feature on what to serve at a LOST finale party.

In a bowl combine the following:

* 1 mango, peeled and diced.
* 1 avocado, peeled and diced
* 3 or 4 tomatoes, diced
* 1/2 or 1 jalapeno, diced. Much of the heat in a jalapeno resides in the seeds, so if you want a less spicy dip, carefully remove the seeds and membrane from the inside of the pepper before dicing. If you can handle the heat (I can't), leave the seeds in.
* 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
* 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
* 1 large clove garlic, minced

Drizzle these ingredients with 2 tablespoons each of olive oil and lime juice, and toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Turkey Burgers:

My sister suggested burgers with caramelized onions and guac after a friend of hers served them at their 4th of July party. I am actually a huge fan of turkey burgers. It's what I grew up eating, and I like them just as much, if not more, than beef. A few of my guests were skeptical, but after trying them they admitted that turkey burgers are good, which made me very happy.

* Ground turkey (not the 99% fat free kind, though. Go for the 93% fat free. I'm pretty sure it's better for you than beef, but it's still flavorful and juicy. The 99% fat free stuff just...isn't.
* Hamburger buns of choice

Plan on about 4 burgers per 1.3 lb package. Season burgers as you like. We use Emeril's Original Essence because it's fast and easy and has good stuff in it. Use a lot, don't be shy! Mix it all together and form patties. Grill until they are cooked through, but not dry. Toast the buns at the end, if you like.

Guacamole

Everyone has their own favorite guac recipe. For this burger topper I used:
* 2 avocados
* 1/4 red onion, finely diced
* 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
* Juice from 1 lime
* Kosher salt & pepper--to taste

Mash all together in a bowl. Easy peasy.

Note: when serving guac as a chip dip, for example, I will also dice a tomato, but I skipped it for this one because I was serving tomatoes in 2 other dishes. For this, I just wanted something that would be nice and thick and stay on a burger.

Caramelized Onions:

* Vidalia onions, halved then cut into 1/3 inch slices.
* Butter--about 1 tablespoon for each onion

Well, I made too much of these, but damn, they were good. I used 3 medium onions for 9 people, but I think I only needed 2. No matter, the leftovers were excellent in scrambled eggs this morning and quesadillas tonight. The most important thing for caramelized onions is to leave yourself enough time! Truly caramelized onions take an hour or more. If you read a recipe and it says something like "caramelize the onions, 20 minutes" or some such thing, know that it is a dirty lie. First what you need to do is get a big enough frying pan, something heavy and non stick is ideal. Melt the butter over medium heat, and add the onions, separating the rings as you add them to the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, tossing them frequently. Eventually the onions will cook down to about 1/4 their volume. The trick is to let them soften without browning. The onions will turn brown eventually, but it will be a caramelized brown, not a burnt brown, and it will happen after about an hour of cooking them. Keep cooking them, tossing, until they reach a nice golden caramel color. Remove from the heat and transfer to your serving dish (or just serve them straight from the pan, if that's how you roll).


Easy Romaine, Corn, and Tomato Salad for 10

This salad is a riff on what Erik has dubbed the "Radloff Salad," a summer staple at my parent's house. A true Radloff Salad is served in a shallow bowl and consists of some combo of mesculan, arugula and/or baby spinach, topped with lots of slices of tomatoes, some cooked sweet corn cut off the cob, shaved Parmesan cheese, and whatever else is kicking around. This salad uses romaine lettuce instead of delicate baby greens because it's easy to cut up and won't be damaged when you toss the salad. The corn adds an unexpected sweetness, and is really the star of this simple salad.

* 2 heads of romaine lettuce.
* 4 ears of corn
* 1 pint grape tomatoes
* block of parmesan cheese
* 4 or 5 scallions

dressing:
* Extra virgin olive oil
* Balsamic vinegar
* Dijon mustard (optional)
* Salt & pepper, to taste

Peel the corn and boil the ears for about 5 minutes. Drain and let cool. (This can be done ahead of time)

Rinse the grape tomatoes and cut in half.

Rinse the scallions and cut into thin slices. I use pretty much all of the scallion, unless the dark green parts are particularly limp or bruised.

Cut the romaine into 1/2 inch slices, and then wash & spin in a salad spinner.

Working over a large salad bowl, cut the corn off of the cob and break it up with your fingers. Add the tomatoes, lettuce, and scallions. To make an easy dressing, simply drizzle with EVOO and balsamic vinegar (about a 2:1 ratio) and toss. Shave about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on top. A really easy way to do this is to use a vegetable peeler and run it along the block of cheese, just as if you were peeling it. Add salt & pepper to taste.

For a slightly tangy-er, more complex dressing, try this instead:
In a bowl whisk together equal parts Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar. Slowly drizzle in olive oil (2 parts), whisking with a fork while you add the oil. The goal here is to emulsify the dressing, that is, to create a thick, uniformly blended dressing. If you do this correctly, you might even need to thin it out a little with water. Adjust to taste with salt & pepper or more oil, if needed. Pour on the salad and toss.

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Well...I'm not going to give you the cookie recipe I used, since I decided it wasn't actually that good. I tried to be moderately virtuous by using a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Cooking Light. However, the cookies didn't spread well so they ended up too thick, and they just tasted too...light. But the gist of it was: 2 chocolate chip cookies, vanilla ice cream in the middle, each sandwich individually wrapped in saran wrap and frozen. When I try these again I will just use the recipe off the back of a bag of Toll House chocolate chips, a tried and true recipe that produces thin cookies, which are key here. When assembling these sandwiches, make sure the cookies are totally cooled and don't let your ice cream soften too much. I thought I needed soft ice cream, but what I found was that even after I put them back in the freezer the ice cream ran and basically froze around the cookie inside the saran wrap, so when you unwrapped them the cookies had nearly nothing between them and the ice cream was all on the outside, and there were quite messy to eat. So this was basically a recipe on how not to make homemade ice cream sandwiches. Perhaps I will blog about these again when I do them right! (But, that being said, everyone ate them, so I guess the moral of the story is that even a bad ice cream sandwich is still pretty good!

So that is a run down of what I cooked yesterday, bloopers and all (hey, I'm no Martha Stewart). I think I managed to elevate the BBQ fare just a notch, and have hopefully inspired you for your next BBQ party.