Saturday, October 1, 2011

1905 Salad

A- and I had this salad in St. Augustine a few years ago and both of us have remembered it fondly. So I was very excited to find the recipe online!

1905 salad from Columbia Restaurant

4 cups iceberg lettuce, broken into 1 1/2" × 1 1/2" pieces
1 ripe tomato, cut into eighths
1/2 cup baked ham, julienned 2" × ⅛" (may substitute turkey or shrimp)
1/2 cup Swiss cheese, julienne 2" × ⅛"
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed green Spanish olives
2 cups “1905” Dressing (see recipe below)
1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce®
1 lemon

Combine lettuce, tomato, ham, Swiss cheese, and olives in a large salad bowl. Before serving, add “1905” Dressing, Romano cheese, Worcestershire, and the juice of 1 lemon. Toss well and serve immediately. Makes 2 full salads or 4 side salads.

“1905” Dressing
1/2 cup extra-virgin Spanish olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
⅛ cup white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix olive oil, garlic, and oregano in a bowl with a wire whisk. Stir in vinegar, gradually beating to form an emulsion, and then season with salt and pepper. For best results, prepare 1 to 2 days in advance and refrigerate.

http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/recipe.asp?FeaturedItemID=2

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Roast Chicken

I followed this epicurious recipe to roast my farmer's market chicken last night. It is simple, and I think it will become my favorite. I even learned how to truss a chicken!

My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken

A lot of the comments complained of smoky ovens and alarms going off, but I didn't have any problems at all. I cooked it in my french oven so maybe it was deep enough to contain any spitting and splattering. Also, people recommended adding potatoes while roasting. I had parsnips on hand and put them in the pot after about 30 minutes. Yum! It's never been so easy for me to eat parsnips. I will definitely add veggies again. And I didn't try the thyme or butter or mustard (I was in a hurry), maybe next time.

Convection oven: 425

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Easter Eggs

Year 1: A- and family
I've dyed eggs with natural ingredients the last few years. I looked at various sites online for ideas but it requires a lot of experimentation, which makes it much more entertaining than dye tablets. Some colors were flops (paprika did not produce anything) and some were really unexpected (like our red wine moon eggs). Here are the general guidelines to follow:

Juices
1 C juice
2 T vinegar
Mix together. Soak hard-boiled eggs for as long as you want, or overnight.

Spices
4 T spice
2 T vinegar
4 C water
Combine spice with water and vinegar.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.
Eggs can be colored (and cooked) in the dye
Year 2: My family minus A-
while it is being prepared (make sure the water covers them entirely), or soak hard-boiled eggs in the dye after it is made.

Teas
Make a very concentrated cup of tea. Cool and mix in 2 T vinegar. Soak hard-boiled eggs for as long as you want, or overnight.

The Colors
Blue- blueberry juice
Pink- beet juice (used beet juice from canned beets; next time will use liquid from boiled beets)
Yellow/Gold- tumeric (works quickly; could do just a couple minutes for pale yellow)
Purple and gray, mottled- red wine (this created our moon eggs)
Brown- instant coffee (why not just boil a brown egg, you ask? I don't know, we had instant coffee so we tried it.)
Light green- green tea (was pale yellow at first but turned light green after being in the frig- but not in the dye- overnight)
Year 3: With friends
Red- raspberry tea (I think this is what we used the first time but it didn't work the second time; maybe it's the brand of tea?)
Reddish brown-onion skins


I left some of the eggs in dyes overnight in the frig. There was a film of color on some of them which I wiped off, but next time I will leave the film on and let it dry. Then just rinse it off the eggs when it's time to eat them.

You can wipe the eggs with oil to give them a sheen.

I used canning jars (with lids for the overnight storage) and small ladles and spoons for removing the eggs.

I want to try:
-liquid from boiled spinach for green (didn't work)
-grape juice for purple (didn't work)
-red cabbage for blue

TIP to try:
Rub egg shell with white vinegar before putting in dye

I used these sites as guides:
Onion skins- http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingtips/ht/redeggs.htm
http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/dyeing-for-eggs/
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/89614842.html
Organic Valley natural dye

Sorrel Sauce

I just discovered the classic pairing of salmon and sorrel, and it is heavenly!

Sorrel Sauce
1 cup sorrel, stems removed
1 ramp or 1/2 T onion, finely chopped (I used a ramp which probably contributed to the heavenly-ness)
1 T butter
1 T cream
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter over medium heat in a non-reactive pan (cooking acidic sorrel  in an aluminum or cast iron pan results in discoloration and gives it a metallic taste). When butter foams, add ramp and stir for a minute or two until soft. Add sorrel, stirring. It will melt to look almost like a puree. Add cream and stir until slightly thickened, add salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from http://www.theheartofnewengland.com/food-SalmonSorrel.html

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Salmon Cakes

  • 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried dill
  • 15 ounces canned salmon, drained, or 1 1/2 cups cooked salmon
  • 1-2 tsp plain yogurt (enough to make everything stick together
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 3/4 cups fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs (3 slices of bread)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Cover a baking sheet with a silpat.
  2. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and celery; cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes.
  3. Place salmon in a medium bowl. Flake apart with a fork; remove any skin. Add yogurt and mustard; mix well. Add the onion mixture, dill, breadcrumbs and pepper; mix well. Shape the mixture into 8 patties, about 2 1/2 inches wide.
  4. Bake the salmon cakes until golden on top and heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Pumpkin (or winter squash) Pancakes

This is Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Pancakes recipe; I just substituted acorn squash for the pumpkin.

Mix together:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (could do half whole wheat/half white)
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/2 t salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves

In a separate bowl, stir together:
1 cup milk
1/3 c pumpkin puree or mashed winter squash
2 T melted butter
1 egg

Fold wet mixture into dry ingredients.

Melt some butter or bacon fat in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Drop in a wooden spoon's worth of batter for each pancake, keeping the pancakes on the smaller side so they're easy to flip.

I served it with real maple syrup made by friends of my parents and Prairie Pride's uncured hickory smoked bacon. Delightful! 

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Pumpkin Pancakes - Martha Stewart Recipes

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Thai noodle salad with peanut sauce

This is good way to use up one of those large bunches of cilantro hanging out in the frig. I started making this salad last summer and I just use whatever vegetables I have on hand. This last time I made it (in the winter), I steamed the vegetables b/c it just seemed right. I still ate it cold but you could try it warm too. You can't go wrong when peanut sauce is involved!

1 t minced ginger
1 t minced garlic
1/2 c cilantro
1/2 c peanut butter
2 T lime juice
1/4 c coconut oil
1/2 c soy sauce
2 T hot water
2 T sugar

Combine in a food processor. 

Slice and dice 4 cups of vegetables (cabbage, carrots, celery, peppers, kohlrabi, etc.)
1 small onion, diced
1-2 cups diced cooked chicken (optional)

Cook noodles; can use bean thread (2 pkgs) or wide rice noodles (about 1/2 pkg). Cool and rinse.

Mix sauce with vegetables and noodles. Garnish with 2-3 T fresh cilantro and 1/4 cup peanuts if desired.


Saturday, January 15, 2011

Beloved Cobb Salad

My CSA offers a fruit share and it is so wonderful- especially come mid-January in the frozen tundra. The fruit comes from organic farms in places that can grow more than melons, apples, and berries- mostly Florida, California, and Oregon. Pears, oranges, dates, figs, persimmons, pomegranates, grapefruit, mandarins, avocados. Lucky for me my csa partner doesn't like avocados (which I just can't understand. She spent a semester in Guatemala and had avocado everyday- her nightmare, my dream). I've been enjoying guacamole, and fried egg sandwiches with bacon, cheese, onion, and avocados and now...

Beloved Cobb Salad- as A- calls it
lettuce
tomatoes, diced
bacon, crumbled
1 chicken breast, cut in strips 
2 hard cooked eggs, diced
1 avocado, sliced
blue cheese, crumbled
chopped chives or onions

the dressing (makes about a cup):
1/8 cup water
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 lemon, freshly squeezed
3/4 t tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. dry English mustard
1 small clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 cup full-flavored olive oil