The Best Salad I Ever Had

It's been a week of salads.  I guess it's that I'm so tired of winter, and in so being, craving fresh vegetables.  I can't explain it any other way.  Unfortunately, this also lines up with the dirth of fresh vegetables that are available locally, unless  you count all of the stuff being flown in from South America.  I guess we should be glad for it, or we'd all be stuck eating canned and frozen stuff.  Trying to escape the snow,  I had a great salad this weekend at a sweet  place in Cleveland.  Tommy's, in Coventry, just outside of Cleveland, is awesome.  A diner of sorts, mostly vegetarian, and all the way funky.  Fantastic milk shakes and fries, of course, which should define a great diner.  But beyond that, a highly creative, funkified menu...some hits and some misses to be sure, but you have to give them credit for inventive.  I tucked into mulligatawny soup and an iceberg salad with tuna and loved every bite (sorry that sounds so ordinary, but it hit the spot).  What made the salad over-the-top was  not just the raisins and sunflower seeds mixed in with the ice cold veggies, but the coup de gras, the Louie dressing.  I've not seen it offered before as a dressing choice, so I jumped right on it.  Good call.  I wish I lived right next door to Tommy's sometimes.

But I digress.  Even with the great salad I had this past weekend, it still barely holds a candle to The Best Salad I Ever Had.  You may remember this reference from an earlier post, and I've been holding out on you.  I truly intended to bestow this little gem to the world at large for Valentine's Day, just in time for you to share it with your sweetheart.  But I blew it.  Maybe you can surprise them with a lovely salad for St. Patti's day, which is right around the corner.  May I introduce you to Salad de Chevre Chaud (Hot Goat Cheese Salad).   The hardest part about making this salad is finding the right cheese.  So, my tactic is that when I stumble on the right cheese, I go home and make this salad.  Tah Dah.  Problem solved.  You won't find a log-shaped, gooey outer ringed, ashy middled, moderately aged, goat cheese on every street corner.  You will need to go to a specialty cheese shop for this one.  Ask for Bucheron.  Or something quite like it, as their are several possiblities that will work just fine.  I guess if you were desperate, you could stick with a log of fresh goat cheese, but you will lose a lot in the translation.

I found this salad when I was headed to Belgium last summer.   My friend Jenny, who formerly lived in Belgium, told me to look out for this classic dish.  I found it in the old town of Brugge, and promptly ordered up.  It was good, but not quite fantastic.  Surprisingly, a small cafe in the Netherlands changed my mind.  When their version arrived to the table, it was a jaw-dropper.  And it all had to do with the cheese, really.  After complimenting the chef, my challenge was to recreate it at home.  With the help of the cheese lady at Penn Mac (DearHeart), I was able to find a great goat cheese.  The rest is now history, and you are witness.  Buckle the seatbelt, you're gonna need it.

Salad de Chevre Chaud


high quality fresh mixed salad greens (red or green leaf lettuce, spring mix, butter lettuce, etc)
tomatoes
cucumbers
toasted walnuts or pecans
red onions (optional)
fresh made croutons (optional)
Simple olive oil and vinegar dressing (see below)


Bucheron goat cheese sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds.
Honey, for drizzling


Lay out salad greens and veggies. Dress lightly with high end extra virgin olive oil.  Sprinkle with high quality sherry vinegar (or sub with champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar).  Sprinke salad lightly with fresh ground salt and pepper.
Place cheese rounds on lightly sprayed aluminum foil.  Place in oven at 300 degrees for approx. 5 minutes.  Keep your eye on this.  You want it to start to slump, but not to melt, so watch carefully.
Scrape the goat cheese round onto the center of the salad. Lastly, drizzle both greens and cheese with a local raw honey (in the picture, I am using a local lavender honey).  Enjoy immensely.

Ahhhh, Snow Day!!!

Actually, make that 3.  In a row.  So the title should be more like, "Arrrrrgghhh, Snow Day".  I mean, one is really good.  Exciting.  Fun.  Necessary.  Restful.  Relaxing.  Recharging.

By the time we hit two, the walls start to close in.  The snow starts to get a little too white and a little too cold.  Shoveling gets a bit more strenuous. The world starts to feel very far away.

But today is day 3.  I have run out of "things I've been waiting for a snow day to cook".  I actually do have that category, by the way.  I start saving those recipes up when fall hits.  They are often more time consuming than a simple dinner usually allows.  Maybe more ambitious, maybe more risky.  Sometimes they even involve...... gasp.......YEAST.  ***Shhhhhh.......if truth be told, I'm still saving a yeast recipe, even after 3 snow days in a row and major cabin fever.  I even have collected all of the ingredients just in case I decide to brave it.  But I haven't gotten there yet.  


However, yesterday did involve making bread.  A flat bread, otherwise known as a Tortilla!!!  It was an exciting snow day for sure.  I've never done this before, and really, it wasn't all that complicated.  The end result felt a bit luxurious and indulgent.  Definitely worth the extra effort, but I can guarantee that will likely wait for another snow day (not that I'm asking for one at this point).   It is a little labor intensive for this gringo.   (By the way, I used the recipe I found on this site).

The other recipe I'd been waiting to make is a New Mexican Chile Verde.  Homemade, sultry, spicy - but with a low, smooth heat that warms your toes very nicely.  Just perfect on a cold, snowy day.  I can thank my Uncle Ralph for inspiring this dish.  Although it is a modified version than he provided me with, it was his suggestion that got it started.  What made it really come together was a stash of roasted poblano peppers that I had secreted away in the freezer after a glut of them arrived at the local farmer's market in the fall.  My mom and I bought a big basket of them, roasted them on the grill, then peeled away the charred skin and froze them in little bags.  A couple of those bags went right in this lovely stew, and the rest is photographic history.  Now to put another log on the fire.....

New Mexican Chile Verde


3 T rendered bacon fat  (from about 3 slices of bacon)
1 chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp ancho chile powder
2 T cornmeal
1 tsp salt
2 lbs boneless pork, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
3-4 cups chicken stock (start with 3, add more as needed)
approx. 2 cups of chopped roasted poblano (from 10 fresh poblano peppers)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp ground cumin


Fry onion and garlic in bacon fat over medium high heat, until onion starts to brown in spots.  Mix chile powder, cornmeal and salt in separate bowl and toss pork cubes with this mixture.  Push aside onions in pan and add pork.  Saute, turning every few minutes, until pork is browned on all sides.  Add chicken stock and stir, scraping bottom of pan to release browned bits.  Stir in poblano peppers.  Lower heat to simmer, put on lid, and cook over low heat for about 2 hours, until pork is very tender.  Salt, pepper and cumin can be added to taste at end.  Serve with hot tortillas, cheese and sour cream.

I'll just have a bowl of oatmeal.

Weekends are great for so many reasons.  And probably like you, I spend all week looking forward to them, counting down the days till they get here.  So much so in fact, that it often seems I forget all of the good things that can happen during the work week.  For me, having breakfast "out" defines many-a-happy-weekend.  And I often wonder why?  I mean, what's so hard about frying up a couple of eggs, making scratch pancakes, a little sizzling pork fat....it isn't rocket science we are talking about, right?  Why is going out for breakfast so alluring?  I'm pretty sure the home version of a weekend breakfast will often trump what I can order out in most local establishments.  Yet still, I want to go out for breakfast.  My major complaint often revolves around the menu.  Not much innovative or interesting happening 'round these parts.  Seems that a lot of people have pretty simple breakfast tastes, and I think it's time for that to change.

For me, I think my love of breakfast out is because I have been to some REALLY good breakfast spots, and I clearly recall each of those finds.  They always seem to be when I am on vacation somewhere.....a diner in Taos, NM with awesome Huevos Rancheros, a crunchy organic bistro in Bar Harbor, Maine with weird but amazing omelets, out-of-this-world red bean and rice, biscuits and jam at Lucille's in Ft. Collins, CO, european style breakfast buffets in Germany with quark and great cheeses, a southern breakfast platter with grits at Mothers in New Orleans. Well, I guess even Pamela's hotcakes wrapped around fresh strawberries here in Pittsburgh can qualify.  You know, I'm reliving each yummy thing by just typing this.  Hold on, I gotta jump on a travel website and check some airfares!!

I'm back.....You know what I always want to order when I get to those funky far-flung breakfast spots that I so love?  Oatmeal.  Yep, Oatmeal.  That even sounds weird to me, seeing as I don't love oatmeal.  But, funky breakfast spots have a way of making it sound good, and, well, tempting.  So, to fulfill my need for funky breakfast spots, and tempt myself to stay home on Saturday morning, I've been working on my oatmeal.  I figure, what can it hurt?  It's kinda good for you, its comfort food, and not one place in a 15 mile radius of my house has a bowl of interesting oatmeal on it's menu.  I'm starting an oatmeal revolution!

Here are the secrets I have uncovered.  Number one.  Use good oatmeal.  No, not instant oats.  Steel cut are best, if you like lots of texture.  I'm a fan of a mixed grain that I've found at a local bulk food store, which has six different grains including oats and barley.  Number two.  Cook with milk, not water.  I never considered this step before, but what a difference it makes.  Immediately when it starts cooking on the stovetop, I smell cookies, which certainly is not all bad.  Third.  Throw in dried cherries when it is cooking.  Cherries, not raisins.  I'm in love with a 3 cherry mix that I found.  When they plump up in the milk, you'd almost think they were fresh picked.  Fourth.  Add in vanilla and a bit of brown sugar while cooking. (getting hungry now).  Fifth.  Top it off with fresh toasted pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup. Oh, sliced bananas go great here to at this point too.  Whew.  What a bowl of oatmeal.

If you saw this on the menu at your favorite local diner when you sat down for Saturday morning breakfast, would it attract you?  Would you eschew bacon and eggs and order it?  I'm telling you, an oatmeal revolution is in my grasp.


Saturday Morning Oatmeal 
(serves 2-3)


1 cup quality oatmeal
2 cups low fat milk 
pinch salt
sprinkle of cinnamon
3 T brown sugar
nice size handful of dried cherries
1 tsp vanilla
nice size handful of raw pecans, toasted and lightly salted
sliced banana (if desired)
drizzle of maple syrup


1.  Add milk to saucepan.  Stir in oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cherries.  Heat on medium high till mixture comes to boil, stirring often.  Turn down to med/low to keep at simmer.  Cook for approx. 5 minutes, until oats are tender and milk is mostly thickened.  Don't try to rush it, milk will scorch.  Its better to take it off the heat a bit early, than leave it on too long.  If oatmeal seems to dry, you can add more milk.
2.  Stir in vanilla.
3.  While oats are cooking, heat non-stick skillet sprayed lightly with oil.  Place in raw pecans.  Heat over medium high, just until fragrant and slightly toasted.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and remove from pan.
4.  Spoon oats into bowl.  Top with pecans, sliced banana's if desired, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Sardines are Good Food

If my father reads this post, he may not step foot in my house again.  He is THAT put off by fish in a can.  I can honestly say that I never had canned sardines before (or fresh, for that matter).  There were times that cans of tuna fish were successfully smuggled into the house growing up.  Mom and I would secretly eat it when he was away on business.  We had to sneak the empty tin back out of the house, lest he find it in the garbage.   My sister inherited his same disdain for all things canned and fishy.  But my grandma.... well, lets just say she was a different story.  Smoked oysters in a can were one of her fave's.  I never screwed up the courage to actually try it, but I liked to watch her place them gently on a saltine, lovingly eat them, and then wash them down with a cold Iron City.  Pure pleasure, indeed.

But I wanted to try sardines.  I'm a big fan of tuna fish, and use canned anchovies for the basis of pasta sauces and salad dressings.  Never sardines.  After reading yet another article on Omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish, I bought a can.  My first foray was to make a cracker spread, by deviling (think spicy and zesty).  Not half-bad.  A few minor adjustments to get it just right.  Then, I spread that deviled sardine on a cracker, thought of grandma, popped it in and smiled.

Deviled Sardines


1 can sardines in olive oil (these vary in quality, mine were from Morocco)--Mash with fork
1/2 - 1 TBSP good dijon mustard
1/2 - 1 TBSP worcestershire sauce
sprinkle of cayenne pepper


Stir together, then adjust seasoning to taste.  Spread on cracker.

Eating Peru

Our Christmas Eve dinner "theme" this year was Peru.  An odd choice, maybe, seeing as we are not Peruvian by any stretch of the imagination.  Our loose connection to Peru is really through travel.  A couple of years ago, my mother went on a trip to Peru with my Uncle Gordon.  This was no ordinary vacation though.  My uncle is a pilot, and uses his accumulated FedEx vacation time to volunteer for Orbis, a flying eye hospital.  Their mission involves bringing cutting edge surgeries/surgeons to poverty stricken countries so that sight can be restored for those afflicted with treatable disease.  This particular trip, he took my mother.  She had the chance to see a few cities in Peru, most notably from a real-world perspective, not just the tourist face.  She brought home great memories, beautiful pictures, and a few trinkets.  Among these items was a leather-enrobed bottle of Pisco, Peru's claim to fame in the liquor department.  Since her return, that bottle has sat untouched, waiting for an appropriate use.  I can happily say, we found one!

As for our Christmas Eve multi-cultural tradition, it goes back quite a few years now.  In an effort to establish a unique tradition for my family, the nationality meal was born.  Early in the evolution we had fun, loosely constructed themes, such as American Italian (wedding soup and spaghetti with red sauce), Pittsburgh theme (homemade Primanti sandwiches with fresh cut fries and slaw right on the corned beef sandwich), and a pretty generic Mexican theme.  But as time went by, and younger family members became more adventuresome eaters, the themes have became more involved, and more exotic.  We spent one year celebrating Scandinavia, with an authentic Smorgasbord and a phoned in Norwegian blessing.  That year we even made themed Christmas ornaments.  Our themes for the past two years have been based on the travels each of my nieces did.  Turkish cuisine was celebrated after my oldest niece, Kara, traveled around the world on Semester at Sea.   And last year we had an authentic Chinese meal, after my niece Jill returned from a school trip to Beijing.  Duck was the centerpiece, and formed the base of the soup, the sides, and the main dish.  But this year, it was time to celebrate Peru.

I have always had a driving interest in food culture around the world, and love the challenge and learning that goes along with the Christmas Eve theme choices.  Starting in November, the final decisions are made, and the research begins in earnest.  The internet certainly makes the job easier, but I often find the need to consult resources in book form as well.  This year, a trip to the Carnegie Library with my students turned up a Peruvian Cuisine cookbook, which proved invaluable.  Next, the ingredient procurement takes center stage.  This often involves new food items I have never used before, spices I've never seen, and techniques that are completely novel to me.  Every once in a while, it even involves purchasing a new piece of cookware!!  (Paella pan for spain, turkish coffee "pot").   The challenge item that I needed to find for Peru was a yellow hot pepper paste, called Aji Mirasol.  Many of the dishes I selected called for this paste, and I was stuck unless I found it.  Luckily, the Latin American store in the Strip district carried it, so I was in luck.

Creating the menu is a big challenge.  Knowing that you can find the ingredients is a first important step, but then taking a realistic look at prep time, staging time, and number of eaters is critical.  The other factor is a bit more enigmatic....will they eat it?  All bets are off with this, although I must say that the odds have increasingly risen every year since it's inception.   So this was the year I really put them to the test.  Can you say, CEVICHE??!!!  Of course, the meal would have to start with this culinary conquest from Peru, the appetizer made by marinating raw fish in lime juice and spices to "cook" it with mere protein changes.  The menu:

Ceviche de pescado

(Marinated Fish Salad)

  

Bread with Inka Aji Sauce

Chancho al Horno

(Peruvian Pork)

Pollo con Aji Verde

(Roast Chicken with Green Sauce)

Papas a la Huancaina

(Potatoes in Cheese Sauce)

Peske de Quinoa

(Puree of Quinoa)

Tres Leche Cake

(Three Milk Cake)

Fair Trade Peruvian Coffee

In answer to your question, yes they did. ........ I know!!.........right??  Even I did!!  And I made it!!  But after getting through the icky thought process, the taste was actually quite good, very astringent, refreshing, spicy on the tongue, and fresh.  I can see where you might actually come to like this stuff.  No one asked for seconds though, so that might offer some clue.

The rest of the meal went swimmingly, although I regret to say that no pictures were taken (blame it on the fantastic food!).  We even had a lively peruvian trivia match, complete with prizes from Peru.  In the end, the cuisine of Peru was a hit.  Below are the two most popular dishes of the evening:


Inka Aji Sauce
This brilliant green dipping sauce was served with french baguette slices to dip slide into it.  Before I could put the next course on the table, the whole bottle of sauce was all used up, and the bread right with it.  From what I could gather, it was quite popular.  


1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
2 serrano peppers, seeds and membranes removed
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp scoopable chicken bouillon
7 saltine crackers


Combine in blender or food processor.  Will keep up to a week in refrigerator.


Papas a la Huancaina
This peruvian potato salad has many different versions.  I tried out 2 different recipes and settled on this one.  In all, I served this dish to 3 different groups, and all to rave revues.  It would make a great twist on the classic picnic salad, if you lay your hands on the spice paste!


You will be building a layered salad onto individual serving plates, or onto one serving platter.

• Wash and chop romaine lettuce leaves to form a bed on each serving plate
• Boiled whole potatoes, peeled and sliced into half moons (red or new are best)
• Peeled and quarter hard-boiled eggs to lay on top of potatoes
• Dressing, as described below, to pour overtop of potatoes
• Kalamata olives to scatter on top of dressing

4 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 tsp aji mirasol paste, or to taste
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 cups queso fresco ( can substitute feta cheese)
4 saltine crackers
3/4 cup evaporated milk (or more to thin to desired consistency)
Salt and Pepper to taste


Saute onion, garlic and pepper paste in oil until softened.  Transfer to food processor.  Add evaporated milk and blend.  Add cheese and crackers and blend until smooth.  Sauce should be fairly thick, but pourable.  Thicken with more saltines, or thin with more milk, if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dressing will keep for several days in refrigerator.

Merry Christmas Ginger Cookie

Call me old-fashioned, but there is nothing like a good ginger cookie at Christmas time.  Maybe its an acquired taste that comes with adulthood, because I don't remember ever stealing the spice/ginger treats off the cookie tray when I was little.  My how things change.  I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a good recipe though, if I am pressed for a reason.  Chewy, spicy, molasses-y (is this a word?)......this never quite described the ginger "snaps" that I remember as a child.  It was a certain cookie from a special lady that changed all of that.

My sister's mother-in-law is responsible.  The story goes that when she was a young bride, her and her girlfriends got together to test recipes and come up with the "ultimate" molasses cookie.  They wanted one that bent when you torqued it.  One that oozed spicy undertones, and had that gooey sweetness from dark molasses.  Try them they did, and finally settled on the perfect one, a molasses crinkle.  Generously, that recipe passed into my sister's hands, and as the professional cookie baker in our family, she has dutifully pumped out dozens of these little darlings at holiday time.  Yes, they are often the first to be grabbed off the tray, and sometimes by the handfuls.

But, Christmas only comes around once a year, and there are those days when you, like me, may need a fix.  In our fair city, I have found two decent replicas.  I even introduced my sister to them in order to get her take on  them.....they passed the test.  One is a fresh baked vegan variety from our local "Dozen" cupcake shop.  The other is a packaged version, found only at a natural foods store, and often not in stock.   Happening on this recipe in the December 2009 issue of Bon Appetit made me think about that cookie testing that happened years ago, and made me wonder if these would compare with the Mrs. Branby's now famous molasses crinkle.  I am happy to report that yes, it does.  Merry Christmas, readers!

Triple Ginger Cookie

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup minced crystallized ginger

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter-softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg, room temp

1/4 cup molasses

1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/3 cup raw cane sugar (rough estimate)

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.  Combine dry ingredients, including crystallized ginger, in medium bowl.  Using a mixer, add butter.  Beat until creamy and light, about 2 minutes.  Add brown sugar, and beat on medium high about 3 minutes.  Add egg, molasses, and spices, beat to blend.  Add flour mixture in 2 additions, mixing just enough to incorporate.

Roll into balls, 1-2" in diameter, depending on size desired.  Roll in raw sugar and place on parchment sheet, about 2" apart.  Bake until edges are set, but centers are still soft, checking after 10 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet to cool.

Shagbark Hickory Syrup for Supper

I am a lucky girl.  Arriving home late and hungry tonight, a quick fix simple supper was in order.  Looking in the frig, I happened on ham steak.  This could do the trick.  A quick saute, and a simple glaze was all it would take.  With a little further digging, now in the dark corners of a pantry cupboard, a paper bag contained the makings for a great side dish.  Tiny organic sweet potatoes were there languishing, waiting for me to finally remember having purchased them at one of the last farmer's markets of the season.  Now this would be the perfect supper.  But, to make things even better, I recalled recently receiving a great birthday gift from Indiana:  a big bottle of Shagbark Hickory Syrup.  A fantastic meal plan quickly materialized:  make a ham glaze with the shagbark syrup, and roast up those baby sweets with some rosemary in the oven.  What a lucky, lucky girl.

The Shagbark Syrup deserves a little explanation.  As a school project this year, my students and I collected maple sap and turned it into maple syrup.  The syrup we made was fantastic, and the whole project was a lot of fun.  We all learned a great deal about trees and syrup, and are avid real maple syrup fans!  So, when I read about a couple in Indiana who are making syrup from the bark of a hickory tree, I was very interested.  Turns out, they do not use tree sap, but instead extract flavor from the bark, and then make a syrup from that extract.  According to their website, famous chefs have found great ways to use the stuff, and swear by it's versatility.   Lucky for me, my thoughtful friend found it at an Indianapolis farmer's market, and sent it my way.  Tonight was it's debut.

As for the baby sweets, they came from an organic farmer in Ohio.  These were the last of the season, and of a number of different varieties. He talked me into these odds and ends, describing their versatility and awesome flavor.  So, weeks later,  I scrubbed them up, but kept the skins on, and chunked them into equal sized pieces.  These I coated in olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary.  They went into a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes, and came out sweet, toasty and delicious, just as he promised.  A great pairing with the locally smoked, pan fried, shagbark hickory-glazed ham.  A quick, simple supper indeed.

Shagbark Hickory-Glazed Ham Slices


1 Ham Steak - pan fried til golden brown


1 T dijon mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar
3 T shagbark hickory syrup (real maple syrup can be substituted)

Combine glaze ingredients.  Pour over cooked ham slice and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, turning the ham occasionally to glaze evenly.