Book Ninety-Six: Salad Days

by Marcel Desaulniers

Sliced Beets with Curly Endive, Red Bliss Potato Salad, 

Honey Mustard Roasted Walnuts and Meaux Mustard Vinaigrette

If the name Marcel Desaulniers sounds familiar, you may know him from his renowned restaurant the Trellis, located in Williamsburg, VA, which he sold in 2009 upon retirement, or if like me, you may have five or six of his other books.

Mr. Desaulniers apparently was missing the crazy culinary world, and so he came out of retirement to open a chocolate cafe, MAD About Chocolate - if only it were here in California - close to my home; it is lucky New Yorkers and visitors of NY that get to visit what looks to be a fun place to meet up with friends for a sweet treat.

Back to the savory side of Mr. Desaulniers:

I didn't have to look any farther than the first salad recipe in the book. It had me at "sliced beets" - my husband L O V E S beets, as do I.

This salad consists of sliced beets, endive, potatoes, and honey mustard walnuts. I was not sure if this would be substantial enough for a meal in itself, so I opted to go with the Walnut-Crusted Striped Bass variation of this recipe.

Well it turned out that the salad alone would have been more than enough. The fish was delicious and I'm glad I made it and would make it again, but with just a simple green salad on the side; we felt this was too much for us. The recipe states this will serve four and I cut the recipe in half, still it was enough for at least three people.

Success meter (1-3): 3

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The recipe calls for you to boil the beets. I prefer to roast them. I have never understood why you are to add oil, salt, and pepper to the beets before roasting, so I did an internet search on this. I could not find any reference to this at all! Why I have done this (for several years) I have no idea. No longer!

 Walnuts tossed in melted butter, honey, and mustard, ready for roasting.

 Mustard vinaigrette for the potato salad and endive.

This component was my favorite part. The potato salad would be great for a potluck or picnic - no mayo!

 Not a good idea to use parchment when broiling - oops.

 Next time, I would use softer greens. I did not really care for the roughness of the endive - also I would dress the greens before placing them on the plate.

 Walnut-Crusted Striped Bass Variation

For a prettier presentation (you don't see the other side!) I would divide the fish in individual portion sizes and then cover with the topping and bake. The walnut topping on the fish added a really nice crunch and almost citrus(y), spicy flavor, and smelled amazing while baking. Surprisingly no burnt taste at all!

WW: Hakka-Style Stir-Fried Cabbage and Egg

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

First off, I have to say I used purple cabbage in place of the Napa cabbage called for in the recipe. I had half a head of purple cabbage leftover from this delicious salad recipe , and I did not want it to go to waste.

On that note, this was just OK. I'm sure it would be better if I had used the correct cabbage - Napa is more tender and delicate than the purple. The next time I have some Napa cabbage leftover I will give this another try.

It did make for a quick and easy lunch!

Success meter (1-3):  I did not rate this recipe being I subbed the main ingredient.

Preparation certainly was easy!
Cabbage, garlic, salt & pepper and an egg.

The purple cabbage gave the egg a bluish-green hue. That's probably why the recipe recommends green cabbage. Reminds me of my childhood; not that I ate off-colored eggs - the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. I loved his books.. and still do.

The Hakka, known as gypsies of China were driven out of northern China about one-thousand years ago, are noted for their simple stir-fries that are mostly comprised of vegetables.

To read more on the Hakka, click here.

You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage our readers to purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line to support the publishing industry and to help keep books alive and thriving.

  Please visit the Wok Wednesdays blog to see the results of my co-wokkers:

Look for the LYL link on the Wok Wednesdays page

or

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TWD: Rustic Potato Loaves

Tuesdays with Dorie (a virtual cooking group) baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Contributing Baker: Leslie Mackie 

 

The unpretentious potato. You can purchase one at a time or in five to ten pound bags. What would you do with a ten pound bag you ask? The possibilities are endless and the humble potato does not get the recognition it deserves, except maybe at Thanksgiving.

Here are just a few uses for this wonderful vegetable:

Baked potato, mashed potatoes, potato salad, vegetable quesadillas, gnocchi, potato soup, home-fries, scalloped potatoes, potato pancakes; the list goes on and on, and don't forget the science experiment at almost every school science fair.

The potato is not only good (pure comfort food), but good for you as well. One large potato (369gr.) has only 284 calories, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol, and a whopping 7 grams of protein and 8 grams of dietary fiber. It is also a good source of vitamin B6, potassium and vitamin C (source: nutritiondata). I'll pop one into the microwave for a quick lunch and enjoy it with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Then there are the wild unproven medicinal claims, from drinking potato juice for stomach ailments to raw potato placed on the skin to alleviate inflammation (source: livestrong). Do not try any herbal remedies without consulting your doctor first!

Then there is this wonderful bread. It only takes about three hours from start to finish; a lot less time than most yeasted breads. The book even says this is a good one for making on a whim. (For me a whim is something I can whip up on a moments notice, say like buttermilk biscuits. I can throw them together and into the oven while the soup is simmering away on the stove).

The recipe makes two loaves; I decided to make one loaf to be used for sandwiches later, and turn the rest of the dough into rolls to go with our soup that evening. The rolls were perfect - soft, warm, and delicious, especially with a little butter spread upon them.

Success meter (1-3): 3

You start by boiling cubed potatoes (skin and all!) till just tender. I read other bakers peeled their potatoes. I'm one that eats the skin and all of a baked potato, so why not in the bread as well (as instructed) and I liked the speckled look the peel gave the dough.

Then air dry for about thirty minutes.

So much for obtaining a football shape (it's a very lean football).

I had some fun decorating a few of the rolls. As for the loaf, not so rustic looking as it should - I forgot to turn it seem side up before placing it into the oven.

 

Just look at the softness of this bread (as well as bits of peel).

I can see myself adding all kinds of goodness to the dough in the future: a little asiago, cheddar, Parmesan, scallions, chives, rosemary, maybe even some nuts or seeds - again the possibilities are endless.

Visit Dawn's blog, Simply Sweet for the recipe, and don't just stop at her awesome bread post - check out her amazing cakes she makes - they're incredible.

I'm sure there will be all kinds of versions of this bread from the many talented bakers we have in the group. To see their results check out the TWD LYL: Potato Bread link.

The recipe can also be found on page 138 in the book Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas

Recipe from Moosewood Restaurant: New Classics

Much to my surprise, I found that I have not shared this recipe with you. I went to the search box of my blog to view the recipe for the ingredients so I could stop off at the store on my way home from work and it was not there! How could I keep this to myself for so long? I have made this several times, and always say to myself that I must share this recipe.

Well, now is the time.

This is a delicious, healthy, and quick dinner to prepare, even on a weeknight. The recipe is easily adaptable to your likes or dislikes, or to what you may have on hand. What vegetable does not taste irresistible roasted and sprinkled with cheese? Oh, and a little Sriracha Sauce if you, like me, like things spicy.

Success meter (1-3): 3 

I was going to add the extra cherry tomatoes that I had leftover from this recipe as well and forgot. That's OK. I'll add them to these leftovers to make what I hope is an awesome omelette tomorrow morning.

Yep, these are tasty.

Book Ninety-Five: Tom's Big Dinners

by Tom Douglas

I really, really, need to read recipes in full - not just scan the pages. I did not realize until I started making the tomato confit (about one-thirty) that they slow roast for three hours, and are best after an overnight stay in the refrigerator. And here I thought I was getting a head start. Oh well. They chilled for about an hour.

I also did not note how much this recipe served as I jotted down the ingredients. As I was shopping I thought to myself this is going to feed an army - well a small one of eight anyway. I thought about making half of the recipe then decided against it; I had most of the ingredients in the cart already. This turned out to be a good thing. Practice makes perfect - as you will see in a photo below.

For the tomato confit you roast the tomatoes in olive oil, rosemary, thyme and garlic. I was surprised that he has you discard the garlic cloves along with the herb sprigs. Roasted garlic anyone? Spread on a baguette or tossed into some pasta sauce or something. My cloves did not go to waste. My sister arrived sooner than expected and was helping me prepare dinner, and she devoured those oh so tasty (so she said) cloves.

To make the beautiful spiral effect, you stuff, roll, and tie the flank steak.

I was so excited to use some of my fancy baker's twine I recently purchased - it comes in several different colors! Only to find out that this twine has not been tested for direct food contact. Great. Here I am already running behind and I have to go buy some string. Of course Safeway does not sell cooking twine or any other type, nor could the butcher (unfamiliar with this location) find any to give me as suggested by one of the checkers. Good thing there is a hardware store a couple blocks away - bingo - they had plenty.

This you will want to make for company it's so impressive looking. The tomato confit can be made up to five days ahead, the stuffing a day or two in advance, and the steak can be stuffed and tied early in the day and refrigerated.

Aside from the issues I had, this was fun, relatively easy, and pretty darn delicious.

Success meter (1-3): 3

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The stuffing: onion, garlic, Kalamata olives, parsley, thyme, pine nuts and currants. I'm not a huge fan of pine nuts and they are ridiculously expensive (thirty-five dollars a pound!) next time I'll sub pecans or walnuts, or maybe leave them out all together.

I pounded the meat between to pieces of freezer paper. Even though I have a weighted meat pounder, my trusty rolling pin covered in plastic wrap made the job easier - and this was not all that easy to do. It took me like ten minutes to get it to what I thought was thin enough. Not as thin as the recipe recommended, but it worked for me.

I was not happy with the way my first attempt rolled so I re-rolled it; hence the bits of filling on the outside. Isn't the second one so much nicer looking?! Night and day. Once you get the hang of tying, it really is easy. I found this video extremely helpful on learning to tie a roast.

You brown the steaks in the roasting pan on all sides before placing in the oven to finish cooking.

The tomatoes definitely benefit from an overnight stay in the refrigerator. We had leftovers the next day and they were so much better. The recipe has you serve the confit at room temperature; I liked them best heated in the microwave - a soft, warm burst of deliciousness. I may have to make more just so I can try it over pasta with fresh goat cheese as recommended in the book.

Book Ninety-Four: A Passion for Desserts

by Emily Luchetti

What do you think of when you hear parfait? Me, I envision a layered dessert (trifle like) in tall clear glasses, not a loaf shape that is sliced and placed on a plate with nothing other than a sauce drizzled over the top. 

This past Tuesday was my sister's birthday and originally I was going to make a fruitcake, yes fruitcake. We loved my grandmother's fruitcake that she made every Christmas (wish I had her recipe) and we had just been talking about it and decided that is what we would have - until the day before as I was making my grocery list and reading the recipe I found online - best if made at least two weeks ahead! Well that wasn't going to work. 

A frantic search for a new dessert led me to this delicious treat. This is why I love Emily Luchetti's recipes - always easy, elegant, and with wonderful flavor. The parfait is lemony, smooth, pillowy soft and light, and the sauces oh so tasty. I had added my own touch to this dessert - chopped crystallized ginger and fresh raspberries. The ginger was a bit overpowering - next time I would decorate the top with additional raspberries and no ginger. (EDIT: Eating the leftovers a whole week later, this was still delicious - sauces and all. Even the chopped candied ginger tasted really good this time around.)

This dessert is perfect for a beautiful spring day, unlike our first day of spring her in California where it is raining. This being so light and refreshing, we can imagine it's not.

Success meter (1-3): 3

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It's important for you to get the plastic wrap as smooth as possible before filling the loaf pan. The creases will show up in the final product. This was my second time lining the pan. The first was almost perfect, then I noticed a tear in the bottom and had to start over and did not have the patience to get it as smooth as I would have liked.

I can always say I was going for the draped look.

These sauces were so good. I can see using them drizzled over vanilla ice cream, pancakes, crêpes or even on toast.

Happy Birthday Laura!

WW: Stir-Fried Chicken with Carrots and Mushrooms

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

 The BEST tool ever!! Thanks mom! I did not know the recipe called for three cups of julienned carrots till just before getting dinner started. I was reading a post on the WW Facebook page about the recipe and that is how I found out about the carrots and this awesome tool called a kinpira peeler that Grace recommended.  My mother had bought me and my siblings these garnishing kits a few years ago. Why she bought one for my brother I don't know - he does not cook. She had a shopping addiction (I say had, because she passed away two years ago) and would order all kinds of crap off of the TV. I can see it now: Order in the next hour and it's yours for only 19.99! and if you order in the next fifteen minutes we will throw in an extra one, absolutely free! Ha ha. This was a good buy mom, a good buy. :) I thought I would never use it and tossed it into a drawer (still in the box) and sworn I had recently donated it to Goodwill. Thank goodness it was still here. I was able to shred three cups of carrots in like thirty seconds! OK, maybe in forty-five. Definitely under a minute! Try doing that with a knife. In a pinch I would have used my food processor with the shredding disc - it would have made wider strands, but would be better than using a knife; which reminds me - they need sharpening.

My dried shiitakes soaking away. I placed a bowl on top to keep them submerged. The recipe called for whole mushrooms and to soak them for thirty minutes. My store only had pre-sliced and the instructions call for them to be soaked for ten minutes. They ended up soaking for thirty minutes and still some were quite tough and overly chewy. I guess I am not a fan of dried shiitakes. This happened the last time I used them as well.

 I really enjoyed the carrots in this stir-fry. Andy said he thought this would be good even without the chicken, for the mushrooms have such good flavor - if they were not so chewy. Maybe soak them even longer? I could use fresh, but then they would not have the intense flavor the dried do. Hmm...

 

Success meter (1-3): 2 - I rated this a two due to the chewy shiitakes.

You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage our readers to purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line to support the publishing industry and to help keep books alive and thriving.

                                                         Yay! Paper is not dead!: http://vimeo.com/61275290

Make sure to visit my co-wokkers to see their results on this stir-fry.

Look for the LYL link on the Wok Wednesdays page.

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