Tag: salad

Little did I know what was going to happen when we broke open the two bags of Fresh Express: BLT Caesar salad we had sitting in the fridge, awaiting a special moment such as 'not knowing what to cook for dinner'.

The little packets are nigh impossible to open; using the combined powers of my fork and teeth I managed to sever the ironclad baggie of sundried tomatoes, which have to be the most potent and wonderful tomato flavor I have ever purchased; the little baggie of real, cooked bacon bits, which smelled kind of like human waste but tasted pretty fantastic overall; the parmesan-romano-asiago packet; and the caesar dressing. Overall, it was pretty darn fantastic for what I expected to come from a bagged salad. I wouldn't mind eating it regularly. But do yourself a favor and do not open the bacon bits with your teeth, or bring the baggie close to your face after it is opened.

Due to Tele falling ill this week, I was in charge of the Thanksgiving meal. I had no choice but to step up and accomplish the task. So, I did. I made the whole meal.

I forgot to take pre-eating pictures of the Thanksgiving table, but I did get you the after pics.

The left side of the table in clockwise order: mashed potatoes, Praline Yams, Whole Cranberry Sauce, Cranberry Relish, StoveTop Cornbread Stuffing, and HoneyBaked Ham.

The right side of the table starting from the back of the table and moving forward: Dutch Apple Pie with Never-Fail Pie Crust, Sweet Corn Muffins, Cranberry Salad, CornBread, Honey Maid Cinnamon Sticks and Bees for the fluff, Fluff with fresh strawberries, PineCone Spread with Original Triscuits.

Not pictured but included in the food lineup of the evening: Corn on the cob roasted under the broiler and Chatham Village Cranberry Herb Stuffing.

The only thing I didn't get to make was my grandma's Pumpkin Cookies. But the apple pie was so yummy it was okay that the cookies were missing.

My mother's family has Thanksgiving the Saturday before the actual holiday so as to free everyone up for other obligations. This year was no exception. We opted to go potluck style this time around. I was in charge of whole cranberry sauce, cranberry salad and rolls.

For the rolls I made:

• one batch of Buttery Rolls shaped as crescents
• one double batch of Cornbread baked in my Pampered Chef Rectangular Baker
• one batch of Susan's Farm House White Bread shaped into 36 rolls and baked on two cookie sheets

It seems like a lot of work, but it wasn't. Both cranberry dishes are make-ahead, so no pressure there. I made the Farm House White Rolls the day before. The dough for the Buttery Rolls was put in the fridge the afternoon before so they could be shaped, risen and baked the morning of. And I made the Cornbread the night before. So there you have it. Five different dishes all made in a day and a half with low stress!

This Cranberry Salad recipe is another passed on from my aunt. I have been making it for several years now and always get excellent reviews. It is a great dish for the summer time as well.

Start this dish the evening before you are serving it. In the morning stir in the remaining ingredients and the dish will be ready when you need it. A great make-ahead dish.

Be sure to buy cranberries in November and store them in your freezer (they keep for 1 year that way). Cranberries are not available the rest of the year.

Cranberry Salad

• 1 bag (12 oz) cranberries
• 2 cups sugar

Grind the cranberries using a food processor. Put into a bowl and combine with the sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

• 1 1/2 cups walnuts
• 1 bag (10.5 oz) marshmallows
• 1 pint whipping cream
• 1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained

In a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients to the cranberry mixture, stir. Refrigerate for at least one our before serving.

This isn't so much of a traditional Tapas recipe, as something I want to make but haven't had the time. Stolen from here, credit goes to them.

Vinaigrette: * 1/2 cup pomegranate juice * 1 teaspoon finely minced shallot * 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar * 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice * 1/4 teaspoon sugar * 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil * 2 tablespoons walnut oil

Salad: * 4 ounces Earthbound Farm Organic Mixed Baby Greens * 1 Fuyu persimmon or ripe pear, thinly sliced * 1/4 cup toasted or candied walnuts * 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds

To make the vinaigrette, place the pomegranate juice in a small pan and reduce to 2 tablespoons over medium high heat. Combine the juice and the remaining vinaigrette ingredients in a small glass jar and shake vigorously to combine.

Place the mixed greens in a large bowl and add half of the vinaigrette, tossing to coat the leaves. Add more dressing as desired.

Divide the salad between 4 chilled plates and decoratively arrange slices of persimmons or pears atop the greens. Sprinkle each serving with walnuts and pomegranate seeds and serve immediately.

Thats the cut and paste version from the website. I'm probably going to mangle it a bit, because of time, money, and treasure hunting reasons. I'm going to omit the walnut oil, at least.

One sushi bar ingredient I have a love-hate relationship with is kappa, known in English as the cucumber. Apparently, the Japanese term is based on a river goblin, named Kappa, who has a fondness for cucumbers. Nice circular logic, there; if I were going to name members of my family for the things they ate, I could name my daughter Random Scraps Of Paper and my wife Tasteless Vegan Filth. But I digress.

Cucumbers aren't exactly my favorite sushi ingredient, mostly because the fresh taste and crispness seems somehow wrong inside something made of raw fish; it tends to make me think I just bit willingly into a bone left in by some sadistic itamae, getting revenge for me not pointing my chopsticks towards magnetic north when I put them down on my plate. But in cucumber salads or sunemono, they come into their own.

Looking at online recipes, I saw an awful lot of recipes that include sake and rice wine vinegar. Since I'm too lazy to drive to Chinatown for one ingredient, and my children don't really need any extra sake in their diet (says the woman; personally, I believe that drunk children are sleepy children), I decided to play with the recipe a bit. And by 'play', I mean get retardedly creative.

I like rice wine vinegar, and I use it in an awful lot of foods. In fact, it's my second favorite vinegar upon God's slightly fermented green earth. However, I do hold true to the belief that the Japanese would have never invented rice wine vinegar if they'd had the miracle that is balsamic vinegar. I'd gush and all, but I believe the Masochist detailed his unending love for the purple here.

Now, people who know stuff about cooking, like to complain, and have way too much time on their hands to search the internet for blogs may interject that "balsamic vinegar is nothing like rice wine vinegar", on the basis that the first is sweeter, thicker, and much more complex. Thanks. Gee, I didn't know that. Of course balsamic and rice wine vinegar are different. Read the previous paragraph.

However, there is a very important factor here- the differences mean that you can't adulterate balsamic vinegar with salt and sugar in the same proportions as rice wine vinegar and end up with a similar salad topping. In fact, Italian cuisine purists might even argue that to adulterate balsamic with anything at all is akin to blasphemy, like some massive malediction called down upon Vatican City.

Luckily, I'm Protestant.

After cubing two cucumbers and mixing them with alfalfa sprouts (no mung beans... darn), I contemplated the balsamic like some sort of scrying pool. And the oracle revealed to me that mixing the vinegar with one third its volume in sugar and microwaving to combine was, as it were, All Good. And there was a tiny amount of salting and peppering, but not enough so as to offend the NeoRomans.

For a final flavor kick, I put about two tablespoons of sesame seeds on foil and put it under the broiler on high for about four minutes, just to toast them for salad purposes. And you know what? I thought it was superawesome. Our resident Tartologist thought it even better the next day (today).

So maybe I'm crossing roads that aren't meant to be crossed. The point is, make do with what you have, be aware of subtle (or blatant) differences, and always smile like a killer when someone else takes their first bite.

Balsamic vinegar is a flavored vinegar traditionally served with italian meals and is rumored to have originated sometime during the middle ages.

There are only two true regions where Balsamic vinegar is made today, Modena and Reggio Emilia. If the Balsamic you're buying says its from somewhere else, I wouldn't get it!

Since vinegars are very closely related to wines, their age makes a distinct impact on their flavor and consistency. Younger Balsamics (1-5 yrs) will be very thin and have a light sweet taste with the acidity of a red wine vinegar, whilst more aged Balsamics (12-80+ yrs) will be thicker and have a consistency more akin to a syrup. Also, older Balsamic vinegars usually lose most of their acidity in lieu of a higher sugar content and much sweeter, smoother taste. Some people even consider these as an after dinner finish, they pour a small glass of a usually 12-18yr Balsamic and drink it straight, somewhat like Port wine is used!

Recommended Usages

Balsamic vinegar (depending on the age) can be used for every course of every meal of the day, if you so desire. The younger varieties lend themselves well to breakfast dishes, soups, salads, as a dipping sauce for breads, pastas, chicken, portobello mushrooms... well, you get the idea. The older of the Balsamic family can be used for any of the above, but is also good as a topping for ice cream, desserts (Panna Cotta!), cupcakes, or as an after dinner finish (as above).