Kim’s beautiful salad – October 2008

In late October of last year, Barbara Fenzl of Les Gourmettes Cooking School celebrated the school’s 25^th anniversary. As her proud assistants at the school, Kim Howard and I threw an Anniversary Brunch and invited all the teachers who had taught there those past 25 years. I prepared the breakfast side of the meal and Kim handled the lunch side. One of the salads Kim made was so delicious and so beautiful to look at, that I am going to make a version of it for a brunch I am doing this Wednesday. Kim’s salad was inspired by a Tyler Florence recipe…and since this recipe was inspired by Kim – I think that it is about 2 degrees of separation from the original…right?

There is an ingredient in the vinaigrette that you may or may not have in your pantry.  Sherry vinegar is one of my favorites, it lends a unique and wonderful tone to dressings, it can be found at Cost Plus World Market. Both of these fabulous staples are worth adding to your inventory.  But if you need to substitute – use red wine vinegar in place of the sherry vinegar.
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It’s Football Season! Today is opening day and our Arizona Cardinals are at home vs. San Francisco. All I can say is, “GO CARDS!!!” Here are three quick and simple hors d’œuvres using buffalo mozzarella. Cow’s milk fresh mozzarella balls may be substituted. The Stacks can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature. If serving cold or at room temperature, use Belgium endive spears to serve the stacks on. If heating, the stacks will be placed on toasted baguette slices. An important thing to pay attention to when preparing this recipe is to try to buy zucchini and eggplant that are similar in size when cut into rounds. Instead of cutting a large ball of mozzarella, bocconcini (tiny little mozzarella balls) may be used. You’ll notice that the baguette, eggplant, and zucchini are all sliced on a diagonal. This gives you a much large piece and better shape to work with, rather than cutting straight down into rounds.

The Prosciutto Picks couldn’t be easier or more convenient. They also may be served cold or at room temperature. Finally, the Meatballs are simply delicious! I like to roll half of the Parmesan cheese before baking and leave half plain, it makes for a more interesting presentation on the platter. You may dollop with purchased Marinara or with the same yummy tomato-pesto sauce used on the Parmesan Chicken recipe from the September 9 post from a couple of days ago.

buffalo mozzarella hor d’oeuvre platter

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mise en place ingredients

Mise en place (pronounced miz ahn plas) literally “putting in place” is a French phrase defined as “everything in place.” As in, set up and ready to go. I can’t imagine relaxing and enjoying cooking without using this important technique, whether with entertaining or everyday meals. For instance, with this dish, I peeled, chopped, and measured everything in the morning, then later when it was time to make dinner, I pull it out of the refrigerator (on a plate covered with plastic wrap) and just “throw it together.”  For a large party or holiday, I prep everything and place the items in snack and sandwich-size zip-lock bags a day or two ahead. If there are several dishes with many different components, just clip them together with either office clips or bag clips and label what dish the ingredients are for.

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Photo courtesy of Jim Striebich of i’mjustsayin on flickr
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Roasted Asparagus and Haricot Vert Soup with Gremolata

Whenever I have too many vegetables hanging out in the fridge, I make soup. I love Costco and buy many of my fresh fruits and vegetables there because of the high quality and amazing prices. But there are usually just too many to get through before they begin to turn or spoil. Today I found half bags of asparagus and trimmed haricot verts (thinner and longer French green beans) in my produce drawer. With only two of us here for dinner now, I guarantee we’ll be having more soup, because I’m not ready or willing to give up my Costco runs!

The only fat present here is the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, so not only is this an economical and easy meal but healthy, to boot, with less than 5 grams of fat per serving! Roasting vegetables tossed with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper brings out their natural sweetness and intensifies the flavors. Additionally, it is topped with gremolata which is a minced herb condiment typically made of garlic, parsley, and lemon zest. Gremolata is the traditional accompaniment to the Italian braised veal shank, Ossobuco alla Milanese, and it makes a fresh light topping for a wide variety of other dishes, including this soup.
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Only 9 ingredients for Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Tomato-Pesto Sauce

Today’s date – 09/09/09, maybe not be as lucky as 07/07/07 was supposed to be, but it is cool just the same. So why not make dinner with only 9 ingredients tonight? We won’t be counting the true pantry staples of olive oil, salt, and pepper, or even the red pepper flakes, since you get a little packet of those delivered right to your front door every time you get delivery pizza! Subtract those out, and you’ve got a nine-ingredient dinner for a family of four. If you’re like me, you even have some of this already in the freezer, pantry, or fridge. So run into the grocery store on the way home – jump into the “Express 10 Item or Less” lane and you are ready to cook!
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I hope you had a relaxing Labor Day Weekend! Part of mine was spent in the desert sun and the other in the cool pines of Flagstaff. I returned Connor to school and on the drive back this morning, I was trying to decide about dinner.

Cruising up and down the winding mountains between there and here, I was thinking about my kids and about my pregnancies, of all things! Expecting was wonderful, but pregnancy itself, for me, was not! Let’s just say (without getting too graphic) that I knew I was pregnant, both times because I was suddenly so ill. There was no “morning sickness” for me… more like “every-single-waking-moment sickness, for the full 9 months!”

Amazing that I gave it a second try and had Connor! But of course, I thank God every day that I did! So anyhow, what does that have to do with Beef Stroganoff?

Well, it was one of the few things I absolutely craved, and wasn’t sickened by the smell of, and was somehow able to keep down, at least for a while. Understandably, I made it at least twice a week. Somehow my darling Marissa claims that she can’t stand it. But I would dare her to not love this version.

Back then I used stew meat and white mushrooms. I believe my gourmet daughter would appreciate the beef tenderloin and the wild mushrooms used here.

For the wild mushrooms, I use 1 1/2 ounce shiitake (the most affordable) and only a 1/2 ounce mix of other varieties. Instead of sour cream, I love to use really great Greek yogurt. It’s hard to find anything better than the Fage brand, even their non-fat (0%) is amazingly delicious, and best of all, you can find it at Trader Joe’s! So enjoy, pregnant or not!

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Happy Labor Day

Photo taken at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens by Linda Hopkins

Not only is Connor home today, but Marissa also made a “drive-by” visit. In other words, she arrived home late in the afternoon, hung out with us until dinner, dressed and is out for the night, will come home sometime in the early morning hours, let’s say 1 or 2 AM, and sleep in her comfy bed, get up and go to the lake with friends, then drive back to Tucson for school on Tuesday. (I know, that is a record for a run-on sentence, even for me!) This is why I call it the “drive-by”… just time enough to eat and run. But hey, when your kids come home, it’s all good… all fair… I’m just happy to see them!

Plus dessert is in order when kids are home! Since it’s Labor Day Weekend – it doesn’t get much better than strawberries and shortcakes and whipped cream!

Now for a quick food processor tip. The dough for the shortcakes is very soft and is a bit difficult to get off the processor blade. The next time you have a messy blade, first get most of the contents out of the processor bowl, then just put the processor back together and turn it on for a second or two. The centrifugal force will basically clean off the blade and push all the contents onto the sides of the bowl. Remove the blade and use a rubber spatula to clean out the bowl. See pictures below.

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My next-door neighbor, Michael Young started a golf tournament fundraiser for Phoenix Children’s Hospital four years ago when he was only 11 years old!

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