I wish I’d invented this salad.

*sigh*

I thought I’d tried just about every combination of some sort of lettuce + some sort of vinaigrette imaginable. Then I read about this salad, served for 60-plus years at the Canlis Restuarant, an old school steakhouse in Seattle, in The New York Times a couple of months ago, and I was intrigued.

I loved that it wasn’t something new. That it called for lots of fresh oregano and mint and Romano, a cheese I adore but often push aside in favor of its fancier (and pricier) formaggi, Parmigiano Reggiano. And perhaps the most simple of all vinaigrettes – lemon juice, olive oil, and a coddled egg to hold it together. Unlike a Caesar or a spinach salad with hot bacon dressing, two go-to salads for meaty meals, this salad’s light, lemony notes are a perfect foil to whatever else you’ve decided to put on the plate.

I’ve already made it twice.

It is great with a perfectly seared Angus tenderloin steak (which I’ve now also had twice). It would be lovely on its own.

I’ve decided this is going to be my summer of 2013 salad, the perfect accompaniment to sunsets against the Jemez mountains. More on that later.

Canlis Salad

Makes 4 servings

Adapted from a recipe from Canlis restaurant in Seattle in The New York Times

I swapped out mesclun for Romaine lettuce, which the original recipe calls for, and found that I prefer seeing the different colors and textures on the plate. I also omitted the croutons and reduced the amount of Romano by two-thirds, creating a lighter version than the original.

• 4 slices of thick-cut bacon
• 5 ounces of mesclun
• a small handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
• a small handful of oregano, leaves removed
• about 1 dozen cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup of grated Romano, plus a bit more for serving
• juice of 1 lemon
• ⅓ cup of olive oil
• 1 egg
• sea salt and pepper

1. Fry your bacon tip it’s crispy and lay out the strips on a paper towel to drain. When cool, crumble the bacon.

2. Put the mesclun, mint, oregano, cherry tomatoes, green onions, and Romano in a large bowl. Add the bacon to this, too.

3. Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil and pop a coffee mug filled with water into the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. Put your egg into a deep bowl or cup. When the water’s hot, pour it over your egg and set the timer for 60 seconds. This will quickly coddle your egg. Now simply crack the egg into the lemon juice and olive oil and whisk again. Add a pinch of sea salt and pepper and taste. Pour as much dressing as needed over the salad and toss. Serve right away with a bit more grated Romano on top. Yummy.

]]> http://cowgirlchef.com/2013/04/28/canlis-salad/feed/ 0 http://cowgirlchef.com/2013/02/28/saturday-night-salad/ http://cowgirlchef.com/2013/02/28/saturday-night-salad/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2013 04:58:19 +0000 Cowgirl Chef http://cowgirlchef.com/?p=8676

I’m a planner in lots of areas of my life, but dinner’s not always one of them. Instead, I try to keep the pantry stocked with things that I know I like and can do different things with, and most of the time, this works just fine.

Like this salad, a variation on My Big Fat French Salad in the cookbook, an idea born out of the brillllliant idea of putting roasted potatoes on a salad which I had for the first time years ago at the bistro Le Relais Gascon in Montmartre with my friend Suzanne.

I wasn’t even thinking about salads or anything beyond getting a kilo of coffee beans at the little roaster at the market at Ternes not far from where I live. I love this little coffee roaster. The gleaming fire engine red roaster takes up nearly the whole shop, and you have to step sideways to get to the cash register. It’s all about the coffee here, and they have one roast, the Orientale, that I really like – super-dark, glossy beans that are strong without being too coarse or bitter.

On another note, I’m trying to imagine what I might do with the coffee bean sacks, which they sell here for 2 euros apiece. I haven’t bought any yet, but I do think they’d make for a very interesting chair cover. Maybe.

Anyway, once I had my coffee beans in hand, my head already started to clear and I started to imagine dinner when I saw broccoli on sale at the veggie seller adjacent to the coffee place. I may have mentioned that I am the only one in the apartment who loves broccoli, but that doesn’t stop me from buying it and making it all the time.

That’s how it always begins. One thing leads me in, then that leads to another…in this case, some beautiful potatoes, onions, leeks, garlic, and a big box of salad greens that for 2 euros I couldn’t resist. Oh, and little cherry tomatoes, which yes, I know are not in season, but they looked so pretty, I just had to give them a try.

Still no idea about dinner beyond broccoli but I now had a whole sack of veggies to tote home on the metro.

I decided to roast the potatoes and see where that would take me, and when I reached into the fridge to grab the Dijon so I could make a vinaigrette, I saw the last bit of the smoked salmon that X had brought home the day before, some seriously wonderful stuff that claimed on the package to have smoked the salmon “the Russian way,” meaning that it was smoked over a wood fire and not in an oven. Like barbecue, I guess. Anyway, this salmon wasn’t salty as so much smoked salmon can be. It was lightly smoked, moist and, well, perfect.

So there I was, with dinner.

Which is often how things go, right? You set off in one direction to do one thing and end up on a completely different path.

Yes, sometimes a salad is just a salad, but often what I end up putting on the table is a reflection of how I try to live my life. The not-knowing exactly how things will turn out is the fun of it all.

Saturday Night Salad

Makes 2 dinner-size salads

• 1 pound/500 grams of red-skinned potatoes, chopped into bite-size pieces
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• sea salt and pepper
• 5.30 ounces/200 grams of mixed salad greens
• about 7 ounces/200 grams of smoked salmon, chopped into small pieces
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• E-Z French vinaigrette, recipe here

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Toss your potatoes onto the cookie sheet along with with the olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper, and make sure they’re evenly coated. Bake for 30-45 minutes, flipping the potatoes over to the other side about halfway through so they’ll brown on both sides.

3. Put all of your salad greens in a large bowl and toss with a few tablespoons of E-Z French Vinaigrette — less is more because you just want these delicate leaves lightly coated with the vinaigrette. Divide this between two dinner plates and top with some of the potatoes, half of the cherry tomatoes and the salmon. Voilà! — easy enough for a TV night or fancy enough for a casual dinner party.

Cowgirl Tip: Warm up any leftover potatoes the next night and serve with a couple of fried eggs on top. Pass the Valentina.

I may have mentioned my lack of enthusiasm for apples before, but in the last few months, I’ve discovered that I actually really like them in savory things like salads and soups. So I’ve noticed that instead of rushing right past them in the fruit area, I’ve started to buy apples every now and then, and try to imagine what I can do with them besides adding them to the juicer along with the carrots, beets, and oranges, which is usually the only place they end up in my world.

The other night, I had some fennel in the fridge and I thought the two would pair nicely together, along with a splash of white balsamic vinegar (it’s wonderful) and some olive oil..and oh how right I was!

I intended to also use endive in this salad, but mine had gone south. Next time, I’m throwing some in. Either way, this is a wonderful way to use up your Granny Smith apples, whether you think you’re an apple fan or not.

Winter White Salad

Makes 4 servings

• 1 bulb of fennel, chopped
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and thinly sliced
• olive oil
• white balsamic vinegar
• sea salt
• about ¼ cup/25 grams of grated Parmesan cheese
• a handful of walnuts, toasted then roughly chopped

Put your chopped fennel and apple slices in a salad bowl and toss with a drizzle of the olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and, a pinch of sea salt. Taste for seasonings. Add the Parmesan, toss again, and right before serving, sprinkle the walnuts on top.

It’s been cold, below-freezing cold, in Dallas lately, and when I have little time to make dinner, like the other day, after I spent the afternoon with Anne Jones at Latte Da Dairy for an upcoming story for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s INDULGE (more on that later), my mind goes straight to pasta.

It’s warming, easy, quick…and oh so dee-lish!

Especially when you’ve got great spicy sausage like this one from Jimmy’s Food Store in Dallas.

A little background: I started going to Jimmy’s about 15 years ago when I was obsessed with all things Italian, and was making my own ravioli, Tuscan bread, gnocchi, and just about anything else I could put together that reminded me of Florence, where I was spending lots of time back then.

Jimmy’s had it all – the Oreo-like cookies with hazelnut creme insides I’d eat in the afternoons with my cappuccino while studying Italian – along with Baci candies, big cans of San Marzano tomatoes, the best Parmesan in town, and lots of homemade sausages. Still does.

So at 5 p.m. the other day, with still-numb fingers from standing outside and admiring Anne’s herd of floppy-eared goats at her Flower Mound ranch, I drove straight to Jimmy’s for some sausage, cheese, and tomatoes. Pasta was in my sights.

Dinner was on the table less than an hour later. But more than that, as I’ve often complained about the overwhelming size of grocery stores back in the States, it’s nice to be reminded that there are also places like Jimmy’s — small, family-run, and filled with fresh and wonderful products, a lot of them directly imported from Italy, and many, too, made right here in Texas.

Penne with Spicy Italian Sausage and Kale

Makes 4 dinner-size servings

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil (divided)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 pound/500 grams of spicy Italian sausage (in Dallas, I like the bulk sausage at Jimmy’s)
• 1 (28-ounce/794 gram) can of whole San Marzano tomatoes
• sea salt and pepper
• 6 ounces/170 grams of crimini mushrooms, cut into thick slices
• 10 ounces/454 grams penne pasta
• a half bunch of kale leaves, chopped into bite-size pieces
• lots of grated fresh Pecorino Romano cheese

1. Put 2 tablespoons of your olive oil along with the minced garlic in a medium saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Let the garlic cook a minute or two, and when you can smell the garlic’s aroma, toss in your ground Italian sausage and cook it through. While the sausage is cooking, tear up the tomatoes with your hands and add them to the pot. Let this cook for 30 minutes (which is what I did), or a bit longer if you want the sauce to thicken a little more.

2. Add the other 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet, toss in the mushrooms and cook till browned. Set these aside.

3. Put the pasta water onto boil with a big pinch of sea salt, and when it’s ready, toss in your penne and set the timer as directed (8 minutes or thereabouts usually does it for al dente). While the pasta’s cooking, add the mushrooms and raw kale to the sauce and stir this up.

4. Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce, give it a few stirs so the sauce oozes into the little penne pasta, and serve right away. Pass the freshly grated Pecorino Romano — the perfect for a cold winter’s night.

This salad brings together some of my favorite concepts: sticking with what’s in season, using leftovers in a new way, and Asian flavors, which I’m always in the mood for.

I made these Sesame tuna brochettes for a recent Cowgirl Chef column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on holiday appetizers, and ended up with leftover tuna, which turned out to be a very good thing. Truth be told, I don’t eat fresh tuna that often, simply because it’s usually so expensive, but every now and then, when it’s super-fresh and available, I think it’s worth the splurge.

Especially when everything else is inexpensive, as is the case with this salad. Juicy tangerines, toasted almonds, peppery arugula, and an easy-to-put-together vinaigrette.

Like so many recipes that I come up with that originate from leftovers, this one’s getting five stars – it’s fabulous, if I do say so myself, and bonus points for me for using what I’ve got in the fridge. Yay!

Sesame Tuna Salad

Makes 2 dinner-size servings

about ½ pound of Sesame Tuna Brochette leftovers (see recipe in FWST)
2 big handfuls of arugula
⅓ cup of almond slivers, toasted
2 tangerines, peeled and pieces separated
1 tablespoon of finely chopped shallot
1 teaspoon of finely chopped ginger
½ of a serrano chile, chopped (seeds included)
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
¼ cup of rice wine vinegar (I like the one with garlic)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
⅓ cup of grapeseed oil

1. Slice the tuna brochette cubes into 1/4-inch pieces and toss with the arugula, almonds, and tangerines.
2. Whisk together the shallot, ginger, serrano chile, cilantro, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, and grapeseed oil. Let rest for 10 minutes, then taste for seasonings. Drizzle some of the vinaigrette over the salad, toss again, and serve.

I had all of these ideas of baking a few weeks ago, but those plans were dashed when I caught yet another (!) awful cold thing that just about knocked me senseless.

Thank goodness for “Downton Abbey” on Netflix and my mom’s beef and vegetable soup, both of which worked all sorts of magic and finally got me back on my feet, just in time for Christmas.

But not in time to do a whole lot of baking, which frankly, I was no longer in the mood for. But I wanted to make something, something that I’d not made before…and it needed to be quick. And easy.

I had already seen a recipe for the classic Mexican cookie, Polvorones, on the Saveur magazine website, and my mom’s friend Connie had made something similar, so I was already thinking about pecans. And shortbread.

Then I found a recipe for pecan shortbread cookie bars on Martha Stewart’s website, which I liked because there was no rolling, cutting, or chilling the dough involved. The recipe itself I ditched; I kept the idea of the bar cookie and the 8 X 8 pan. Instead I patched together this recipe from various sources, and came up with this, a pecan-centric shortbread cookie drizzled with a melted Hershey bar, which took less than a half-hour to make.

The perfect afternoon coffee cookie, for the holidays or anytime. Good to give, good to keep. Brown sugar, pecans, butter – what’s not to like?!

Now I’m off to do a little shopping…before it’s too late.

Ho ho ho and Bonnes Fêtes, everyone!

Super-Quick Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Makes 2 dozen

• ½ cup/55 grams of pecans, toasted and finely ground
• 1 cup/125 grams of flour
• ¼ teaspoon of sea salt
• 1 stick/½ cup/125 grams of butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup/110 grams of brown sugar
• ½ cup/55 grams of pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
• 2 ounces/60 grams of Hershey’s chocolate

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C and line an 8 X 8-inch (20 X 20 cm) pan with foil.

2. Whisk together the pecans, sea salt, and flour and set aside.

3. In your mixer, beat the softened butter with the brown sugar until fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Fold in your pecan pieces.

4. Press the dough with your hands into the pan, making sure to mash it all the way into the corners and evenly along the sides. Prick the dough all over with a fork and slide into the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until it’s nice and brown. Let the shortbread cool for 5 minutes, then remove it from the pan and cut it into 24 cookies with a serrated knife. Let the cookies cool on a rack.

5. Melt the Hershey’s chocolate over a double-boiler (or if you’re super careful, over very low heat in a heavy small skillet, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn), and when it melts, drizzle it over the cooled cookies. Let them cool completely before eating.

Some things don’t need a whole lot of help.

I could eat broccoli just as it is, but I like it best cut in little florets – like popcorn, they are! — and steamed. It just takes a few minutes. Which is such a bonus especially this time of year, when time disappears faster than my daily afternoon triple-shot latte.

But maybe it’s just me. Last year at this same time, when I was editing my book, I woke up each day breathless, and felt like I was sprinting to the finish…which I actually was. Two days before Christmas the manuscript was ready to be shipped to the printer, and my holidays could officially begin.

This year is a bit more relaxed. I’m back in Texas, teaching cooking classes and signing books, and spending long overdue time with my Mom and friends…and making tortilla chips a part of my daily diet. Naturellement.

Which brings me to broccoli, which I served on the side with some salmon the other night, and it was perfect. Figured I could use a tortilla chip break since my new jeans were already starting to feel like they were getting tight.

Cranberries and broccoli? Why not? ‘Tis the season, after all, and these Central Market cranberries were even better — dried, but still plump, making them much more impactful than the shriveled up ones that you usually find. Pecans because I’m in Texas, and Parmesan’s always a good thing to add to broccoli if you ask me.

A great super-quick and easy side for the holidays, which is great the next day, straight from the fridge…if you happen to have any leftover (I didn’t).

Broccoli with Cranberries, Pecans and Parmesan

Makes 4 servings

• 2 large heads of broccoli, florets removed (about 4 cups)
• a small handful of dried cranberries
• a small handful of pecans, toasted
• about 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan
• 1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about 1 tablespoon)
• sea salt and pepper

1. Put your steamer basket in the bottom of a medium saucepan along with about 1/2 cup of water. Put on the lid and turn the heat to high. When the water boils and the broccoli begins to steam, it’ll only take a few minutes. Pour your broccoli into a large bowl.

2. Add the cranberries, pecans, lemon juice, Parmesan, sea salt and pepper, and toss. Taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cowgirl Tip: Serve this with a poached egg on top for a light lunch or dinner.

I had these extra already grated carrots in my fridge, leftover from a carrot cake bake-a-thon, and saw something called “carrot hummus” in one of my French cooking magazines, and I thought, what a fantastic idea!

And so timely, right?

So off I went to the stinky Franprix for a small can of cannellini beans, which was all I needed, turns out, to make one of the easiest and best batches of hummus I’ve ever thrown together. I had some green chile leftover from I can’t remember what, and tossed them in there, too, because with cilantro and a bit of cumin already in the mix, this just seemed to make sense.

Would be better, naturallement, with fresh roasted Hatch. But I’m sure you already knew that.

Now I’m wondering what other things I can mix into hummus, all sneaky-like, for those who don’t like certain things. I may just start calling this “bean dip,” and leave it at that.

Fritos, anyone?

Carrot-Green Chile Hummus

Makes about 2 cups

• 1 cup of finely chopped or grated carrots
• 1 14-ounce/400 gram can of canellini beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ teaspoon of cumin
• a handful of cilantro
• 1 tablespoon of grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons of chopped green chile (use freshly roasted Hatch green chiles if you can get your hands on them)
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon of cayenne (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of lime juice
• a pinch of salt

Toss everything into your small food processor and pulse till it’s a nice smooth puree. Let rest for an hour or so before serving.

I made a version of this a couple of weeks ago when I came home from Brussels about 9 at night, and was starving. X suggested pizza, and in fact, left to go down the street to fetch one for himself. I was in the mood for something lighter, but figured I’d  just be scrambling up an egg, my go-to default dinner when it’s late and I’m starving.

Mais non, y’all — I opened up the veggie drawer and discovered a half-eaten bag of baby spinach, and remembered how much I love the yolk-plus-vinaigrette combo, so dinner suddenly became something much more interesting and elegant – and just as quick to make as a scrambled egg. I put some water onto boil, poached an egg, quickly made a vinaigrette, and threw it all together about ten minutes.

So when I was at the Casino the other day, I decided that I needed to buy spinach and roquette (because for some reason I usually only buy one and not the other) in case I had another night like that one.

Which, turns out, I did recently. This time, I poached two eggs for the salad, and threw in some toasted pecans and curls of a young Comté that X brought home the day before. You could use Manchego, Brebis, or Parmesan. Or skip the cheese altogether. It really doesn’t matter. But it does add a little something, and it does look pretty, doesn’t it?

I tossed the salad with a molasses vinaigrette, and that was that. Dinner, again, in less time than it takes to scroll through Pinterest. Which I just may do now.

The point of this rambling story is this: if you’ve got eggs, then you’ve got dinner. And if you’ve got spinach and eggs, then you’re on your way to a great Frenchy bistro-style salad, and that’s always a fun thing to eat, wherever you are.

Nothing in the Fridge Salad

Makes 2 dinner-size salads

• 4 eggs
• 1 6-ounce/170 gram bag of spinach
• a handful of pecans, toasted
• a few curls of Comté, Gruyère or Swiss cheese
• Molasses Vinaigrette, recipe follows

1. Put a pot of about 4 inches of salty water onto boil, and when it bubbles vigorously, turn it down to a simmer. Now you’re ready to poach your eggs. 
Crack your eggs one by one into a small bowl and oh so gently lower into this the simmering water, letting the egg slide out completely. Do this with the other eggs, if they’ll all fit, and set the timer for 2 minutes. When the buzzer sounds, remove each of the eggs and place them gently on a paper towel to drain.

2. Toss your spinach in a large bowl with a good drizzle of the Molasses Vinaigrette and divide between two plates. Top with two eggs each, sprinkle with pecans, add your Comté curls, and dinner is served. Yummy!

Basil-Molasses Vinaigrette

Makes about 1/3 cup

• 2 tablespoons of finely chopped shallots
• 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon of molasses
• 2 large basil leaves, chopped
• sea salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons of grapeseed oil

Put your shallots, sherry vinegar, grainy mustard, molasses, chopped basil, and a pinch of salt and pepper in a jam jar and give it a good shake. Let it rest for about 10 minutes, add the oil, and shake again. Taste for seasonings.

I love traveling, don’t get me wrong. But when I’m on the road (or plane, or boat, as the case was most recently), it doesn’t take long until I miss my own cooking. Anything, really. Just something I’ve made in my kitchen. I’ve always been like this. The longer I’m away, the greater the chances you’ll find me talking to the chef wherever I happen to be, or to anyone who’ll talk about food, and hopefully be able to share my enthusiasm.

As odd as it may sound, what I like to do to relax from a day of cooking is quite often just that…to get right back into the kitchen. To wind down from a catering gig that required three solid days of cooking, I decided to make croissants for the first time. It was hot, it was July, and they were a complete disaster. But I couldn’t wait to get in there and give them a try, even though I was dead dog tired.

Naturally, when I returned home from 11 days of being away from Paris, on assignment in both Spain and Morocco (more on that later), I dashed right into my kitchen, even though I’d hardly slept the night before, and decided to make a tart crust so I could make a spinach tart the next day. That same afternoon, I went to Lebanese traiteur nearby and bought some hummus; to the Moroccan grocer down the street for pita; and to the Monoprix for arugula and tomatoes, because for some reason I was in the mood for this: pita nachos.

Don’t ask me where my strange cravings come from, but I used to make a version of this — just doctored-up hummus on crispy pitas with tomatoes and arugula — all the time when I lived in Dallas. And I guess this easy-to-throw-together concoction somewhere along the way became comfort food to me.

I’m still a bit tired from all of that reading on the beach and all of those perfect 85-degree days (sigh), but I’m thrilled to be back in Paris again, where it’s gray and overcast and quite blustery and fall-like.

My favorite time of year. It feels good to be home.

Pita Nachos

Makes 4 servings

12 ounces/360 grams of store-bought hummus

5 ounces/140 grams of grilled artichokes in oil, drained

1 fat chipotle chile (in adobo)

4 large pitas, quartered

about 15 cherry tomatoes, quartered

4 handfuls of arugula

1. Put the hummus, artichoke hearts, and chipotle into your baby food processor and pulse a few times till it’s pretty well mixed. Transfer into a container and keep in the fridge for a half-hour or so.

2. Make your nachos: Pop the pita quarters into your toaster till they’re slightly crisp. Slather them with as much smoky artichoke hummus as you’d like, add a few tomatoes, and arrange these on your plate. Top with a handful of arugula and serve.