Cooking in Pajamas

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!!!!!!

When was the last time you grilled a slice of watermelon?  What?  NEVER!  Oh man...you are missing out!  Who knew you could grill watermelon?  Fire up the grill and slice up the seedless watermelon, because we are celebrating the official ending of summer with a 5 Ingredient Fix Grilled Watermelon Salad!

Not only is this salad DELICIOUS, but you will impress anyone you serve this salad to...I promise you!  If you have someone you have been wanting to impress...this is the dish to do it with.  You need absolutely no special cooking skills....just a willingness to try something new!

Sometimes, August in Atlanta and cooking dinner do not mix.  I just cannot stand the thought of turning on the oven, let alone, eating anything hot.  That is when the fixins' of a Cobb Salad are handy to have around (or if not, a quick run to the air conditioned supermarket is never a problem for me).  I love this salad!  There are many thoughts on what is the "right" dressing to serve with a Cobb salad....Thousand Island, Italian, Ranch, Blue Cheese....  Who cares?  I offer all of the above options, and let my family decide how to dress their own individual portion.  I offer a bottle of Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese dressing, I make an easy vinaigrette (see my previous entry for the recipe) that I offer up, and I whip up my 30 second Thousand Island dressing "recipe".  Everyone is happy!

Cobb Salad

8 slices bacon, cooked until crisp *

3 hard boiled eggs

1 head iceberg lettuce**

3 c. chopped, cooked chicken meat***

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4 c. blue cheese or gorgonzola, crumbled

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

3 green onions, chopped

dressing of your choice

* I prepare the bacon early in the day, and hide it from the family, so they won't eat it before I am ready to use it

** use your favorite kind of lettuce here, I usually use a pre-bagged blend

*** buy a rotisserie chicken from the store

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl, except dressing, and serve.

For the Thousand Island Dressing: mix together equal parts mayo and ketchup, and season with Worchestire sauce to taste.

Have you read the ingredients on the back of a bottle of salad dressing lately?  If you haven't, you may want to go and check it out.  There are dozens of chemicals in that bottle that allow the dressing to have a long shelf life.  Not to mention the saturated fat, the sugar, and the artificial flavors.  Have you ever noticed that a bottle of salad dressing never really spoils?   Unopened, a bottle of salad dressing will last for years in your pantry.  When you use bottled dressing, you are taking a fresh, healthy salad, and turning it into something you really don't want to put into your body.

I was once eating dinner at someone's house (I will protect the name of my host, for obvious reasons).  This was in 2005.  I was being served an undressed salad, with a variety of bottled salad dressings to choose from.  Most of the options were fat free bottled dressings, which taste like melted plastic to me, and I would never eat. I reached for the one bottle of 'regular' dressing that was being offered.  It was a bottle of Thousand Island by Kraft.  Not my favorite type of dressing , but it would do.  I took the bottle in my hand, and noticed that it did not look like the Kraft Thousand Island Dressing that is currently on the grocery store shelves.  I opened the bottle, and noticed some dry, crusty bits along the top of the bottle, but the dressing inside seemed okay, so I poured it over my salad.  Something was bothering me about the bottle.  It looked very old.  I decided to nonchalantly look at the expiration date on the bottle of dressing.  It was April 1996!!!!! Nine years ago!!!!! Was I grossed out?  Yes!  Was the dressing spoiled?  Not really....  I probably could have eaten it, and been fine, but think about it.  That dressing was almost a decade old!  Other than wine, should we ever be ingesting anything that old?

Does this blob of dressing even look appealing?

Making your own vinaigrette takes one minute.  The traditional ratio of a vinaigrette is 2 parts oil to 1 part acid.

You can use any oil ( like extra virgin olive oil or EVOO), and any acid (vinegars are the most popular, but lemon juice works well too).

Then the fun part begins where you can add any flavoring you like.....mustard, dried herbs, fresh herbs, garlic, chopped onions, honey, soy sauce, sesame seeds....I could go on and on.

You are only limited by what you have in your pantry.  I throw all of my ingredients in an old 3 oz. jar, shake it really hard, and I have my dressing.  You could use a food processor too, but I am lazy, and hate getting mine dirty for just a little bit of dressing.  Don't feel like the 2:1 ratio is set in stone.  Make your dressing and taste it.  If it is too tart, add some more oil and seasonings.  Don't worry what your ratio ends up as.  Just be concerned that your salad tastes good!  Here are two of my favorite vinaigrettes.  They are not really even recipes.  Feel free to use them as starting points to create your own vinaigrette.  I will save my creamy dressings for another day, but I also think they are much better made from scratch.  My blue cheese dressing is out of this world, and takes 5 minutes to make!

Vinaigrette #1

2 parts EVOO

1 part seasoned rice wine vinegar (available by the soy sauce)

salt and pepper

Dijon mustard

dried thyme

Throw all ingredients in a small jar, and mix well.

Vinaigrette #2 - this is my fat free dressing, but it is so flavorful, no one ever misses the fat

1 part balsamic vinegar

1 part mustard (any type of mustard... spicy, Dijon, horseradish, whatever you are in the mood for)

Splenda to taste

Place all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined.

Cafe Green Salad - #3

courtesy of Melissa d'Arabian

Mustard Vinaigrette:

1 garlic clove, sliced in 1/2

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Small splash soy sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups mixed greens, the darker the better (not iceberg)

Rub the inside of a large wooden bowl with the garlic clove and then either discard it or save it for another use. Put the mustard in the bowl and whisk in the balsamic vinegar and soy sauce (a French secret!) vigorously for about 10 seconds to get a creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drizzle in the olive oil as slowly as possible with 1 hand while whisking as quickly as possible with the other hand to emulsify. Lay the salad greens on top of the dressing and toss just before serving.

You didn't think I forgot about Part Two of Date Night In Paris, did you?  Of course not...I have been so busy trying new recipes, that I keep procrastinating finishing this post!  This tart was one of my favorite recipes from our class at the Viking Cooking School.  For the rest of the recipes, see "Date Night in Paris - Part One".

The Tomato Tart is TO DIE FOR!  I have been craving it ever since I first tasted it.  It may look fancy and complicated, but I promise you, it is not.  It will be worth the small time investment it will take you to make this impressive looking dish.

The salad we made is light, simple and refreshing.  I think the key to this salad is to use the best quality, freshest ingredients you can find.  FYI..the English translation of this salad is Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese!  Sometimes a dish just sounds more elegant in French.

Savory Tomato Tart (Tarte Tomate)

2 T. creme fraiche

2 tsp. thinly sliced chives, plus extra for garnish

1 # ripe Roma tomatoes (6 - 8 medium tomatoes)

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T. EVOO

1/4 c. packed light brown sugar

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1 medium shallot, finely minced

1 sheet puff pastry

2 T. prepared olive tapenade

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine creme fraiche and chives in a small mixing bowl.  Whisk to combine and refrigerate until ready to use.

Core the tomatoes and slice lengthwise into quarter.  Gently squeeze each wedge to remove the seeds.

Combine the tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic and EVOO in a medium mixing bowl; toss gently

to mix all ingredients and thoroughly coat the tomatoes.  Set aside.

Combine brown sugar, vinegar, and shallots in a 7 inch, ovenproof saute pan and place over med-high heat.

Bring to the boil, and simmer until reduced by half and the mixture is dark and syrupy, about 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Arrange the tomato wedges, cut side down, in a tight, concentric circle, in the saute pan (see photo below).  Fill the center of the circle with 2 or 3 of the wedges.  Pour any remaining marinade over the tomatoes.  This will be the top of the tart, so make a pretty pattern.

Return the pan to medium heat and cook until the tomatoes have released their juices and the juices have evaporated, about 6 to 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Cut a 9 inch circle from the puff pastry sheet.  Place the pastry over the top of the tomatoes and tuck the edges of the pastry down into the pan.  Place the pan in the oven and bake until the pastry is a deep, golden brown, about 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes.  To unmold the tart, place a plate over the pan, and invert the plate and pan in a single motion.  Lift the pan off of the tart.

To serve, cut the tart into wedges and top with a dollop of the chive creme fraiche and another dollop or two of the tapenade.  Garnish with chive sprigs.

Salad with Walnut Vinaigrette and Warm Chevre

Vinaigrette:

2 T. raspberry vinegar

1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. honey

4 T. EVOO

2 T. walnut oil

1 T. chopped flat leaf parsley

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Chevre:

1/3 c. toasted walnuts

2 tsp. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2 tsp. thinly sliced fresh chives

1 4oz. log frsh chevre cheese (goat cheese)

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Salad:

5 c. mixed baby salad greens

1/2 c. finely julienned red onion (about 1/4 onion)

1/2 c. toasted walnuts

1 c. ripe raspberries or strawberries *

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

For Vinaigrette:  Combine the vinegar, mustard and honey in a small mixing bowl;  whisk to combine.  Add the oils in a slow, staedy stream, whisking continuously, until the vinaigrette is creamy and emulsified.  Add the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

For Chevre:  Preheat oven to 400.  Place the walnuts in the bowl of a food processor; pulse until the walnuts are finely chopped.  Don't over process, or the walnuts will become mealy.  Add herbs and pulse just to combine.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Place a piece of plastic wrap on the work surface.  Pour the walnut mixture onto the plastic wrap.  Roll the chevre in the nut mixture, then twist the ends tightly to help the nuts adhere to the cheese.  Place in the fridge at least 10 minutes.  Slice the chevre into 4 evenly sliced rounds, about 3/4 inch thick.  Place the rounds on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake about 5 minutes.

For Salad:  Combine salad greens, onions, walnuts and berries and toss gently to mix.  Add just enough dressing to lightly coat each leaf.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Mound the salad on chilled salad plates and gently place a round of warm chevre on top of each salad and serve right away.

*  If berries are not in season, substitute 3/4 c. dried cranberries or dried cherries.

I was ravenously hungry at lunchtime today.  My trainer, Maureen, kicked my butt from 10:30 to 11:30 this morning.  Then, I had to run to the grocery store, and pick up a few items for dinner tonight.  There is nothing worse than being in the grocery store, while hungry!  I just wanted to pick up something quick and hearty for lunch, that would be quick to prepare, but I didn't want anything hot, because it is 95 degrees outside.  I got in one of my moods, where I started aimlessly wandering around the store, trying to decide what to get for lunch, and nothing looked good.  I was getting desperate, heading for the prepackaged sushi (yuck!), when I walked by the deli counter and saw the pancetta.  I immediately knew what I would make for lunch.  A Pancetta and Parmesan Salad!  Pancetta is often called Italian bacon, but unlike American bacon, it is not smoked.  It is cured with salt, pepper and spices, and then dried for a few months.   If you have never tried it, this would be a great introduction to it.  Almost all grocery store deli counters carry pancetta.  Of course, if you can't find pancetta, this recipe works fine with regular bacon.

This is a salad I have been making for years.  It is from a cookbook, by Nigella Lawson, called "Nigella Bites".  It is simple, delicious, filling and I can have it in my salad bowl in 10 minutes flat.  If you are watching you carbs (which I am not), it is a low carb lunch.  There are really no exact measurements of any ingredients for this salad.  Just go with what sounds good to you.

Pancetta and Parmesan Salad

1/4 # panchetta, cut into small cubes

garlic oil

balsamic vinegar, or red wine vinegar

baby spinach leaves or arugula

about 2 T. Dijon mustard

fresh ground pepper, to taste

freshly shaved Parmesan cheese

In a small saute pan, brown the pancetta, with a little garlic oil.

When the pancetta is crispy and brown, remove it from the pan, and let it drain on a paper towel. Leave the pancetta dripping and remaining oil in the saute pan, and turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, place arugula, or spinach leaves in a bowl.  Shave the desired amount of Parmesan cheese, with a vegetable peeler, directly onto greens in the bowl.

To make the dressing, add 2 T. of Dijon to the hot oil in the pan.  STEP BACK, because this is going to splatter!  Stir with a whisk or wooden spoon.  When mustard has dissolved, add in a couple of splashes of vinegar (to taste).

Stir well.  While dressing is still nice and warm, pour over salad and toss well.  Add drained pancetta, and some freshly ground pepper to taste.  Toss one more time and then eat!