The Potato Salad

Oh Easter!  While ham is the traditional center piece of the traditional family meal, we take the opportunity to pig out in our own way.  See, at this house, warm weather, a celebratory day, and some time for lingering and hanging out lake side means just one thing:  ribs!  These are not your boil then bake ribs, nor your grill and add some bottled sauce at the end ribs.  Oh no.  These are the gently prepped and rubbed with secret spices the day before, then smoked low and slow on the smoker for at least 4 hours with the patience of Job, while gently misting mop sauce on the works of art.  Yes, those ribs.  And I was to make the sides.

Unlike Thanksgiving, which is all about the sides, this was all about the ribs.  Potato salad is a must, but while I go for anything but the traditional style, the rest of my clan, and most importantly for this day the BBQer himself, likes that regular stuff.

Side story:  Lately, I’ve become a big follower of the More Than Burnt Toast blog where it feels like a conversation with a wonderful, grounded friend.  Nice. The most recent post was for the Barefoot Bloggers group who make and share recipes by or based on Ina Garten, aka The Barefoot Contessa.  These folk really share the love and admiration for her work.  So, trusting the blogosphere once again, I went to Ina for the perfect recipe.  And yes … Bingo!

Sources:

• Potatoes from Arata Fruits
• Dill from Chan’s

New Potato Salad

Ingredients:

3 pounds small red potatoes

Kosher salt

1 cup good mayonnaise

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

Directions:

1.  Place the potatoes and 2 tablespoons of salt in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a knife. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then place the colander with the potatoes over the empty pot and cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel. Allow the potatoes to steam for 15 to 20 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, dill, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Set aside.

3.  When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them into quarters or halves, depending on their size. Place half of the the cut potatoes in a large bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, pour enough dressing over them to moisten. Transfer to a plate.  Repeat with remaining potatoes, and again, transfer to the plate. (Doing this in batches prevents the potatoes from losing their shape.)

4.  Put the plate of lightly dressed potatoes in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cooled.   Add the celery and red onion, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. (As the salad sits, you may need to add more dressing.)  Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Notes:

* The steaming technique worked like a charm!

*  Actually, I used smallish red potatoes because that was what I found at Arata farm stand.

*  It took everything in me not to muck this up by adding a bit of dill pickle, some hard boiled egg, then just keep the additions going with some red bell  pepper and anything else that seemed to fit at the moment.  But, this turned out perfect … all about the potatoes and nothing else to distract it.

*  Naturally, a nice green salad would accompany this.  My “go to” vinagrette is a bit sweet to serve with ribs, so I tried another Barefoot Contessa recipe and its a true keeper,  simple enough to let the mixed greens shine.

Friends and Family Caesar Salad

After a few days of glorious sunshine, I was so ready to set aside the soup pot and dig out the big ol’ salad bowl. Salad as a main course made its 2009 debut! As you well know, the only low fat ingredient in a Caesar salad is the lettuce, but hey, bikini season is still months away.

This is called a Friends and Family recipe because you should honestly only eat it with friends and family. The garlic and other strong flavors in this salad will, um, make your presence known. Best enjoyed with others who are indulging with you.

About the garlic and anchovies … you can reduce the amount of garlic if you must (but that begs the question of why), and even if you are one of those people who have never eaten an anchovy and are convinced that they are just about the grossest thing that could ever be added to a salad, do give it a go at least once. There are more than the 7 anchovies listed in the ingredients in one of those little tins, and honestly, I’ve been known to up that anchovy count by nearly 50% cuz they just MAKE the salad. Trust me here people!

Homemade croûtons are perfect with this salad. Just cube some bread (grab one of those 2 packs of bread at Costco, enjoy one loaf fresh and use the other for croûtons!), toss with a bit of olive oil, and bake at 300 degrees for about 40 minutes, stirring half way through the baking.

Salad ingredients:

Romaine, torn into pieces

Croutons

Fresh lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan, grated or shaved

Caesar Dressing

Dressing ingredients:

4 eggs

4 TBS roughly chopped garlic

7 anchovy fillets

1 1/2 tsp Coleman’s dry mustard

2 TBS lemon juice

1 TBS Worcestershire sauce

Dash of hot sauce (I prefer Crystal)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 TBS red wine vinegar

1 3/4 cups olive oil (approximate)

Dressing directions:

1. Add everything except the vinegar and oil to a blender. Process at high speed for 20 seconds. Add vinegar and process for another 20 seconds.

2. With the blender on low speed, slowly drizzle in the oil. The mixture will turn more creamy in texture, and the little whirlpool in the center will shrink in size. When that whirlpool disappears altogether, stop adding oil.

3. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

To assemble the salad, toss the lettuce with just enough Caesar dressing to coat lightly. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, black pepper, croûtons, and Parmesan and mix gently.

Notes:

• I’ve been making this for years now, and have never had a problem with the raw eggs.
• The amount of oil required actually depends on the temperature. Warmer days require more oil than colder days.

Fall Salad with Pear, Toasted Walnuts, and Gorgonzola

Yes, it has taken quite awhile to get these recipes posted.  Know how March and April are just crazy for tax accountants?  Well, its like that in October for my job.  Sigh. Here we go ….

This is a perfect Fall salad, with the sweetness of the pears, salty and savory flavors from the Gorgonzola, and the toasty crunch of the walnuts.  If you’re looking for a nice salad that you can toss together earlier in the day and dress at the last minute, this is a beauty.  Just one more reason it is perfect for a Kaleidoscope dinner. 

Ingredients:

butter lettuce or red leaf lettuce, torn into pieces

1 pear, cored and diced

1/3 cup walnuts roughly chopped

Gorgonzola

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS wine vinegar

1 TBS grainy mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Toast walnuts in the oven or in a skillet on the stove until just darkening.

2.  Lightly mix the lettuce, pear, and walnuts in a serving bowl.

3.  Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper.  Gently pour dressing over the salad and mix.

4.  Sprinkle lightly with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese.

Notes:

* Select a nice deep green lettuce for this salad.  Don’t use iceberg or those anemic looking hearts of romaine here; crunch from lettuce just doesn’t belong here.

*  Go easy with the cheese.  Remember, this is about balance.  If there is too much cheese, it gets a mushy feeling when you eat it, and that is not the goal here.

*  For mixing salad dressings, I actually just pour all of the ingredients into a small canning jar, screw on the lid, and shake ‘er on up.  Easy and kinda fun!

Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salad

Do you have a “go to” recipe or two that you can just pull out of your hat at any time? This little ditty is one of my “go to” recipes. I do cringe a bit at even calling it a recipe as it is really more of a gentle guide. For me, these items are always at the ready in the fridge and pantry, making it all the easier to whip together quickly. I hesitate to label this as a salad, and it is probably more often served as a chunky dip with corn tortilla chips, and has even been used as a side dish. My friend J has been asking me to post this one ever since our families devoured a bowl of it on her back deck recently. So, here you go!

First, the guidelines to match the preparation in the photo, then I’ll give you the inside scoop on the easy variations and how to avoid going overboard.

One key here is the grilled corn. While there are several methods for grilling corn – smoky grill or gas, husks on or off, high heat or low – for this dish, I always go for the grilled on a gas grill, husks off, high heat, about 3 minutes between turns of the corn. It does make some of the corn a bit charred, but it is really good that way. And I know that you can butter your corn, fold the husks back up, tie it with a bit of twine and toss it on the grill, but butter is not what you are looking for here. At this time of year I tend to grill up an extra cob or 2 when I’m cooking dinner, as I find it any extras a perfect snack the next day. Also, with the temperatures here over 100 the past few days, our stove and oven are totally off limits for cooking!

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cobs grilled corn, kernels cut from the cob

1 large or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, cubed

juice of 1 lime

olive oil (optional)

salt

pepper

Directions:

1. Toss the beans and corn into a bowl. Top with tomatoes and add salt and pepper to taste. This dish is best with a little salt on the tomatoes, but I’m not a fan of salted black beans, hence the order of added ingredients. Mix.

2. Add avocado, lime juice, and just a bit of olive oil (if desired). Mix gently.

3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Variations:

Always use 1 can of black beans to 2 cobs of grilled corn.

From that point, select any 2 (just 2, really, I’ve tried more and the basic flavors get lost and you will end up more with an odd succotash kind of thing)

• 1 large tomato
• 1 avocado
• handful of chopped cilantro
• 3 or so sliced green onions, including greens

My favorite? black beans, grilled corn, avocado, and cilantro, munched down with tortilla chips. Yum!

Thai Beef and Grape Tomato Salad

Tomatoes abound at this time of year, and I’ve become addicted to the low-acid types lately. Just wash, slice, and slurp them up. Yum! The current edition of Cooking Light has a whole section dedicated to heirloom tomatoes, and I may just be cooking right through them all. For starters, I gravitated to this recipe because 1) dinner salads are perfect during this week of scorching heat, and 2) it uses fish sauce which I love. OK, if you’re new to fish sauce, this may not make sense, but really, you’ve gotta give it a try. During the summer, it is great in a marinade and then in the winter adding a bit to a savory soup adds a perfect layer of flavor. You just use the smallest of amounts, but it adds essential flavors. Even loving the stuff, I only go through about one bottle per year, but it makes me feel so experimental. (Yes, millions of people in the world keep this as a pantry staple, but let me hold on to my little day dream here.)

In adapting the recipe, I substituted another type of cherry or grape tomato for the requested green grape tomatoes. Why? Stopping by Lon’s on the way home, I just took what they had. With those tomatoes having been picked just that day, I figured that more than makes up for the ingredient substitution. Also, I added some baby bok choy as that is just been my habit this summer. It has both the deep green leaves and the sweet / crunchy textures that I love in salads. And while the original recipe calls for romaine lettuce, I honestly took this opportunity to use up the last bits of about 3 heads of different types of lettuce in the fridge.

Marinade:

6 TBS brown sugar

2 TBS ginger, finely minced

2 TBS low-sodium soy sauce

2 TBS Thai fish sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced

Dressing:

1 TBS brown sugar

2 TBS fresh line juice

2 TBS low-sodium soy sauce

2 TBS peanut oil

2 tsp chile paste with garlic

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 tsp Thai fish sauce

Salad:

1 1/2 pound flank steak

3 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

1 baby bok choy, chopped

2 3/4 cups halved grape tomatoes

3/4 cup radishes, thinly sliced

1/2 cup cucumber, thinly sliced

1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced

2 TBS basil, chopped

2 TBS cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. In the morning, put all of the marinade ingredients in a large zip lock bag, squish them around, then add the flank steak. Pop it in the fridge for the day.

2. In the evening, grill the steak on for about 4 minutes on each side, remove from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes, then slice thinly across the grain.

3. Combine dressing ingredients and set aside.

4. Toss the veggies and herbs in a bowl, add the dressing, and mix gently.

5. Top with those delicious flank steak slices and serve.