Celery Root Rémoulade

Growing up in Napa, getting deli made salad’s from Vallergas Market was always a special treat to me. I was in love with their celery ‘roulle salad, that I recall once getting my hands on the recipe for when it came in one of their mailers, but I must not have stuck it in my cookbook, as it’s no where to be found. I also clipped along the way, the following recipe it was from a magazine, although I have no idea which one.


Celery Root Rémoulade
(from The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters)
1 medium celery root (about 1 lb)
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp crème fraîche
2 tsp Dijon mustard
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Cut away all the brown skin and small roots from the celery root. Rinse. With a sharp knife or mandoline, cut the celery root into 1/8-inch thick slices. Cut the slices into thin matchstick-size pieces. (This is called a julienne of celery root.) Toss with salt and white wine vinegar.Mix remaining ingredients together in a small bowl. Stir well. Pour over the celery root and toss to coat. Taste for salt and acid. The salad can be served right away or refrigerated for up to a day.

Variations
Add other raw julienned root vegetables, such as rutabaga, carrot, or radish, to the salad.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley, chervil, or mint.
Toss together with a rocket salad.
For the crème fraîche, substitute 1 egg yolk and whisk in 3 tablespoons olive oil.

To note – I made one of the variations, instead of the crème fraîche, I did the substitution of yolk and oil.

Chief Commentator said: He liked it, it would go great with fried chicken or fish and chips as a lighter side, and was reminiscent of coleslaw in that aspect to him. He enjoyed the lightness and was easy to eat with a fantastic crunch, although he seems to think most people wouldn’t really like it, because it does have a ‘root veggie’ taste to it.

I have to add, if you are going to make a lot of celery root dishes, buy a mandolin and use that. I love celery root, and I would make it much more often if I had one, because cutting the root up by hand is a royal pain.

Stuffed Potatoes

Before I even get to the recipe, I had a little hurry up and rush moment... that was my own doing. I was in a hurry to get dinner on the table and time everything with the steak, and a very hungry boyfriend, so instead of twice baking these, I had a deviation, and well, made them Stuffed Mashed Potatoes.

The recipe comes from a newspaper clipping. it says it serves 6, I have no idea where or how or when the paper printed this, or which paper for that matter. Here it goes:

Stuffed Potatoes

3 large baking potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt to taste

1/4 pound bacon

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

paprika to taste

Wash the potatoes and drain. Place in a bowl and rub with olive oil and salt

place the potatoes directly on an oven rack in the center of the oven, bake at 375 for 1 hour.

Remove and allow to cool until the potatoes can be handled

*see what happens when you don't allow yourself time for this step? I instead grabbed them off the rack, chopped them using a fork and knive into large chunks and dunked them in the mixing bowl... skins and all. (can't get rid of that yummy salted skin now can I?

fry the bacon until crisp. drain on paper towels, chops the bacon coarsely and set aside.

Cut the cooked potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides, elaving about 1/4 inch of potato attached to the skins.

set skins aside.

beat the potatoe with the bacon, scallions and half the butter. Add the sour cream, worcestershire and salt and pepper. Refill the skins and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle the tops with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with papricka.

With the oven on broil, bake the potatoes in the center of the oven until nicely browned and hot thorughout - about 10-15 mins.

Ok, here is my diversion. Beat everything together until chunky yumminess. Scoop onto plates, and top with a little paprika for color. Done!

Update: 9/13/10 - the left overs were made into potatoe pancakes this morning, and turned out delish with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Chief commentator said: Loved the rustic flavors and the chunky texture (He didn't know they were supposed to still look like baked spuds) Good flavbors, the ingredients compliment each other well. He loved the chunky consistency.

This one is getting an It was OK, not a New Favorite, only because we aren't really potatoe people, so for us to make potatoes more than once a month, is hard pressed. It's also getting a moderate rating, because you actually HAVE to read the instructions. my bad.

Tomato Crostini

To lighten up dinner as of late, I've been skipping making a starch, and instead making some sort of fresh appetizer type dish as a side dish instead. Also, with the plethora of tomatoes that have arrived at our household, I've been searching out every Tomatoe centered dish I could find. This one paired perfectly with the Caesar Salad I wanted to make, because I could use the crostini's for the croutons, by breaking them up. Two dishes with one dish effort, not that's something to rave about.

This one is from Marie Claire Magazine. The article is by Gillian Duffy and the title of there recipes are "food in 15 minutes" everything is bery picnic related, so I'm guessing it was a summer issue. As for what year? I have no idea. As a side note, the Chief Commentator, seems to enjoy the Marie Claire Recipes that have popped up in the making, I am wondering if his palate is aligned with their chef. Part of me is thinking I should get myself another subscription.

anywho, onto the recipe...

Tomato Crostini (serves 4)

French Baguette, cut on the bias into 16 1/2" thick slices

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb unpeeled vine-ripened tomatoes, cut in 1/4" dice

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped basil leaves

1 tablespoong capers, drained

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 preheat oven to 400.

2 brush both sides of bread with oil, bake 10 minutes or until golden-eged and crisp. cool. packed in plastic bas, crostini stay crisp for several days. (like they stick around that long)

3 Place tomatoes in a bowl, stir in garlic, basil and capers reamining oil, salt and pepper.

Allow guests to spoon topping onto crostini themselves.

ok - here is a note from me to you. You may be saying, the capers have enough salt, I don't want to use any. use some. use good sea salt, and sprinkle directly on tomatoes and give them a stir, salt helps release the natural juices and flavors of the tomatoes, and makes this dish all the more yummy.

Also - this is just my comment, usually I toss in a little balsamic vinegar into my bruschetta dishes... this one has the capers. I think i'm love the capers.

Cheif Commentators review: Would like some sorta cheese involved. Motz or Parmesean, he also would have liked bigger bread for the crostini's, because it was delicious, and it seemed like he spent a lot of time, making his food nibbles.

Note - some of the crostini's became the croutons for my Caesar. Perfect Caesar croutons.

Chick pea Salad

I love chick peas. Its one of my favorite foods. I however don’t like canned ones. You can use them in the recipe if you like, but it’s so easy to make them from dry… why would you do it any other way?

Chick pea salad
19oz chick peas
1 large ball mozzarella, cut into ½ in chunks
small can black olives – halved
small red onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomatoe, chopped
2 tablespoons basil (fresh)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
5 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste.

Combine first 6 ingredients, then whisk the last items together, and stir until well combined

Easy to make.

Chief commentator says: “it’s like a salad bar in a pizza place sans lettuce” I think it tastes more like macaroni salad but without the macaroni and mayo..

Overall comments: it was OK.

I wonder if it will taste better day 2.

Lamb Roast with Polenta and Vegetables with red wine reduction

I am not 100% certain the where about of how this recipe came to be, except to say that it’s written in my handwriting, and stuck in my notebook. I have made it several times in the past, occasionally I use Lamb Shank and cook it in a pan rather than a roast because it’s quicker. That being said…

What I am 100% certain about, is when you finish making this recipe, the meat is fall apart tender, and mouth wateringly delicious.

Lamb Roast with Polenta and Vegetables with red wine reduction

Lamb:
3-4 lb Lamb Roast, Tied
2 Meyer lemons, sliced
3-4 fresh sprigs of each
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage
Sea Salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
Hint of olive oil

Place lamb in Dutch Oven rub olive oil over skin and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lay sliced lemons around and on top of lamb & sprinkle sprigs of herbs over top. Cover and place in Preheated oven at 325 degrees for 20 minutes per pound.

Vegetables with red wine reduction:
1 large red bell pepper - diced
3 cloves garlic - minced
2 shallots - minced
2 carrots - diced
4 stalks celery –diced
1 sprig rosemary
3 sprig Thyme
Handful of sage
28 oz of diced tomatoes (I used canned)
2 cups wine (red)
2 Tablespoons dry chicken bouillon
Tablespoon of Olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Cracked black pepper (to taste)
¼ cup Reserve of juice from lamb pan

Heat Oil in pan and add Shallots and Garlic, sweat until clear.
Add in all other veggies (except tomatoes) and turn a few times to coat. Slowly add tomatoes and wine. Bring to boil. Sprinkle in bouillon & Stirl to mix well.

Chop fresh herbs and blend into sauce, turn to simmer. Stirring occasionally, leave to simmer with lid on until Lamb is ready from oven. After removing lamb from oven, stir in ¼ cup juices from pan and the 2 Tablespoons vinegar. Bring back to boil for 2-3 minutes stirring continuously.

Polenta:
1 cup dry polenta
2 cups H2o
1 Tab chicken bouillon
2 cups milk
2 Tab butter
¼ cup grated parmesan

In pot, mix polenta, bouillon, butter and water, bring to a boil, while whisking constantly, add milk and continue to whisk until cooked.

Let the lamb rest for a few minutes while you finish up the sauce (with the juices from the pan) and make the polenta.

Spoon some of the reduction sauce onto the plate, top with the lamb and a little lemon slice. Place the polenta on the side, so the juices of the sauce also run into the polenta.

Serve with lots of crusty French bread for sopping up the amazing sauce.

Technical stuff: makes 6 servings
Difficulty: Moderate, there are more steps here than most of my recipies, but well worth it
Served with: it's a complete meal but you could easily just serve the polenta
Reheat Well?: Yup. yup. yup.
Comments: Cheif Commentators words: could easily eat it at least twice a month, if not once a week. The polenta was GREAT and reheated well with left over sauce. Spice of the sauce really highlighted the polenta. Comfort food for a cold day, without being overly heavy.

yup. it's a keeper.

Asparagus with Mustard Dressing

To start out with such a knock your socks recipe I was a little afraid that my second go round might prove failure. I am happy to report that was not the case.

For those of you know me, you know my love affair with mustard. This has been a long standing love affair, which explains why there are countless recipes in my book with mustard as an ingredient.

I don’t know exactly where I got this one, but I have a pretty good idea it was either Cosmo, or YM or Seventeen back when they had recipes in them (maybe they still do?) judging from the typeset.

Asparagus with Mustard Dressing

4lbs Fresh asparagus, peeled and ends trimmed
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper.

No more than 4 hours before serving, fill a large saucepan ¾ full with water. Bring to a boil, add asparagus, and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain. Arrange on a serving platter. To make dressing, combine remaining ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shade vigorously, and pour over asparagus just before serving. Makes 8-10 servings.

Ok – so first off, I made ½ the recipe because there were two of us, but I wasn’t serving a starch. Secondly, although I did follow the recipe, I prefer my asparagus steamed in a couple of inches of water resting on a steamer. This method seemed to make the stalks less crunchy then I like them in texture.

Technical stuff:
Makes 8-10 servings (original portions) as a side dish

Difficulty: Easy

Time : Less than 15 minutes

Served with (beverage): Nothing. But would have been good with summer ice tea with lemon.

Reheat Well?: Didn't try it.

Served with: Parchment Fish (see next blog)

Comments: liked it. Matched the fish well. Light, Zesty sauce.
Things I'd do differently next time: I would use my typical cooking method, but keep sauce the same.

The Technical stuff part deux

Because Blogger doesn't let me put that many tags in one post!

General Tag words: (these I'm starting out with, we may add more later)

Type of dish: Entree; Appetizer; Salad; Side dish; Dessert; Beverage

Main Ingredients: Chicken; Beef; Lamb; Fish; Pasta; Veggies; Cheese;

Special Equiptment: Crockpot; Deep fryer;