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it's not easy being green
time for your salad bowl to turn over a new leaf
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june 7th 2005
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Greetings!
living in hollywood, I'm accustomed to the sight of
restaurants filled with starving starlets raking leaves
around their plates and pretending to be satisfied by
the experience
me?
I like a salad that you can sink your teeth into; some
meat, some cheese, some chunks of
vegetables...maybe a little starch
and lots of colour
having a good portion of my readers sitting in front of
their heaters as they read this, I tried to put
together a few salads which have equal appeal
served hot or cold, served in a warm or chilly climate
wherever you are, please enjoy!
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golden beets, cucumber and rare beef salad
with a horseradish creme fraiche dressing
in portland recently, I was served a
salad similar to this: cucumber and beets with
marscapone and horseradish. something
was missing
it was like settling in for a great
concert, seeing the band come on, hearing the intro
to your favourite song and then having someone
come on and make apologies for the lead
singer...some excuse about a dodgy throat
well, I felt the same, from the first forkful, I was
waiting for a gorgeous morsel of rare beef
and some dill
and a little more punch in the dressing
here's what I did:
roast the beets: there's more flavour in beets if you
douse them in a little good olive oil and balsamic
vinegar, some salt and pepper, cover them with foil
and bake them in a moderate oven for 1 1/2-2 hours.
this can be done a day ahead. don't peel them when
you cook them, the skin literally slides off them after
they've been cooked. if you can't find golden beets,
purple ones will be fine
the beef: you can roast it or grill it. I bought a sexy
slab of kosher ribeye. put a little hole in the plastic
wrapper and poured an entire can of beer into the
tray. left it in the fridge overnight, drained
the beer and threw it onto a hot, hot grill, 4 mins
each side, then let it sit covered in foil for 5 minutes.
this was the melt-in-your-mouth-iest steak that I've
had in a long, long time. sliced into strips and
begging to be daubed in the horseradish dressing
speaking of horseradish, the marscapone pulled the
punch. I opted for creme fraiche; let the tartness of
the creme match the fire of the horseradish
so, mix 1/2 cup of creme fraiche with 4 tablespoons
of horseradish. taste...add more horseradish or creme
to
your taste. line the bottom of a serving platter with
this dressing
slice the beets and peeled cucumber into 1/4 inch
rounds. build teetering towers by placing alternate
rounds of beets and cucumber on top of the
horseradish
place some strips of rare beef around the vegetable
stacks
sprinkle good salt and pepper over everything, grab
your scissors and give a bunch of dill a good haircut
over the plate, then drizzle a little olive oil over it all
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crispy potato, roast beet and rare beef salad
the cold weather version
if you want a hot salad to warm you
through after a cold, wintry day, then tuck into this
dish
it's the same as the salad above, just ditch the
cucumber for some hot, crispy spuds
you can cook the spuds in less time than it takes to
cook the steak
prick about 4 medium spuds (unpeeled) with a fork,
toss them in the microwave for 5 minutes. heat
enough olive oil in a non-stick skillet to cover the
bottom, when the spuds come out of
the microwave, slice them in into 1/4 inch rounds
and put them into the skillet. some of the rounds
might crumble a bit, toss them into the skillet too,
they'll be just as tasty. cover the skillet and let 'em
fry. turn them after about 4 minutes. cover and fry
the other side,
remove them from the skillet and sprinkle with salt
make the horseradish dressing as above. build stacks
of potatoes and beets, as above, slice the steak and
place it with the vegetable stacks, as above and
give the dill another haircut
perfect with beer
better with a glass of claret
and a bowl of piping hot mini yorkshire puds!
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vicki's deconstructed sausage, bean and escarole salad
with to-die-for crispy asiago 'taters
my friend, vicki, makes a killer dish with sweet italian
sausage, escarole greens and cannellini beans. it's
neither a soup nor a stew...just a bowl of good stuff
I broke it down into a salad
wash and dry a head of escarole or frisee lettuce,
tear it apart and line a salad bowl with the tender
green tendrils
grill 4-6 sweet italian sausages
drain and rinse a can of cannellini beans
place the sliced sausage and beans on top of the
leaves. add some hot roasted garlic bulbs and crispy
asiago potatoes
drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, season
with salt and pepper
whole roasted garlic? for a date??
relax. chop the top 1/4 inch off the pointed end of 3-
4 full garlic bulbs. leave the papery skin on...it's
fine... place them in a pan and drizzle with oil,
balsamic vinegar and some rosemary. cover with foil
and bake for 1/2-2 hrs in a moderate oven (I baked
the beets at the same time. same dish). these little
babies will be tame as kittens. I threw them into the
salad bowl and let people eat the bulbs at their own
discretion (there didn't seem to be too much
discretion at my table!)
and the crispy asiago 'taters? see below!
(and don't forget some crunchy ciabatta)
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crispy asiago 'taters
fat (check) starch (check) salt (check)...the perfect PMS side order!
so simple, so fast:
prick about 6 medium sized potatoes (unpeeled) with
a fork...I used the purple ones, purely for
effect...toss them in the microwave and cook on
high for 5 minutes
heat some olive oil in a non stick skillet (enough oil to
over the bottom of the skillet). let it get hot
slice the potatoes in half lengthways and place them
cut side down into the hot oil. cover and let them fry
for 5 minutes
use a vegetable peeler to slice about a dozen slices
of fresh asiago (not available all times of the
year...you could use any sharp cheese for these)
remove the skillet from the heat, remove the cover
and turn the potatoes over. place a strip of asiago
on the top of each potato and, whilst waiting for the
cheese to melt into the crispy surface, sprinkle the
pan with salt, covering all of the 'taters
you could serve these with steak,
sausages...anything, really. I threw them into my
salad bowl with the sausage, beans, escarole and
roasted garlic...or serve them with some good
balsamic vinegar and beer
seriously...they will transport you to a higher plane
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tandoori chicken salad with mango and basil
a bollywood epic in a salad bowl
I have been making this salad for years. in the
summer, I serve it all chilled with a dish of
pappadoms. in winter, I add the chicken straight from
the grill and serve it over a bed of hot basmati rice
there is, for me, something magic that happens when
fresh mango and basil collide on the tastebuds...see
for yourself
mix:1/2 cup tandoori paste with 1/2 cup plain
yoghurt. mix to combine and then pour this marinade
over sliced chicken breasts / thighs (one breast or
two thighs per person). this should sit for at least 4
hours
heat the grill or oven. drain the excess marinade from
the chicken pieces and grill them for 5 minutes each
side, or bake them for 15-20 minutes. the thickness
of the chicken will determine the cooking time
meanwhile, slice 2 cups of romaine lettuce; 2
mangoes; about 1 cup of chopped cucumber. add 1
cup of blanched sugar snap peas; 1 cup of sliced bell
peppers and a good cupful of fresh basil leaves. you
may add some cilantro if you like
place all of these ingredients into a salad bowl or, for
individual portions, serve in romaine lettuce leaves.
add the chicken strips on top
make the dressing by mashing the flesh of one ripe
mango with 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce and the juice
of 1/2 lime
pour the dressing over the salad and serve with
pappadoms or rice
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spargel; the corrected text
white asparagus revisited
last month, I sent out a recipe for white asparagus
and meyer lemon salad. I waxed lyrical about how
the world, especially the germans, goes mad
for 'spargel season'...well, I got a serious reprimand
(from a german, of course) for cheating and cooking
the precious spears in the microwave...here's the
way it should be done:
Hi Mannix,
I always find your ideas amusing, but the main thing
is, that your recipes work very
well and that they give me new ideas as well.
BUT ........ when I read about cooking asparagus in
the microwave........ NO NO
NO!!!! As well as there is no alternative to softly
boiling asparagus in lightly
salted water with a spoon of sugar, a few drops of
lemon juice and a generous knob
of butter (10-12 mins.), you deprive yourself of the
tastiest asparagus stock to
make asparagus soup, based on a blond roux, a hint
of nutmeg, some light cream and
a little lemon juice, with some leftover pieces of
asparagus!
I�m not sure what white asparagus is like in the
States, but our German types (yes,
we have quite a few different types, from very mild
to slighty bitter) need to be
peeled from the top to the bottom, cut off the
woody
ends approx 2-3 cm, DO NOT thow
away peel etc, but barely cover with cold water, add
salt, sugar, lemon juice,
splash of white wine, hint of nutmeg, dash of white
pepper,knob of butter and let
simmer for 20-30 mins. strain, cool and reserve. Use
to to cook your peeled
asparagus, which for the time you have wrapped in a
damp kitchen towel and have put
in the fridge. The stock freezes beautifully. At the
end of the asparagus season
(end of June) we get a glut of quite cheap asparagus
from Spain ,Italy, Greece and
of course our own. That is when I make the ultimate
asparagus soup: take the above
stock, cut the peeled asparagus into short pieces,
(cook the heads seperately) add to
stock with the above mentioned ingredients, simmer
10-15 mins until very soft, pur�e
, check taste, add cream (lots), serve hot with
reserved heads for garnish.
OK, so no more microwaving asparagus!
And really, 10 - 12 mins is nothing. You need that
time to set the table
I promise that I followed these instructions when
cooking the asparagus for round 2. then I placed the
spears on top of a bed of endive (the outer leaves
kept whole, the inner leaves julienned); cannellini
beans; yellow tomatoes; walnuts and shavings of
sotto cenere (cows milk cheese studded with black
truffle)
the dressing was good olive oil, black truffle salt and
some fresh cracked pepper
I stand corrected. the asparagus was unaccountably
superior. no microwave was utilised in the
preparation of this dish. promise!
*will let you know how the soup turns out!
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the strawberry shortcake
a happy ending
there is a new 'date' loaded up on the website...I
have received more feedback on it than any other
date featured so far. it all revolves around the
perfect strawberry shortcake. the fuss, though, is
over my little helper in the kitchen. click the pic on
the right for the shortcake recipe, click the ad on the
left for the date...
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