Nicoise Salad

I had never heard of this fancy French salad until a couple years ago when my Uncle Dug made it for my mom and myself. I was suspicious, because lets face it, I'm not the fanciest of people.

But after the first bite I was pleasantly surprised, it is light, bright, and fresh.

I was totally impressed.  I never thought I could make something so pretty and fancy.

Now, probably 3 years later, I did it. 

I made my first Nicoise salad, thanks to this blog forcing me out of my comfort zone. 

And although it would not be authentic according to the french, as they used NO cooked vegetables, I think it was a home run.  

If I can do it, you can too...just TRY!

ENJOY!

Salmon Nicoise Salad

Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

12 oz (4-5) red new potatoes

8oz green beans, trimmed

2 skinless salmon fillets (each about 8oz)

2 heads Boston lettuce

4 plum tomatoes

3 large eggs, hard-cooked

1 medium red onion

1 jar or tin anchovy fillets, drained (optional)

1/4 cup kalamata olives

Dijon Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Dijon Vinaigrette

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 T Dijon mustard

S&P

1/4 cup olive oil

In a medium bowl, whisk the juice, mustard, 1/2 tsp salt, and a pinch of pepper until combined.

Whisking constantly, add the olive oil in a steady stream; whisk until thickened and creamy. (Alternately shake all ingredients in a small jar). 

In a 5 qt pot, bring 1/2 in of water to boil; add salt and the potatoes.  Cover; cook, turning occasionally, until tender, 14-16 min. 

With a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a bowl.  Set aside to cool. 

Add the green beans to the pot of boiling water.  Cover; cook turning occasionally until tender, 4-6 min.  Remove with a slotted spoon.  Rinse under cool water, and set aside.

Fill a deep skillet with 1/4 in water.  Season the salmon on both sides with S&P; place in the skillet.  

Bring the water to a gentle simmer; cover, and cook until the salmon is opaque throughout, 10-12 min.  Transfer to a plate; flake with a fork and let cool.

While the salmon is cooking, tear lettuce into pieces, 

quarter the potatoes and tomatoes, peel and quarter the eggs and thinly slice the onion.

On a large platter (or 4 serving plates), arrange the lettuce, salmon, green beans, potatoes, eggs, tomatoes, onion, anchovies (if using) and olives.  Serve with the vinaigrette.

Foolproof Hard-Cooked Eggs

Place 4 eggs in a saucepan and add enough water to cover them by 1 inch.  Bring the water to a simmer over high heat.  Remove from the heat and cover and let stand for 12 min. 

Drain and rinse under cold running water.  

Logan Rating: ***

Mothers Day Breakfast

Happy Mothers Day to all of you wonderful Mothers out there.

I made myself a Mothers Day breakfast, even though Logan says my babies (Rylie the dog and Olive the cat) don't count as real babies.

Nonetheless I rewarded myself with a souffle pancake breakfast.

I saw these crazy looking things on the food network and I just had to try them.

I got the recipe here.  

It was fairly easy, but it is definitely a weekend morning breakfast.

If my mom were here I would have made her one too...make one for the special ladies in your life!  

ENJOY

Mama's Kitchen

Hello to all!

In honor of Mother's Day I am sharing a recipe from my Mother's kitchen. 

There were not many to choose from, sorry Mom, but I do think this recipe is fantastic. 

What you see above is the classic Minnesotan dish of Goulash. 

No that is not a type of footwear you wear in the rain, that is a classic hotdish that my mother served probably about once a week when I was growing up.

For those of you non-Minnesotans, a hotdish is any kind of casserole, or some would say its a 

Kick-Asserole!

I would say that is pretty accurate.

When I called my Mother to get this recipe, I realized exactly why she made this so often...her version has just 6 ingredients and consists of things that you usually have on hand in the pantry.

For the mere fact that I can't not leave well enough alone, I did add a few ingredients. 

I don't have a completed photo, because we took this to a supper club and we were running late.

However, if you make it, you will see the finish product with your very own eyes! 

ENJOY!

Mama Juju's Goulash

1lb ground beef

1 can tomato soup

1/2 jar marinara sauce

1/2 box elbow noodles

Salt

Pepper

My additions

1 onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

red pepper flakes to taste

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar

Brown the beef in a pan, drain most of the fat out, remove beef from pan and set aside.  Add garlic to the little bit of leftover beef grease, cook until fragrant, about 30 sec.  Add onion and pepper and cook until soft, about 5 min.  Return beef to the pan.  Add the tomato soup and marinara. 

Meanwhile cook noodles in a pot of salted water until al dente. 

Once noodles are cooked, add them to the beef mixture along with 1/4 cup cheese and red pepper flakes.

Mix thoroughly.

Transfer entire mixture to a baking dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake at 375 for about 15 min.

Any Day Egg

Look at that tasty egg!

On this rainy Saturday morning I wanted to share with you my breakfast.

A baked egg!

Quite possibly the easiest breakfast around, besides pouring cereal and milk into a bowl and digging in.

Butter a ramekin, crack one egg into said ramekin, sprinkle with a little bit of milk, S&P and hot sauce.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for as long as it takes for the whites to set, but still leaving the yolk runny.

I've yet to perfect the time, but I think its somewhere between 12-15 min. 

Serve with toast and of course a steamy cup of joe.

ENJOY!

PK

FRIES, not FRIED!!!

IT'S SUMMER!  

Do you know what that means?

We eat outside!

Or if you live in MT, you set the table outside, take pics of your food outside, and then proceed to bring everything inside once you realize the temperature is plummeting and it is no long Summer like.

Oh well, the food was still awesome!

So this is a Curry rubbed chicken served with parmesean steak fries,  know your drooling, or maybe its me.

Super easy, however if its too hot where you live you might not want to turn your oven on.

In that case, I think you could do all of this on a grill, you would just have to be creative with the fries, like putting a pan on the grill, can you do that? I don't know.  We don't have to worry about such things, the motto in MT is, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 min.  So I can usually find a time during any day that it is ok to turn on the oven.

Enough rambling...now COOK!

ENJOY

Curry Rub

4tsp curry powder

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp coarse salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients together.  Lamb would be a good choice for this indian-style rub.  Or try it on chicken and shrimp. Makes 10 tsp.  

(I would have never thought to put this on shrimp, but I'm definitely going to try it!)

Parmesan Steak Fries

3 large egg whites

coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

3 baking potatoes (8-10oz each)

1 1/4 cups grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 425.  In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk the egg whites with 1 tsp salt until frothy.

Cut each potato into 6 long spears; add to the egg whites, and turn to coat.

One at a time, lift the spears out of the egg whites, shaking off excess; working oer a plate, sprinkle with parm until coated (do not shake off excess).  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. (I didn't have any, it was really no big deal, just use a non stick baking sheet).

Bake, without turning, until the potatoes are fork-tender and golden brown, about 30 min. 

Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 4.

Logan Rating: ****

Asian Summer Slaw Salad

Is it slaw, is it salad, I think its a slaw salad.

I used broccoli slaw to make this delicious salad.

Have you heard of broccoli slaw, no??  Have you been living under a rock??

This stuff is awesome, you can make a salad, you can use it in stir fry, you can put it in an omelette.

The options are endless really.

Here I added chicken, mandarin oranges, scallions, water chestnuts and a Asian sesame ginger dressing.

Perfect summer salad!

ENJOY!

Stuffed Onions

What is a stuffed onion you say?  Well there it is!  I didn't know either, so don't feel bad.

In fact I have passed over this recipe countless time when planning meals, frankly I was afraid of it. 

I didn't know what it would be like, how can you make an onion a side dish?  

Well don't be afraid my faithful readers, stuffed onions are delightful!

Just like anything else that you put cheese and bacon in...how could it not be delish?!?

I served this stuffed onion with a  spicy paprika rubbed pork chop, which was also very tastey.

All in all this meal was a hit and you should make a stuffed onion and impress your husband, boyfriend, wife, family, children, etc....

ENJOY!

Stuffed Onions

4 large yellow onions, peeled and hollowed, insides chopped and reserved

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

4 slices bacon (4oz), cut crosswise into 1/2 in thick pieces

2 slices white sandwich bread, torn into small pieces

1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese (4 oz), plus more for sprinkling

2 T coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (I skipped this)

S&P

Preheat oven to 450.  Arrange onions in an 8 in baking dish, hollowed side up.

Pour chicken broth into dish, around onions.  Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.  Bake onions until tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 20 min.  Remove onions from baking dish, pour off liquid from dish, then return onions to the dish.

Meanwhile in a med skillet, cook bacon over med heat, stirring occasionally until crisp, 3-5 min. 

Add chopped onions; cook stirring often until golden brown, 10-15 min.

Remove from the heat; add bread, cheese and parsley.  Season with S&P; stir to combine.

Fill hollowed onions, with bread mixture pressing with back of spoon to pack tightly.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake, uncovered, until golden brown on top, 20-25 min. 

Serves 4.

Spicy Paprika Rub

4 tsp paprika

2 tsp coarse salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground all spice (I used nutmeg)

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients.

Because of paprika's strong taste, this rub is best paired with fattier foods, including salmon, skirt steak, pork loin and whole chicken.

YUM...you won't be sorry!

Makes 9 tsp.

Logan Rating: ****

Easter/Thai Steak Salad

HAPPY EASTER!

Since I have already eaten my fill of these

as well as these

and lastly these

I am all Easter'd out!

Therefore I share with you a Thai Steak Salad

about as far as I could get from Easter.

ENJOY!

This was a delicious salad.

I have actually made it before, but forgot to blog about it, or didn't take pictures, or was just down right lazy.

But who's keeping track, not me!

I made this when it was feeling spring-like here in MT.  And then of course it snowed...

I should have known, I should never trust MT weather.

One minute you can be sun bathing on your deck and the next you are catching snowflakes on your tongue.

So while I'm sure next week I'll be blogging about soups and hot dish, for now I am focusing on this bright springy salad that my taste buds LOVED!

The dressing/marinade does not look like a lot, but it goes a long way, just make sure you don't use it all up as the marinade.

Try this out and leave me a comment!  Hope you are all still out there!

Thai Steak Salad

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 T soy sauce

1 T sugar

1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

3 T vegetable oil

2 boneless rib-eye steaks (each 8oz and 3/4 in thick)

S&P

1/2 lb carrots (3-4 med)

1 medium head romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1 in ribbons

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped (totally makes this salad!)

Make marinade; in a med bowl, whisk together the lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and oil.  

Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper; place in a baking dish. Pour one quarter of the marinade over the steaks (reserve the rest): turn the steaks to coat.  Let them marinate up to 30 min.

In a large skillet, cook the steaks on med-high heat, turning once, 2-3 min per side for med-rare.  

Transfer to a cutting board; tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest, 5-10 min.  

Slice the steaks across the grain; halve the slices crosswise.  Transfer to a large bowl, and toss with reserved marinade.

With a vegetable peeler, cut the carrots into long ribbons.  Add to steak in the bowl, along with lettuce and mint: toss to combine. 

Divide salad among 4 shallow bowls.  Sprinkle with beans sprouts and peanuts.

Serves 4.

Logan Rating: ****

Creamy Pasta

Check out this delicious dish.  Sprigs of dill just sprinkled all over, oh so delish.

This is a creamy pasta dish, sort of a play on fettuccine alfredo, however unfortunately in my opinion, this does not quite live up to its more sinful cousin.

It was pretty good, but I think that the texture of the sauce was a bit off and it just needed something, but I couldn't put my finger on that something.  

I did sub whole wheat noodles and I think that was a mistake.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it so does not, this was one of those "so does not" times.

I also took out the asparagus (because Logan won't eat it for whatever reason) and used broccolini.

However, overall this was pretty good, definitely edible and even not bad heated up as leftovers.

See if you can put your finger on the "something" that I'm referring to. I welcome your opinions!

Creamy Fettuccine with Asparagus

1/4 cup pine nuts

S&P

3/4 lb fettuccine

2 bunches asparagus trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut crosswise in thirds

4 oz creamy goat cheese, broken into pieces

2 T grainy mustard

2 T snipped fresh dill

In a small skillet over med heat, toast the pine nuts, stirring often, until golden, 2-3 min.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the fettuccine until al dente, according to package instructions.

Adding the asparagus during the last 5 min of cooking.  

Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain.

Return pasta, asparagus, and reserved pasta water to the pot.  Toss with the goat cheese, mustard, dill and toasted pine nuts. 

Season with S&P, serve immediately. 

Serves 4. 

Logan Rating: ***