Tri-colored Chopped Salad

Its summer salad time and I'll be living on the unlimited variations of the chopped salad. I build a chopped salad on individual plates; instead of a big bowl because it is more visually appealing and all goodies don't fall to the bottom when you toss it.

This was one of the most beautiful and delicious ones so far this summer 2010. The color scheme was triadic- namely purple blueberries, orange kumquats and golden beets, and fresh greens. I chopped up the last chicken thigh that had been marinated in a blend of curry powder chili garlic paste and ¼ slice of preserved lemon, and then grilled. I dressed the salad with my standard, olive oil and homemade red wine vinegar. And voila, a beautiful, nutritious and tasty lunch. I do think about the color wheel and color schemes when putting a chopped salad together, as well a balance of ingredients. So keep color in mind when you select the ingredients and here's an easy guide to how to make a prefect salad, adapted from Sunset magazine:

Reduce the quantity of the ingredients as you work down this list to build your salad.

1. Leaves/Greens: This can include herbs like parsley, spicy greens like arugula, endive, and the many varieties of lettuce, like crunchy romaine, delicate butter, colorful red oak leaf, etc.
   
2. Vegetable: Raw veggies like mushrooms, radishes, carrots, green onions, fennel, tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh peas. Roasted vegetables, like cauliflower, green beans, beets, potatoes peppers, artichokes. Cooked white or garbanzo beans, etc.
   
3. Fruits: They can add sweetness and acidity. Strawberries, kumquats, figs, blueberries, tangerines, oranges, fuyu persimmons, pears, apples, plum, nectarines. Dried fruit like raisins, dried blueberries, cranberries or cherries, chopped dried apricots, and lemon or orange zest.
   
4. Rich tastes: Use sparingly, Meats, i.e. Bacon, prosciutto, smoke salmon, Cheeses, parmesan, pecorino shave with a vegetable peeler, crumbled goat, blue or feta. Nuts, toasted for best flavor, and avocado, which is more like butter than a vegetable so use it sparingly.
   
5. Sour & Salty flavors: Just as accents, sprinkled over the top, olives, capers, anchovies and preserved lemon.

First Corn of Summer 2010

Yes, it's finally here! I bought a dozen ears of yellow corn from First Fruits Sweet Corn, at the Visalia Thursday Farmers Market. No worms and only $5 for the dozen. So with a great ingredient I tested a Food and Wine recipe by my favorite staff chef, Grace Parisi, Chipotle Corn Salad. Easy, delicious and unique. It would pair well with grilled steak, BBQ chicken or fish.

Chipotle Corn Salad
serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

5 ears of corn, shucked and silk removed

1 sweet onion, such as Vidalia, thickly sliced

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1-2 Chipotle in adobo sauce (canned), seeded and chopped finely

1 Tbsp minced cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Light the grill. Brush the corn and onion slices with the olive oil
   
2. Grill over moderately high heat until charred in spots but still crisp, about 7 mins. The yellow corn will turn from pale yellow to a bright yellow.
   
3. Let the corn cool slightly then slice the kernels off the cob. Coarsely chop the grille onions.
   
4. In a medium bowl, mix the sour cream with the lime juice and chipotle and cilantro.
   
5. Stir in the onions, corn kernels. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
   
6. Can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temp before serving.
   

   
   

Preserved Lemons

These can be used in roasted chicken, in stuff grape leaves and other savory dishes when lemon goodness is desired.

Ingredients

8-10 lemons, scrubbed very clean
1/2 cup kosher salt, more if needed
Extra fresh squeezed lemon juice

Sterilized quart canning jar

Directions

1. Place 2 Tbsp of salt in the bottom of a sterilized jar.

2, Cut off any protruding stems from the lemons, and cut 1/4 inch off the tip of each lemon. Cut the lemons in quarters if small to medium and in eights if larger, Remove as many seeds as you can.

3. Pack the lemon slices in the bottom of the wide mouth jar, then generously sprinkle salt all over the lemons. Squishing the lemons down so that juice is extracted and the lemon juice rises to the top of the jar. Fill up the jar with lemon slices. Then fill to the top with lemon juice. Top with a couple tablespoons of salt.

4. Seal the jar and let sit at room temperature for a couple days. Turn the jar upside down occasionally. Put in refrigerator and let sit, again turning upside down occasionally, for at least 3 weeks, until lemon rinds soften.

5. To use, remove a lemon from the jar and if desired, rinse thoroughly in water to remove salt. Discard seeds before using. Chop finely and add to your recipe.

6. Store in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Private summer cooking classes, part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I taught my first private cooking class. The hostess Monica had a fabulous kitchen and the 4 hours flew by, culminating in a delicious lunch. The menu included stuffed fresh grape leaves, made from Syrah grape leaves growing in my back yard. My special ingredient was a couple of salt preserved lemons added to the golden raisins, fresh mint and pine nuts. I demonstrated roasting a whole chicken in a terra cotta clay pot, and used the preserved lemons, chopped home grown fresh parsley and garlic, slipped under the skin. The 'students' made a fresh slaw with the last of the purple cabbage, fresh pineapple, orange bell pepper and celery. The simplest of dressing was balsamic syrup, and fresh ground pepper and salt. They grated several varieties of squash, we squeezed the water out and then stir fried in local olive oil, garlic and chopped fresh basil and thyme. We used the Donvier hand crank ice cream maker to freeze a delicious lemon buttermilk ice cream, served over Alice Waters' amazing almond cake and fresh berry coulis. I hope you enjoy these recipes and maybe we can cook and learn together in a private cooking class in your home.

Roasted Chicken in Clay w/ salt preserved lemons

3-4 slices of salt preserved lemons
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1+ teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 (4 to 5-pound) roasting chicken

1. Chop the lemons slices. Combine lemon with all other ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2. Immerse the top and bottom of a 2-quart clay cooking pot in water for 15-20 minutes. Empty pot, and drain well.

3. Remove and discard the giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.

4. Rub lemon garlic herb mixture under and over the loosened skin. Tie ends of legs together with cord.

5. Place chicken, breast side up, in bottom of clay pot, and cover with top of clay pot.

6. Place clay pot in cold oven, and set to 450°.

7. Bake chicken for 20 minutes breast side up. Turn and cook breast side down for 20 minutes. Turn once more to breast side up and remove top. Leave the cover off and cook uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. The chicken is done when a meat thermometer registers 180°.

9. Carefully remove clay pot from oven. Remove chicken from clay pot. Cover chicken loosely with foil; let stand for 10 minutes. Discard skin.

Roasted apricots, yummy!

Apricots are here and you are likely to only find fresh apricots at your farmers market because they are fragile and do not ship well. Apricots are also one fruit that is better cooked than fresh. I figured out how to 'cook' apricots and freeze them when I was given about 15 lbs at one time! I wanted to cook them easily and quickly, so roasting them made perfect sense. Roasting will reduce the water content, intensify the flavor and reduce the volume thereby taking up less freezer space. A half sheet pan, pictured here will shrink down to fit into a 1 qt freezer bag.

I have used roasted apricots as a filling in between layers of an almond cake, a lemon cake, over vanilla ice cream, and best of all in apricot sorbet. Fresh apricots made into a sorbet tasted like baby food, but roasted, they were sophisticated and packed with tons of apricot flavor. So rinse, cut the apricots, remove the pits, place halves cut side up, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Then roast in a hot oven, about 450° (or gas BBQ with the middle burner off). Check after 20 mins and then add time as needed. Cool and place in freezer bags, flattened to stack easily in the freezer.

Bon appétit!