Category Archives: General
New Salad Duet
Now that’s officially summer, the season can’t seem to decide whether to stay or not. Weather aside, recent sunshine and warm days has put me in the mood for my favorite kinds of dishes, side salads. In summer, I’d be happy if every meal were a picnic, with a variety of cold or room-temperature salads, no main course required. I love side salads of almost any kind: potato salads, bean salads, grain salads, vegetable salads, you name it.
I have plenty of old favorites (check the side salads section on my recipe index for a few), but I’m always on the lookout for new combinations of flavors and ingredients. Recently, I came across two noteworthy salads on blogs that I follow.
The first was for Potato Salad with Tarragon and Chives, that I found on sis. boom. [blog!], written by the creative (and wickedly funny) Trevor. I love his take on food and presentation. His blog always offers something new to inspire me.
This potato salad is vinaigrette-based, not mayonnaise-based, which makes it great for summer eating. It can sit out without danger. I used about 2 pounds of baby Yukon gold potatoes and substituted thinly sliced red onion for the shallots. I have a lush herb garden, right outside the kitchen door, and used a generous amount of freshly picked tarragon and chives. It was light and hearty at the same time. I think this recipe will be added to the summer roster.
The other new salad winner is for Tabbouli, the Middle Eastern parsley and bulgur salad, from Bakeaway with Me, written by Kathy, another of my cyber-friends from French Fridays with Dorie. Kathy writes most often about mouth-watering baked goods, though I haven’t had a chance to try any of those yet. This salad, her grandmother’s recipe, moved right to the top of my “must try” list. I LOVE tabbouli!
A Bowl of Parsley
What I particularly loved about this recipe was the abundant green parsley and the warm flavors of cinnamon and allspice in the lemony dressing. The recipe calls for two bunches of parsley, much more than other recipes I’ve made before use. I typically use Italian (flat) parsley in all my cooking, but for this salad, I used curly parsley, as Kathy does. It tasted fresh and summery. I think the curly parsley is sturdier than the flat, so the leftovers were in good shape the next day. I made half a recipe, which made enough for the two of use to have with dinner and then lunch the next day. Actually, I’ve made this twice this week. It’s perfect!
One more thing, perhaps along the line of airing dirty laundry or sharing one of my pecadillos, but meant to amuse. As I finished making the tabbouli, took some photos, and was about to bring the bowl to the table, Howard remarked (with affection, I’m sure) at how amazing it was that I had wreaked complete chaos on the kitchen in the 20 minutes I spent making the salad. I am a very messy cook and have a knack for dirtying the maximum number of bowls and utensils. Here’s a picture of the debris of my cyclone. Of course, I cleaned it up after dinner, but we did share a few laughs about it over our meal.
Duck, Duck, Goose
I love duck. More specifically, I’m a dark meat kind of girl, so that means I love duck legs. For heaven on earth, duck legs as duck confit can’t be beat. Confit is a form of food preservation where the meat is cooked slowly in its fat and then stored, encased in the fat for longer storage.
Fortunately for me, when Howard first started with his sous vide experiments, he easily mastered duck confit during his early efforts. Because the meat is cooked in vacuum-sealed bags, the duck renders enough fat for this process, more or less, which is much less overwhelming than the quarts of duck fat called for in recipes that are cooked in a pot. He actually wrote this up for an earlier “guest post”. It was our only duck confit failure because that time, he tried something new and decided to store the duck out of the bags in a plastic container, still in the refrigerator. The problem was the fat didn’t completely cover the duck and it spoiled (hence no Part 2). You can read about Part 1 here.
This put Howard off making this for quite a while (it’s been over a year). He recently tried again. I’m happy to report he’s back on his game, and it was good as ever. Once made, With the duck confit stashed in the refrigerator (in their vacuum sealed bags), it’s practically fast food. The final preparation is to broil the duck legs to crisp up the skin. The contrast of the meltingly tender meat (it’s falling off the bones) and the crispy skin is a delight.
In addition to duck confit, I also love beans. My favorites, in no particular order, are tiny French lentils, black beans, and chick peas. Lentils are the perfect accompaniment to this French-inspired meal. I tossed cooked lentils with diced carrots and a vinaigrette heavily laced with tarragon for a warm salad that made a bed for the duck leg. Roasted asparagus rounded out the plate perfectly.
No leftovers, but we enjoyed every bite!
Lentil Salad
Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish
1 cup dried French (Le Puy) lentils, rinsed
1 onion, chopped fine
3 bay leaves
2 carrots, peeled, and diced fine
½ cup Tarragon Vinaigrette (recipe below)
Sort through the lentils and discard any rocks or other debris. Don’t skip this step. I always seem to find at least one little stone.
Place the lentils, onion, and bay leaves in a medium pot. Cover with water, about 1-inch above the contents of the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain.
Toss the warm lentils with carrots and vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
I prefer this warm, but it’s good served at any temperature (warm, room temperature, or cold).
Tarragon Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup
When tarragon is booming in the herb garden, I make this dressing frequently. I also like to steep sprigs of tarragon in vinegar to make my own tarragon vinegar.
¼ c tarragon vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
½ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped tarragon leaves
½ cup chopped parsley (optional)
Salt & freshly ground pepper
In the blender, combine vinegar, mustard, and oil. Add herbs and blend until leaves are chopped fine, but not pureed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Leftover dressing is great on green salad and potato salad. When it sits, the vinaigrette sometimes thickens. Thin with water, as needed.
A Plateful of Happiness 