Making Salad Dressing: Vinaigrettes

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This is considered one of the “mother sauces” of French cooking, and there really isn’t anything secret or mysterious to making this.  Vinaigrettes can be used as marinades and salad dressings, and when you make your own, you can control or eliminate salt, sugar, transfats, and other things that are best avoided.  Also, learning to make your own can save a bundle on all those bottles of dressings and marinades crowding the fridge.  

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Fresh Herbs are great for vinaigrettes. Edible flowers can be added to your presentation.

A Cry For HELP...

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A cry (for real!) for help…

My friend is planning a dinner party.  Actually her husband is planning the party, and he is in charge of the menu planning, shopping, and cooking.  Since she hates cooking, this works well for them.  When she talks to me about it, she refers to this as “The Dreaded Dinner” party.  The husband is in the middle of a very busy period at work, but he has the reputation of showing up 1 hour before the company arrives, with the groceries in hand.  This is a huge stressor to my friend.  But she knows that this time he will barely make it to the party, much less shop and cook.  So I get the call for help, and I love this because I know that I can help her.  THIS IS WHAT I DO.

This kitchen is ideal for a gourmet group gathering!

The dinner party is tomorrow and she needs to get the grocery shopping done.  They have decided to make ”easy” paella because they had it recently at another friend’s house and loved it.  Plus, the hostess said it was easy.  Knowing how much she hates cooking, I know it won’t be THAT easy, and she is getting pretty anxious about it all.   She calls me with the recipe in hand and says, “I don’t even know what some of this stuff is!”  So we go through the recipe, and I explain where to find the chorizo, how to select mussels and shrimp, and promise to bring over some of the seasonings she didn’t have—saffron and turmeric.  

 

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Then we talk about the other courses, and she wonders what she can do for an appetizer.  I suggest hummus, and she adds it to the grocery list.  I give her an idea on how to present it on a plate with a drizzling of some good olive oil, some freshly chopped herbs, and a small dish of gourmet olives on the side.   

Buy hummus at the store.

Make an arrangement in a shallow bowl that will hold puddles of olive oil and fresh herbs.

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We move on to discuss a salad recipe a friend shared that calls for goat cheese croutons.  YUM!  Doesn’t that sound delicious? So I explain that when you work with goat cheese, you want the cheese really cold.  It’s somewhat difficult to cut into nice rounds, so I tell her how you can use plain dental floss to cut it.  I will go over tomorrow and show her how to dip it in the egg and breadcrumbs without it falling apart, and we will pre-bake it.  Then she can just do a quick re-warming to crisp it up when she’s ready to serve.  

Cut cold goats cheese with plain dental floss.

Followed by a dip in bread crumbs.

First, dip cheese in beaten egg.

Put on baking sheet.

We talk about how to make a vinaigrette, something I just blogged about!  We will put the lemon juice, seasonings, salt and pepper in a small bowl, measure out the olive oil, and have that ready to emulsify when she’s ready to put the salad together.  

 

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She is very anxious about getting everything together when she calls, but by the time we hang up, she knows she can handle this, and that I will help.  We agree to meet tomorrow for the “mise en place”, and then when her husband does get home, dinner will go together quickly and easily.

Mise en Place.  Get everything ready before you cook.

 

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I finish this conversation thinking that I had some really good tips for her.  I could explain to her what chicken tenders are, where to find chorizo, shrimp and mussels at the store, and how to select these items.  I told her that she could use  any lettuce blend she wanted to use regardless of what the recipe calls for, and how to determine what might be best.  (A recipe is just a suggestion, not a rule!)  We talked about how to make the vinaigrette, and that you should wait until it’s close to serving time to make it, but that you can have your lemon juice squeezed, seasonings mixed and oil measured.  Although I am a proponent of homemade everything, I assured her that it really isn’t cheating to buy hummus at the store and make a nice presentation of it.   

Simple but elegant dessert!

So this is what I know and do:  I help translate cooking terms, ingredients, preparations, planning, and creative arrangements to those who want to become more knowledgeable.  I know how to make easy work of cutting a pineapple or a mango, without any fancy equipment.  I know techniques that develop flavors in food, so that meals are easier to put together and tastier to eat.  I know how to go gluten-free, vegetarian or vegan without buying pre-made or manufactured foods.  

I think I helped eliminate the anxiety from this event and made it fun.  What a great feeling!

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Salad Cravings

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The change to Daylight Saving Time makes it feel like spring even if the temps haven’t warmed up much.  I have been thinking about salads, which I absolutely love!  I make some sort of dinner salad for the first course of many meals, but I really love to make a big Main Dish Salad, especially if it makes for a great leftover for lunch the next day.

Some people claim that making a salad is difficult, but as the following examples show, it's really just adding some colorful ingredients to a base of lettuces.

A small Cobb Salad for a first course.

Baby lettuces for the base layer, topped with slices of roasted pepper, goat cheese, pickled beets, and some diced tomato.

As the seasons change, I tend to make more Main Course Whole Grain Salads, although we often use them as a side dish with fish or chicken. I almost always have one of these in my fridge all spring, summer and fall  for a number of reasons.  When there is a great tasting leftover in the fridge, everybody wants that because it’s already to eat.  Aren’t we all a little bit lazy when we get hungry? I believe that variety is the spice of life, so I try to rotate the choices all the time.  The possibilities are infinite; you can vary the dressing, the selection of fruits and vegetables, and the “background” grain, so that it’s an ever-changing salad.

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I start out with choosing a whole grain, or a combination of grains.  My new favorite is to cook up these three grains: 

½ cup wheat berries

¼ cup pearled barley

¼ cup wild rice

I put these in a pot, cover them with lots of water (go 2” above the grains) and bring it to a boil.  When it’s boiling, throw in some kosher salt, put on a lid, and turn the heat to low.  Set your timer for 20 minutes.  When the timer tells you it’s ready, turn the heat off but leave the lid on.  Wait another 20 minutes and then taste your grains.  If they are done, drain off the excess water.  They should be somewhat firm and chewy, and look like this photo.   

 

Barley, Wheat Berries, and Wild Rice.

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The next step is to choose the ingredients that will contrast with one another in texture, color and taste.  I love the variety of colors you get when you use yellow corn, black beans, halved cherry tomatoes, and some sweet pepper. You could also add cubed avocado and fresh cilantro for a garnish.

Black Beans, Corn, tomatoes, pickled onions, and avocado.  This time with quinoa.

The dressing you use is a very important part of the finished dish, so learn to make your own.  It’s a very simple thing to do, and not only is it better tasting, it’s better for you.  No transfats, no unpronounceable words, and no sugar, unless you add it. Everybody should learn how to make a really good vinaigrette.  It’s really just a ratio of acid (vinegar, lemon juice, etc.) to good olive oil.  I will write a whole blog on vinaigrettes next time. 

Now just toss the vegetables into a big bowl with the grains, add the dressing, mix well, and you’re ready to eat.  This should keep in the refrigerator for 5 days, and makes a wonderful leftover to bring to work the next day.  But be warned--Everyone will want some. 

Cooking in a Beautiful Kitchen

I am working on locations in which to cook and bake and a friend offered to host my March Cooking Club in her newly remodeled kitchen.  I am so excited!   

While my kitchen is perfectly functional, I find myself dreaming of cooking in someone else's kitchen.  Sometimes it's the space, sometimes it's the appliances, but always it's the draw of a different kitchen. 

My friend, Betty, now has the latest Viking Gas Stove Top, a Wolf double wall oven, and a beautiful island with a unique granite countertop.  

Do you see the microwave? And isn't the granite gorgeous!

Double Ovens! With a warming drawer below.

A unique Granite Center Island!  Imagine kneading and rolling dough here!

It is all gorgeous and I just want to play!  

To take advantage of the opportunity to bake in this kitchen, I am holding a session on making  breads and biscuits.   This will be a learning experience as we explore: 

1)   Buttermilk Biscuits versus Baking Powder Biscuits.  What’s the difference? What's faster, flakier, tastier?

2)   Working with Bread Dough.  How is dough affected by baking it in a Dutch oven or on a pizza stone? Can the same dough be used to make a pizza crust?  A calzone?  A flatbread?  A rolled bread with filling, such as Stromboli?  Does a longer resting period affect the flavor?  

We will answer these questions, and more!

I am excited to find out all of this and I will report back on what we discovered later this month.  Check back soon!

If you have a gorgeous kitchen that is just begging to be used by people who love to cook, please contact me!  There are many “foodies” who share my dreams of cooking in a great kitchen.