Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
8 ounces fresh baby spinach
¼ cup shaved
Parmigiano-
Reggiano
1
Preheat your oven to 400°. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, then again making 4 wedges per tomato, and place them skin down on a baking sheet. Using your bread knife, cut the baguette into 3-inch segments, and then cut the segments in half, lengthwise. Put 6 of the pieces of bread on the baking sheet, crust down, next to the tomatoes.
2
Drizzle the tomatoes and bread with olive oil and season the tomatoes liberally (tomatoes have a lot of water and require a good amount of salt to taste their best) with salt and pepper, with just a light touch of salt on the bread. Put the tray in the oven for 20 minutes until the bread is toasted, and the tomatoes have begun to brown. Rub the raw garlic cloves on the toasted bread.
3
In your blender, add the shallot, sherry wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and 8 basil leaves. Pulse until well combined. Put the blender on low speed, and drizzle in . cup of olive oil. Season to your taste with salt and pepper.
4
Remove the stems from the rest of the basil. In a large bowl, toss the basil and spinach with half of the dressing. Taste a piece of the spinach to see if it needs more dressing, salt, or pepper. On six chilled plates, mound one handful of the dressed greens, place a toasted piece of baguette on top, and crown the baguette with two roasted tomatoes. Garnish the tomatoes with shaved Parmesan, and serve immediately.
Chefology
DECONSTRUCTED DISH
Taking the parts of a dish or recipe and separating the individual components into a new usage. The pieces should be recognizable by themselves but when eaten together should bring about the idea of the original dish. Think in terms of the whole is the sum of its parts.
Haricot Vert Almondine
Serves 4
Make this tasty green bean salad a day in advance and serve it on a hot summer day. The crisp bright beans will never wilt or lose their visual appeal, even after an hour of waiting on your crappy little counter for late guests to arrive.
1 pound French green beans, tops removed
Sea salt, as needed
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons honey
1 pinch red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon sesame oil
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted
1
Blanch (p. 91) the beans for one minute then shock them.
2
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, honey, pepper flakes, and sesame oil. Once well combined, slowly whisk in the olive oil.
Chefology
A PINCH OF THIS OR THAT
A pinch is defined as the amount of a dry ingredient that can be pinched between your forefinger and thumb. If you feel this method is too imprecise for you, use . teaspoon, which is probably a little more than the average pinch.
Blanching and Shocking
Blanching and shocking involve briefly boiling vegetables and then quickly stopping the cooking process by immediately submerging them in an ice bath. This will not only heighten color but also remove bitter flavors. Fill your 12-quart stockpot halfway with water and place it over high heat. While your pot of water is coming to a boil, fill a large bowl halfway up with ice and water to create an ice bath for your veggies. Before your water boils, at the point when bubbles begin to form at the bottom of the pot, add a pinch of salt. If it sinks to the bottom, your water isn't hot enough, so wait a few minutes and try again. If a cloud forms as the salt is dissolved, your water is ready. Now you may continue adding salt, a little at a time, until the cloud no longer forms and the salt settles at the bottom. This means that your water is “supersaturated” and perfectly salted for blanching.
When the water reaches a rolling boil, carefully drop in one handful of vegetables. Allow them to boil (anywhere from 45 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the vegetable) and then use your tongs or spider to remove the veggies from the water and drop them into the bowl of ice water until they have cooled. Then dry them on paper towel or a clean dish towel. Wait for the stockpot to again reach a rolling boil and add another handful of vegetables and repeat the process until all your vegetables are cooked and chilled.
3
Toss the chilled green beans with ¼ cup of the dressing, and taste a bean at this point to see if it needs more dressing or any salt. Store any extra dressing in an airtight container and refrigerate.
4
Divide the green beans evenly amongst four salad plates, and garnish with the toasted almonds. Drizzle some extra dressing around the outside of the plate.
Fresh-Faced Asparagus Salad
Serves 4
The tangy, creamy dressing that graces this asparagus salad trumps the traditional hollandaise sauce with no fuss, and a vibrant presentation. It whisks together in one bowl, making it very CLK friendly.
1 pound asparagus, tough ends trimmed off (break one end off to see about where the asparagus would naturally separate and then trim the rest to the same length)
Sea salt, as needed
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons crème fraiche or sour cream
1 pinch ground white pepper
1 cup fresh raspberries
1
Blanch the asparagus for two minutes, and then shock it.
2
In a small bowl, whisk together the raspberry vinegar, mustard, crème fraiche, and white pepper. Season to taste with salt.
3
Divide the asparagus evenly among four salad plates with all the asparagus tips facing the same way, but piled high on top of each other. Drizzle the dressing through the middle of each pile of asparagus, and garnish the plates with the fresh raspberries dropped strategically around the plate. To present on a platter, pile the asparagus high in a long and jagged “fence post” fashion and drizzle the dressing around the outside of the platter in an attractive pattern. Garnish sporadically with fresh raspberries.
Presto!
Pesto Potato Salad
Serves 8
Try this innovative version of the traditional potato salad you grew up eating. The bright colors and varied textures ramp up the gourmet factor and make garnishing unnecessary.
5 red potatoes (about 2 pounds)
Sea salt, to taste
8 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
4 tablespoons toasted and chopped pine nuts
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup basil pesto (see p. 220)
Black pepper, to taste
Swap It
SUBSTITUTE blue and white fingerling potatoes for the red potatoes, and toss with store-bought sun-dried tomato pesto for a colorful and patriotic holiday version of this potato salad!
1
Fill your 12-quart stockpot with the potatoes, and cover them with water.
Put the pot over high heat, and wait for it to begin to simmer. When the water has begun to bubble, add 2 tablespoons of sea salt to the water and allow the potatoes to simmer until just tender, about 15â20 minutes. Don't boil the potatoes! You want a gentle simmer in which you only see very small bubbles breaking the surface. Boiling will cause the potato skins to tear and the potato will get waterlogged. Not to mention, the outside of the potato will be soft when the inside is still raw. Drain the potatoes, put them in a large bowl, and refrigerate.
2
When the potatoes are cooled, carefully cut each potato into large cubes. Very carefully fold in the tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, mayonnaise, and pesto. You don't want to break down your potatoes too much, so be gentle! Taste the potato salad to see if you need more salt or pepper.
3
Pile high on a serving platter, and wrap tightly to refrigerate until you're ready to serve ice cold.
Carmelized Fennel and Goat Cheese with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette
Serves 4
Once the fennel is roasted, this dish is ready to plate, so your Crappy Little Kitchen will thank you. Just leave the roasted fennel in a super low oven until you're ready to serve.
3 Roma tomatoes
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, evenly divided
Sea salt, as needed
Black pepper, as needed
3 garlic cloves
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 baby fennel, halved
1 lemon, juiced
5 ounces goat cheese
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
¼ cup vegetable stock
1
Preheat oven to 450°. Slice the tomatoes in half and place them skin side down on a sheet tray. Drizzle the tomatoes with ¼ cup of olive oil, and season them liberally with sea salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven for 15 minutes, turn the turn the tray, and add the garlic cloves, roasting for another 5 minutes.
Leave the oven on.
Did You Know This Crap?
A member of the carrot family, fennel is an aromatic vegetable like celery and carrots, but it has a distinct anise flavor. It has a white bulb on one end with tough, green stalks growing out of it. Some people avoid fennel because of its strong licorice flavor in the raw. When cooked, fennel develops a mellow, delicate flavor. Look for white or very pale green fennel bulbs with bright green, firm stalks and fronds.
2
Pour the roasted tomatoes, garlic, and all the juices from the sheet tray into your blender, add the balsamic vinegar, and set the blender aside.
3
Place the fennel, cut side down on that same baking sheet and drizzle it with ¼ cup of olive oil and the lemon juice. Don't add any salt or pepper yet. Put it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Place 2 slices of goat cheese on the white base of each fennel bulb, sprinkle the whole pan with the thyme leaves and salt and pepper, and return the pan to the oven. Bake until the top of the goat cheese has begun to bubble and brown.
4
Pulse the contents of the blender and slowly drizzle in the stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5
Take four salad plates and place two fennel bulbs with goat cheese in the center of each. Drizzle the tomato vinaigrette in a circle around the cheese, and serve warm. It just doesn't have the same dramatic effect on a platter, so I always serve this dish on individual salad plates.
Beat This Balsamic
Egg Salad
Serves 6
Here's a twist on traditional egg salad. Balsamic vinegar serves as the secret gourmet ingredient that elevates this salad to spectacular!
12 eggs
1 bunch scallions
¼ cup balsamic vinegar, aged at least 3 years (anything aged less than 3 years isn't really balsamic vinegar)
¼ cup real mayonnaise
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1
Carefully place the eggs in your 12-quart stockpot, cover them with water, and put them on a burner at high heat. Bring to a rapid boil. The very second they boil, remove the pot from the heat, and cover for 10 minutes. Remove the cover and allow the eggs to cool. This is the foolproof method for making perfectly medium boiled eggs every time. You'll never have a green layer form on the outside of the yolk or have an impossible egg to peel again. I give you the CLK-friendly egg!
Did You Know This Crap?
A scallion, commonly known as green onion or spring onion, is an immature onion harvested before a prominent bulb has formed. Technically scallions should have no bulb at all, while green onions should have a small bulb. Both the white and green parts are edible. Recipes may call for using the white, green, or both parts. In most recipes, the white part is cooked and the green part is used as a garnish. In a pinch, you can substitute the green part for chives.
The Easy Peel
Once your hard-boiled egg has cooled, tap the widest end of the egg (or what would appear to be the bottom) on a flat surface. This will expose the air pocket between the egg and the shell, giving you an easy spot to start peeling. Since you won't overcook the egg (see method on p. 96) the shell should release easily.