Showing posts with label salads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salads. Show all posts

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Rice Salad

     Here is another recipe from my aunt Gladys. A cold  rice salad, perfect for summer get togethers. The quantity of rice is dry, to be cooked before hand. That makes sense right? Two cups of dry rice will give more than two cups cooked, I've never measured and the recipe included rice cooking instructions. Living with a rice fanatic, has to be washed three times etc etc, I would never presume to include cooking instructions. If you don't care for rice, and I can't say I do, you could substitute orzo, a rice shaped/sized pasta and it would work just as well.

Gladys’s Rice Salad
Ingredients
2 cups rice, cooked - as opposed to 2 cups of cooked rice
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 can mushrooms, drained
Dressing
½ cup sugar
¾ cup olive/vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon celery seed
½ cup vinegar
Directions
In a small bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients until well combined
Pour into a bowl containing all other ingredients and mix well
Served chilled
      The dressing recipe is very similar to sweet cole slaw so you could probably add carrot and cucumber to this if you wanted to change it up a little.

     Thank you Gladys for sharing, now all I need is a picture.

     Thanks for dropping by.

The Secret Ingredient - Homemade Salad Dressing/Mayonnaise

     It just isn't summer without deviled eggs, potato, macaroni or cabbage salad. All staples in my family. What makes ours, is the dressing. It is called mayonnaise or salad dressing at home and used as such. It isn't a mayonnaise exactly, it's cooked, or even a salad dressing , really. I'm not sure where this actually falls in the recipe categories or what it should be called. To my family, it's just delicious.

     My Grandma Fisher always used this, as do many of her children and my aunt Gladys also gave me a recipe. They are similar but different and I'm not sure I have ever had my aunt's to be able to compare the taste. Here are both.

Homemade Salad Dressing
Grandma Fisher’s recipe
Ingredients
3 eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
½ cup vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Continue boiling until mixture starts to thicken and mixture will coat a spoon..
Cool and refrigerate

Gladys’s recipe
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup cold milk
Directions
Combine all ingredients in the top of a double boiler
Cook over boiling water until thick and smooth, stirring constantly.
Cool and refrigerate

     You can use this to replace some, or all of the mayonnaise in a recipe. That's what we do back in the "Valley". I'm not sure how long this keeps refrigerated, at least a week to ten days, it's cooked and has a lot of vinegar....  There was always some at my grandmother's, I'm not sure she ever used store bought mayonnaise. We swear by it, hope you enjoy it too.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Salad Nicoise

     After referring to it in the previous post it seemed only fitting to post the recipe for a summer classic, Salad Nicoise. Almost every restaurant I have worked in has this on the menu at some point during the summer. It has the best of summer, new potatoes, fresh green beans and vine ripened tomatoes. How can you not love it?

     The original is a French creation from the city of Nice. Julia Child popularized it in North America and true to form, it is nothing like you would get in Nice (according to die hard purists). I have had several variations, the following recipe is the one I like that is the easiest to prepare. The one I like best substitutes fresh grilled tuna for the canned.

     This is supposed to be a composed salad, similar to a Cobb, like the picture below.


     I hate it like this. I like it tossed all together and that is how I prepare it. The choice is yours. I haven't given quantities, just the ingredient list. It is fairly easy to figure out how much you will need based on how many or few you will be feeding.

Salad Nicoise
Ingredients
Tuna, canned or fresh grilled
Olives
Tomatoes, quartered
Potatoes, boiled to tender crisp
Green beans, blanched
Eggs, hard boiled and quartered
Anchovy fillets *
Vinaigrette Dressing
1/2 tablespoon finely minced shallot /scallion/onion
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil
1” of anchovy paste*
1 teaspoon thyme or oregano – 1 tablespoon if using fresh
1 clove of garlic minced
Salt and pepper to taste
* Use either /or not both or omit altogether
Kitchen Wisdom from Julia Child on oil to vinegar ratios for salad dressing
I use the proportions of a very dry martini, since you can always add more vinegar or lemon but you can't take it out.

     The beauty of this salad is taste of the fresh produce. Make sure not to overcook the potatoes or beans. Composed or tossed, this hearty salad is sure too please. Enjoy.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

     Another recipe from the BBQ. This recipe was given to me by a co worker and uses my fresh tarragon. I mentioned to her that I had tons of the stuff that I didn't know what to do with it, she remedied that.

     Tarragon is one of the French "fine" herbs. It tastes a bit like a combination of fennel and basil. It is the main seasoning in Bearnaise sauce and also used in Dijon sauce.

     This is a similar recipe to my favourite summer salad, the Niciose. Like Salad Niciose, you could probably substitute fresh grilled tuna for the canned with delicious results. I haven't..... yet.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad
Ingredients
1 can solid white tuna, drained
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 grilled red pepper, canned or fresh, chopped
1 cup chopped pitted olives*
1 cup red onion finely chopped
Salad greens - endive, arugula, frisee or radicchio
Tarragon Mayonnaise Dressing
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon or 2 teaspoons dried
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped or about an inch of anchovy paste**
Directions
Combine tuna, beans, red pepper, olives and onion and mix together.
Whisk or pulse in a food processor, all of the dressing ingredients until well mixed.
Pour about half the dressing into the tuna mixture and re-toss until combined
Place tuna mixture on a plate/platter lined with salad greens.
Serve remaining dressing on the side.
* I use Kalamata olives and just warn my guests that there are pits. I never use canned olives, only brined.

** I like the taste but not the texture of anchovies so always use the paste. It keeps longer and is easier to use.

     This was a delicious and interesting addition to my usual summer salad repertoire and one I will make again and again. Enjoy.