Blue Cayenne

Yesterday I had the good fortune to get together with old friends. We ate a lot, laughed a lot and caught up on each other’s lives. Juliet got a lot of attention, too. It was a very good day all around.

Today Juliet is sleeping off the ecstasy of four glorious hours of being passed around, petted and sweet-talked. Look at that peaceful little face. Not even the miscreant squirrel who taunts her from the back fence could ruin her day today. (I’m having a pretty good day, too.)

This salad was on my lunch menu. The recipe first appeared in Bon Appetit Magazine in 2005, so I have been serving it to guests for a very long time.  When I want to serve something really special to treasured friends, this is my go-to recipe. The honey and thyme-roasted Bosc pears add a sweet-savory flavor to the salad and the fan of beautiful roasted pears on the salad plate makes the dish pop visually. Bathe the butter lettuce in the shallot-verjus dressing and you have a tart foil to the flavor of the honeyed pears. Then there are the hazelnuts…  What’s not to love?

And, as a side benefit, your kitchen will smell wonderful as your roast the pears on a generous bed of fresh thyme.

Although you can substitute white grape juice in this recipe, the original recipe calls for verjus. Verjus?

Verjus is French for “green juice.” It is the unfermented juice of unripened wine grapes.  Typically, verjus is made using the unripe grapes that are thinned from the vines prior to the main harvest.  Waste not. Want not.

I bought my verjus from Amazon. Here is a link: Amazon Source for Verjus .

Verjus has a long history. The gourmets among the Roman elite used it in their cooking and it was widely used during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Here is an intriguing quote from Platina’s De honesta Voluptate, the first printed cookbook, written in 1465. The following is a translation of article 26 of that volume:

“26. ON VERJUICE
What they commonly call acresta, I would call omphacium, on the authority of Pliny, and acor [verjuice], on the authority of Macrobius, for omphax, as I have said, means a still-bitter grape; therefore, I would rather call oil from an unripe berry omphacium than acresta, which I do not quite see as being from omphax. [Macrobius] thus defines verjuice: vinegar is sharper than verjuice, whose force it is agreed is greater than acresta, which soothes I>, which soothes the burning of the stomach more mildly and does not emaciate or weaken the body as vinegar is apt to do. Verjuice is wonderfully good for an unsettled or upset stomach or thirsty liver, if you use it raw, for it is less helpful cooked. We use it easily and healthfully against poison and in seasoning foods.”

Me thinks Platina could have used a good copy editor (and maybe a gastroenterologist and a food taster for that part about the poison. Just sayin…)

Try this salad. Your guests will thank you and ask for the recipe.

Here is the link of the original recipe: Bon Appetit’s Honey-roasted pear and hazelnut salad

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Spiralizers. You’ve probably heard of them.

Toaster-sized spiralizer appliances take boring old potatoes, beets and zucchini–you know, the vegetables that come to you in the elegant shapes that Mother Nature intended– and turn them into noodles. (Forgive my snark.)

Nevertheless, I confess that I’m a cooking gadget collector and I do own a Paderno spiralizer. Like a lot of the other kitchen gadgets that have caught my eye (Does anyone else out there have onion goggles? I didn’t think so.),  I haven’t used it much.

This summer, I decided that I would give the spiralizer a fair try after my neighbor raved about the healthy spiralized foods that her daughter, Randlyn, was turning out (and enjoying) in her kitchen.

Bon Appetit Magazine, by the way, did an interesting  piece on spiralizers. The BA writer focused on the psychology of spiralizing vegetables arguing that changing the shape of the vegetables tricks our minds into eating more of those healthy foods. More zucchini. Fewer carbs.

And, there may be something to that argument. I remember one summer when my family, crammed into an unairconditioned VW bug and traveling 2000 grueling miles to visit relatives in rural Mississippi, stopped at a drive-in restaurant somewhere in the wilds of Eastern Texas where French fried potato spirals were served in parchment-lined red plastic trays. Your order came with a decanter of vinegar to sprinkle over your potatoes.  I still remember the novelty of that presentation, and, here I am a gazillion years later comtemplating spiralizing potatoes. (Bon Appetit Magazine on spiralizers ).

So, I’m giving spiralizing the good old college try (CSULB 1968) this summer. Here is a recipe for a pretty (and delicious) Asian zucchini noodle salad. This salad has all sorts of textures going for it and the piquant sesame-oil-flavored dressing is wonderful.

You will find the link to the original recipe from which this recipe was adapted here: Simply Recipes’ Asian Zucchini Salad .

Thanks, Randlyn, for the nudge.

Yields 4 Servings

Asian Zucchini Noodle Salad

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Ingredients

• Vegetables for the Salad
• 3-4 zucchinis
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 1/2 C. thinly-sliced and roughly-chopped red cabbage
• 1 large carrot (grated)
• 1/2 large red bell pepper (thinly-sliced and cut into 1-inch segments)
• 2 green onions (thinly-sliced on the diagonal)
• 1/2 bunch cilantro (chopped)
• Chopped peanuts for garnish
• Dressing
• 1/3 C. seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 1/2 t. dark roasted sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• Pinch of red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Spiralize the zucchini. You should have about five cups of zucchini noodles for this recipe. As you spiralize the noodles, you will want to cut them into manageable lengths. Place the spiralized zucchini noodles in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Combine cabbage, carrot, bell peppers, onions and cilantro in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk rice vinegar, olive oil, dark sesame oil, minced garlic and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Pour this dressing over the cabbage mixture and let the mixture marinate for an hour or so.
4. Arrange the marinated cabbage mixture over the top of the zucchini noodles. Spoon a couple of spoonfuls of the dressing over the dish. Garnish with chopped peanuts and additional cilantro.

Notes

The original recipe called for sprinkling salt over zucchini noodles to draw out some of the moisture in the zucchini. I liked the crunch of the zucchini noodles fresh out of the spiralizer and skipped that step.

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https://bluecayenne.com/asian-zucchini-noodle-salad

What do a Pavlova, a bowl of cherry Garcia and a Margarita have in common? You got that one right! They are all foods named after a famous person. (The Pavlova meringue confection is named after the famous Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Cherry Garcia is named after, well, Jerry Garcia. The Margarita is named after Rita Hayworth.)

Here is a riff on another tribute food–the Wellington. The original dish, the beef Wellington, was named after the Dublin-born British military hero and Prime Minister, The Duke of Wellington–Arthur Wellesley to his friends. (Wellington, you will remember, was the hero of Waterloo, the fateful battle that inflicted a final crushing defeat on Napoleon and sent him into a last brooding exile in the mid-Atlantic.) A beef Wellington, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a decadent beef tenderloin slathered in foie gras and duxelles and wrapped in a tender-crispy puff pastry. Here is a photo of the hunky Wellesley:

In reality, the beef Wellington was probably an in-your-face rebranding of a French dish, the filet de boeuf en croute. Take that, France! When I read that bit of history, I was reminded of our own “Freedom Fry” moment. Remember when Congressman Bob Ney (R-Ohio) got himself all wrapped up in a tizzy and renamed the French fries in the Congressional cafeteria freedom fries? ( He was furious that the French refused to back our invasion of Iraq. French President Jacques Chirac argued that the U.S. invasion was premature and that U.N. weapons inspectors should be given more time to determine if Iraq did indeed possess weapons of mass destruction.)

Here is my adaptation of Melissa Clark’s butternut squash and mushroom Wellington. (http://Melissa Clark’s Butternut Squash and Mushroom Wellington)

By the way, Rita Hayworth’s real name was Margarita.

Yields 6-8 Servings

Butternut Squash and Mushroom Wellington

45 minPrep Time

30 minCook Time

1 hr, 15 Total Time

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Ingredients

• 4 T. butter
• 1 1/4 lb. butternut squash (peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1 t. maple syrup
• 1/2 t. chopped fresh thyme
• 1/8 t. smoked sweet paprika (or regular paprika)
• 1/2 t. kosher salt (or more to taste)
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 large shallot (finely chopped)
• 3/4 lb. cremini mushrooms (roughly chopped)
• 1/3 C. dry white wine
• 1/4 t. ground black pepper
• 2 T. chopped parsley
• Flour
• 1 (14 to 16 ounce) package of puff pastry
• 1 C. crumbled goat cheese
• 1 egg (whisked with 1/2 t. water)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with either parchment or a Silipat mat.
2. Divide your butternut cubes into two portions. Melt 1 T. butter over a medium-high heat. Put one portion of the butternut cubes into the hot skillet with the butter. The butternut squash cubes should lay on the pan in a single layer. The combination of the high heat and the butter will begin to caramelize the squash. Cook the squash for 4 minutes undisturbed. At 4 minutes, stir the squash and continue to cook for another 7 or 8 minutes. Watch the squash while it is cooking. You want it to caramelize but there is a fine line between that and burning. Remove from the pan and put into a bowl. Cook the other half of the butternut squash in 1 T. melted butter in the same way. At the end of the cooking, mix in the syrup, thyme, paprika and 1/4 t. salt. Cook for one more minute. Put this squash mixture into the bowl with the first half of the squash you cooked. Stir. Set aside.
3. Turn your heat to medium and melt the remaining 2 T. of butter in the same skillet that you used to cook the squash. Add the garlic and the shallot and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and the remaining salt to the skillet and cook until the mushrooms soften and release their juices. Continue to cook the mushrooms until their liquid evaporates (about 10 minutes). Add the wine, stir and cook until the wine evaporates (5 minutes). Stir the pepper and parsley into the mixture. Adjust seasonings. Set aside.
4. Lightly flour your working surface and unfold the defrosted puff pastry (follow directions for defrosting on the package). You will need one large sheet of the puff pastry (a 10 by 15 inch rectangle). Cut the puff pastry into two 5 inch by 15 inch rectangles. Leaving a 1/4 inch border around the edges of the puff pastry, arrange the chopped, cooked mushroom mixture down the center of the pastry. Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese over the mushrooms. Spoon the squash down the center of the mushrooms and cheese (you will want to make a thinner spread of the squash on top of the mushroom-cheese mixture (like a stripe of squash down the center of the mushrooms and cheese), leaving about a 1 1/2 inch border.
5. Brush the exposed edges of your pastry with egg wash. Grab the short ends of the pastry and fold them toward the middle, crimping the edges of pastry to seal them. Now, pinch the long sides of the pastry together to seal that part. Turn the puff pastry package over and place seam down on your prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of your pastry with egg wash and bake for approximately 30 minutes until it is puffed and golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and let the Wellington rest for a few minutes before cutting it. Cut into slices with a serrated knife and serve.

Nutrition

Calories

909 cal

Fat

66 g

Carbs

64 g

Protein

11 g

Click Here For Full Nutrition, Exchanges, and My Plate Info

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https://bluecayenne.com/butternut-squash-mushroom-wellington