Beet Salad

Have you noticed beet salad popping up on every restaurant menu?! Remeber when it used to be the blue cheese and caramelized walnuts with cranberry combination? Well now beets are the new trendy salad star. I must say the best I have had was at Marche Moderne in Costa Mesa. It was served with this whipped goat cheese ice cream scoop creation. Sounds bizarre but it was light and delicious. I loved it. I have been ordering beet salad every time I see it on a menu, and finally decided I would try cooking them myself at home. It turned out to be pretty easy and was a Mothers Day brunch hit!

I found the recipe in one of my new cookbooks, Bouchon, by Thomas Keller. Another great wedding gift, thanks to Mr. Cameron Fine. I often read my cookbooks at night before bed. (WHAT?! That's not normal?) Anyway, don't be scared of roasting these delicious iron-rich treats.

Ingredients for the salad:

• Toasted walnuts (10 minutes on a cookie sheet in a 350 oven)


• 8 beets (I used both red and golden beets)


• goat cheese (I buy the log and then crumble myself)


• shallots


• Mache greens (sounds scary, but I am finding this salad green in most grocery stores now, even Trader Joes!)


• 1 tsp red wine vinegar

Cut off the greens of the beets and trim stems to about 1 inch. Toss them in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of water, salt and pepper. Roast in oven at 350, covered with foil, for about 50 minutes or until they can be easily pierced with a knife. Remove from oven and let cool. The recipe said to rub the warm beets with a paper towel to remove the skin but I found this advice confusing. It just didn't work for me. So I simply used a vegetable peeler, or you can use a small sharp knife.

Dice the beets and drizzle with a little olive oil and the red wine vinegar. Add the walnuts, shallots, and mache and toss in the vinaigrette below. Top with crumbled goat cheese.

Walnut Vinaigrette

• 1 tb Dijon mustard


• 1 tbs champagne vinegar


• 1/2 cup walnut oil


• 1tbs lemon juice


• 1 tsp honey (not in original recipe but I added it)


• salt and pepper

I don't have a picture of the final product because it was Mothers Day and I just plain forgot because we were all too excited to dig in. I think your family will love it too!

Love,

Sam

Where the Magic Happens

It may be small and crowded, but I am really making myself at home here. I love the open shelves and displaying all of my new fun wedding gifts. There is plenty of counter space and miraculously I have been able to fit everything. We also have a hutch in the living room holding my larger serving platters.

Some of my favorites things in this tiny culinary space:

• The light green kitchen aide. It is my grandmothers. She passed away while I was in college. My mom offered to buy me a new mixer as a wedding gift, but I think its so special to think about her every time I use it. A second copper bowl also came with it, but I am not sure of when to use the copper and when to use the metal. I need to do some research. And I love the color.
• Pasta maker (upper left shelf). I discovered this in the back of Michael's cabinets when I was cleaning them out to make room for me and all the new stuff. He thinks it is his friends, we haven't verified the owner, and so it sits on my shelf. I have only made pasta from scratch once, but I would love to give it a few more tries before it inevitably has to be returned.
• The (TWO!) french/dutch ovens. Obvi.
• The granite. It never looks dirty even when it is. Who wouldn't love that?
• The wide variety of vinegars and oils mostly purchased by my husband over the years. Why he has so many when he rarely cooks, I am not sure. I bet many of these were left from past roommates as well. I recently purchased a walnut oil and it is delicious. I used it in a vinaigrette for my beet salad on mothers day. (Post coming soon)

• The open spice rack. When I used to keep my spices in a cabinet, I would always forget about the items in the back. Now they are staring at me everyday and offer unexpected inspiration. (i.e. my addition of nutmeg to the creamed corn I made this week for my dads birthday).

Well, its cute and is mine and I am officially a nesting wife :)

I must also add a few pictures for my sweet husband, the household farmer. We are so lucky to have this little yard so close to the beach. He has planted a variety of herbs including oregano, parsley, mint, cilantro, and thyme. He also recently added raspberries, beans, beets, chard, and the latest addition was this little black chili plant that he bought at the Corona Del Mar farmers market this weekend.

Love,

Sam

Salmon

I generally prefer a sweeter marinade or glaze on my salmon, but I recently tried a new recipe with my sister and mom and it turned our pretty good. 3 simple ingredients in the marinade: fresh grated ginger, soy sauce, and chili sauce. I have tried the recipe with both a sweet or hot chili sauce, they both were great, but I prefer the spicier version. If you have never used fresh ginger before, do not be scared. Its in most grocery stores and it looks like a root. Peel the outside skin with a veggie peeler or knife, and grate like you would a carrot. Ginger is inexpensive and really adds a powerful flavor.

Marinade the fish for 30 minutes prior to baking. Reserve some of the sauce for serving. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 12-15 minutes depending on thickness of the fish. My mom taught be the best way to check if the fish is done it to gently twist a fork into the center of the fish, if the fish breaks apart, it is done. if its still mushy and pink, it needs to cook longer.

We served our salmon this night with stir-fried snap peas and asparagus. Healthy and easy!

Love,

Sam