Deconstructed Caesar Salad

Ingredients

• 1/4 tightly packed Ice Burg Lettuce per person
• 1 prosciutto slice per person
• 2-3 cherry tomatoes per person, sliced in half
• 1 slice of dark rye toasted
• 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese finely grated

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 large + 1 small clove garlic minced finely or microplaned
• a couple of drops of fish sauce (from Thai stores)
• 2-3 tbso EV olive oil
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Prepare dressing by mixing all ingredients well.
2. Crisp the prosciutto slices under a broiler, watching carefully as it burns easily. Blot with paper towel and set aside.
3. Rub dressing on all sides of the Ice Burg, let stand to absorb the flavours.
4. Rub the small clove of garlic on the toast, sprinkle with Parmesan and return to broiler so Parmesan melts (1-2 minutes).
5. Grill Ice Burg Lettuce on a very hot grill for about 1 minute per side.
6. Plate Ice Burg lettuce, prosciutto, cherry tomatoes and Parmesan toast.
7. Drizzle with remaining dressing.
8. Serve immediately.

We’re having birthday month girl Pam and her new beau Don with Barb and Kevin for dinner tonight. I would have like to make a really supper fancy dinner, but work has been a bear this week (pulled a mid-nighter on Wednesday, which, I have to admit is not too bad – maybe one or two a year – but, I’m not 21 anymore! Really, I’m not. Oh, just stop it!!!!).
It’s exciting because tonight is Earth Hour between 8:30 and 9:30 where you make every effort to turn off ALL your lights. So we will be eating by candle light (thank goodness I have a gas stove!)
Here is the menu:

• Hors d’oeuvres: JT’s Artisan Pizza with Goats Cheese, Prosciutto and Baby Spinach
• Amuse Bouche: (my new favourite) Leek and Potato Cappuccino with Gruyere crème

• Salad: Boston Bib with Pears Poached in Spiced Balsamic Vinegar, Candied Spicy Walnuts and Crumbled Stilton with a Balsamic Raspberry Vinegrette

• Main: Mushroom and Chestnut Barley Risotto with Seared Giant Scallops and a Lemon Sage Butter Sauce
• Dessert: Birthday Normandy Apple Tart, complete with a candle.

Not sure if there will be new photos, but I will surely post new recipes shortly.

• 7-8 larg e scallops (these were about 1 oz each!)
• 7-8 Prosciutto slices
• 3 cups Arugula
• 1 ripe tomato
• 10 cauliflower florets
• 1 tsp olive oil

1. Dry scallops well and wrap tightly with prosciutto and hold in place with a toothpick.
2. Preheat griddle to high, and place prosciutto wrapped scallops on. Cook until grill marks appear (about 1-2 minutes each side, depending on how large scallops are). Turn 45° to get the great grill marks shown in the photo! Note that wet scallops will not allow grill marks, scallops must be bone dry to get this to happen.
3. Plate 1 1/2 cups of arugula on each plate, arrange with sliced tomatoes, cauliflower florets, and 3-4 scallops.
4. Drizzle with Balsamic and olive oil.
5. Enjoy!

Serves 2

Check it out at Foodista!

We had Anna, André, Barb and Kevin for dinner Saturday night. It was a bit of a challenge because Anna is a vegetarian (no fish, but she does eat dairy and eggs). I love these types of challenges – it really tests my creative and cooking abilities.

Barb & Kevin

André

Menu

• H.D.: Roasted Red Peppers with Sheeps Milk Feta and Balsamic Reduction
• Amuse Bouche for the carnivores: Chicken Liver Paté on Chive Biscuits and a dalop of Fig Confit
• Amuse Bouche for Anna: Chesnut Paté on Chive Biscuits and a dalop of Fig Confit (this turned out great, I will post the recipe shortly)
• Appi: Boston Bibb, Poached Pears, Caramalized Walnuts and Stilton Salad with Balsamic Reduction dressing
• Main: Contemporary Chicken Cordon Bleu on a bed of navy bean risotto, drizzled with a taragon sauce (Anna will get roasted eggplant rolled with mozerella)
• Dessert: Anna is bringing a wonderful flourless chocolate cake. Anna makes amazing desserts! Recipe to come, photo below.

Roasted Red Peppers and Sheeps Milk Feta (check it out on Foodista)

• 4-5 Red Peppers (try to get some with heavier flesh)
• 250 g Sheeps Milk Feta
• Olive oil
• Toothpicks

1. Pre heat broiler to high.
2. Cut Peppers in half and rub generously with olive oil.
3. Place each pepper cut side down on a cookie sheet and place in oven in relatively close proximity to the burners. Watch carefully as you want the skins to darken but not catch on fire!
4. Broil until the skins are black. Remove from oven and place the peppers into a thick freezer style zip lock bag (or in a glass bowl and cover with cello) for about 1/2 hour.
5. Remove from bag or bowl and remove skins (they should easily peel away, if not, put them back and allow to sweat a bit more).
6. Slice roasted red peppers into about 1″ x 4+” slices. Cut feta into about 1/2″ x 1″ rectangles. Roll the feta in the red peppers and skewer with a toothpick. repeat until all the feta and or red pepper are used.
7. Display on a plate with the toothpick facing upward (for easy access) and lightly drizzle with balsamic and olive oil.
8. This may be made 1 to 2 days in advance and kept in an airtight container in the fridge.

Anna’s Flourless Chocolate Torte

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup water
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 150g butter
• 1 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 125 g ground almonds
• 4 eggs separated
• 300 g raspberries
• 200g dark chocolate
• 2/3 cup whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease  22 cm round spring form pan.
2. Line base and side with parchment paper.
3. Blend cocoa and water in large bowl.
4. Melt butter with 150 g of chocolate in microwave.
5. Stir into cocoa mixture, along with sugar, ground almonds and egg yolks.
6. Beat egg whites in small bowl until soft peaks form.
7. Fold into chocolate mix in 2 batches.
8. Pour into prepared pan and cook @ 1 hour. Stand cake to cool for 15 minutes. Remove sides and cool completely on wire rack. When completely cool, remove all paper and transfer onto plate.
9. Place raspberries on top of cake.
10. Heat remaining 200 g of chocolate with cream until melted. Drizzle chocolate on top of raspberries. Leave the cake at room temperature until chocolate sets.

Serves 12

Poaching Liquid

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (use the same wine you will serve with dinner!)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar (if pears are sweet, no need to add a lot of sugar!)
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 pear (1/2 each serving)

Dressing

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 slices bacon slided into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
• 1 medium shallot diced finely

Salad

• 6 dates, pitted and chopped coarsly
• 1/4 cup Stilton, crumbled into medium sized bits
• 4 cups mixed flavourful greens (arugula, endive, radicchio, escarole)
• 1/8 cup chopped nuts

1. In a large saucepan, bring water, wine and sugar to a boil.
2. Peel and core the pear, slice in half.
3. Place the pears cut side down into the poaching liquid and cover and simmer for about 25 minutes or until knife tender.
4. Remove from poaching liquid and set pears aside to cool.
5. In a large non-reactive sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add bacon and sauté until crisp. Remove bacon and drain off excess oil. Add another tsp of olive oil and toast walnuts until crispy. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
6. Add another tsp of olive oil to same sauté pan (no need to wash) and sauté shallots until tender.
7. Add balsamic vinegar and warm. Add dijon to emulsify the pan juices and the balsamic and keep warm.
8. Lay a bed of greens on a simple white plate. Place the pears just off centre and crumble the stilton into the core area and allow to cascade off the pear to the greens. Evenly distribute the bacon, dates and walnuts on each plate of greens. Pour 1/2 the warm dressing over each of the salads (this will wilt the greens. Try to avoid the cheese so it won’t melt!)
9. Salt and Pepper to taste
10. Enjoy!