It's a Date!

My favorite cousin, Vickie, recently reached a major milestone birthday.  Her daughter, Laura, (who moved to my town a few months ago) planned a big family dinner/party.  My hat is off to her since she was still in the midst of unpacking her boxes from the move and had only a few days before given birth to her second child!  If I had done just ONE of those things, I would be giving myself the rest of the year off.  Laura did it with ease.  Okay, where was I? Oh yes, birthday dinner/party.  Several people came from out-of-town, so they were excused from the "would you bring ____ " part of the dinner/party preparations.

I was happy to be a contributing member to the event's menu.  I love being asked to bring something to a food fest.  I know this is WRONG - you're not supposed to try new recipes on company.  But, I figure it's my chance to experiment on unsuspecting and possibly normally unwilling victims - um, guinea pigs.

Since I already have a reputation in the family for bringing 'an interesting salad', that is exactly what I was asked to do.  It was late October and I wanted to bring a seasonal salad.  Only problem was, I had no idea what kind of salad would be considered a fall or autumn salad.  A spring salad is easy.  Baby greens, tiny radishes, anything that grows quick and early.  Even a summer salad easily brings to mind things like tomatoes, cucumbers - things that flourish in the heat of summer.  But, when I tried to imagine a fall or autumn salad, nothing came to me.

Back to my trusty favorite recipe idea locations.  Old cookbooks, new cookbooks, foodie-type magazines, newspaper clippings, Internet searches, my mom's recipe box, and two boxes full of recipes torn out of magazines.

I think the inspiration for this salad came mostly from a recipe I found while doing an Internet search.  As usual, I've personalized it to my taste and the occasion.  Truthfully, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it.  But, it has all the ingredients of autumn.  Large leafy greens, Satsuma mandarins, dates (now you get the title, right?), nuts...

It turned out to be one of the best salads I've tried in a very long time.  Unbeknownst to me, my dear cousin (the birthday girl) is NOT a date fan.  In fact, she told me later that she doesn't eat dates - doesn't like them and doesn't want to like them.  But, because I brought the salad and it looked 'real interesting' she decided to give it a try.  She sounded a little surprised as she spoke these words, "I haven't eaten a date in years.  I still don't like them and don't plan to eat them anytime soon.  But in this salad, WOW!"

 

The salad itself sounded seasonal enough, it was the salad dressing the was completely different from what I was expecting.  It was light and refreshing.  A wonderful contrast to the nuts and dates.  And, it was very easy to make.  Anything that starts with the jest of something is tops in my book!

 

So, here you have it.  My version of an autumnal salad with a light and refreshing dressing.  Easy to transport (prior to assembly).  So good, that I've made twice since then and had multiple requests for the recipe.  I share it now with you, too.  I hope you'll try it...whether it's autumn or spring or summer or winter...It's a Date!

Autumn Seasonal Salad

Ingredients

½	c hazelnuts (aka filberts) pieces
4-6	Satsuma mandarins (about 1½ lbs total)
6	Medjool dates (about ¼ lb total)
1	T lemon juice
2	T extra-virgin olive oil
8	c lightly packed 3-inch pieces rinsed and crisped butter lettuce
	salt
	pepper

Directions

1. If you can’t find packaged roasted & skinned hazelnut pieces at your grocery, put hazelnuts in an 8- or 9-inch pan. Bake in a 350° oven until golden beneath skins, 12 to 15 minutes. Pour onto a towel; let cool. Rub nuts in towel to remove loose skins. Lift nuts from towel and reserve; discard skins. Coarsely chop hazelnuts into pieces.

2. Grate ½ t peel from one Satsuma mandarin. Cut mandarin in half and ream ¼ c juice; you may need to use another mandarin. Put peel and juice in a small pint-size canning jar. Peel remaining Satsuma mandarins, carefully removing as much of the white strings as possible. Pull each mandarin apart into halves. Cut halves crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Set aside.

3. Pit dates and quarter lengthwise. Set aside.

4. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, & pepper to the peel and juice in the canning jar.  Shake well.

5. When ready to assemble salad, place lettuce in a large bowl or on a large platter.  Add Satsuma slices, sprinkle with dates & hazelnuts.  Drizzle salad dressing (give it another good shake first) over all.  Adjust seasonings as needed.

Can you DO that?

Everyone got the same puzzled look on their face and asked the same question.  "Can you DO that?"  It didn't seem so impossible.

My friend, Linda, had invited the usual suspects over for a pre-Easter, Holy Saturday, dinner.  Our weather had been typically dismal and damp.  So, she thought it would be appropriate to serve a hearty-meaty stew.  And, at the time we were planning the menu, it sounded wonderful.  (More about the weather later.)

Suddenly she asked, "What will your husband eat?"  As you may recall, he's our resident vegetarian.  Without thinking, I said, "Oh, I'll make a veggie stew."  That's when I got The Look and The Question for the first time.  Since then, I've seen it (and heard it) every time the pre-Easter, Holy Saturday dinner menu was discussed.

I'm here to tell you, people, that it IS possible to make a hearty, if not so meaty, stew!  It's all about flavor and the way to start building flavor from the get-go is with our tri-colored favorite, mirepoix.

It doesn't stop there.  Each addition to the pot is more flavor and more yumminess (is that a word?  or perhaps I've spelled it wrong?).  In place of meat, I used two kinds of mushrooms - button and brown (or baby Portobellos).

Of course, it has red potatoes, carrots, and peas to round out the typical stew flavors.  It's those smaller additions to the pot that make a big difference, though.  Red onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, diced tomatoes, etc...  

One ingredient in particular had me intrigued.  I couldn't imagine putting it in my stew.  And, I was just sure it would ruin the pot.  After wavering back and forth several times, I eventually did put it in even though I had serious doubts.  Happily, I was wrong.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  It really did make a difference.  ...Are you curious yet?..  Oh, just keep reading, you'll figure it out.

To set the record straight, I can't take full credit for this recipe.  I adapted it from several that I found in cookbooks and online.  Ultimately, it's my own.  But, like any good recipe, it's built on ideas gathered from others.  So, to all those chefs who inspired me, thank you!  Of course, I think MY recipe is BETTER than yours.  But, seriously, I couldn't have done it without you.

Well, enough babbling.  Here it is:  My version of a vegetarian stew.  Oh!  Here's the best part...guess who ate most of it?  You got it - the carnivores.  Um. Did I mention the piping hot, fresh-from-the-oven Popovers I made to go with the stew?  What's that?  You want that recipe, too?

Veggie Stew

Ingredients

2	T olive oil
1	medium onion, minced
2	medium carrots, minced
4	stalks celery hearts, minced
1	medium red onion, chopped
1 ¼	lbs baby Portobello mushrooms, stems discarded, caps halved and then sliced ½-inch thick
10	oz button mushrooms, stems trimmed and then mushrooms quartered
3	medium garlic cloves, minced
1	t minced fresh rosemary
½	t dried thyme
½	c white wine
1	T mushroom seasoning
3	c vegetable stock
1 ½	t kosher salt
1	can petite diced tomatoes in purée
2	bay leaves (don’t forget to fish them out at the end!)
1	lb carrots (about 6-7 medium), peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ½	lbs red potatoes (about 6-7 medium), peeled, quartered, and crosscut into 1-inch chunks
1	T cornstarch
1	T cold water
1	c frozen peas
¼	c minced fresh parsley leaves (curly or flat-leaf)
1	T balsamic vinegar (I know! weird, huh?!)

Directions

1.        Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.
2.        Add the minced onion, carrot, and celery, and sauté, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to brown, about 10 minutes.
3.        Add the red onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
4.        Add the Portobello and button mushrooms, raise the heat to medium-high, and sauté until the liquid the release has been evaporated, about 10 minutes.
5.        Add the garlic, rosemary, and thyme and cook for 30 seconds.
6.        Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pot.*
7.        Cook until the wine is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
8.        Add the mushroom seasoning, stock, salt, tomatoes, bay leaf, carrots, and potatoes, and bring to a boil.
9.        Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the carrots and potatoes are tender, about 35 minutes.
10.     Mix the cornstarch and with water to form a smooth paste.
11.     Stir the paste into the stew and cook until the liquid thickens, 1 to 2 minutes.
12.     Turn off the heat, stir in the peas, cover, and let stand until the peas are hot, 3 to 4 minutes.
13.     Stir in the parsley and balsamic vinegar, discard the bay leaf, and adjust the seasonings. Serve immediately.

*If you don't cook with wine, just add an equal amount of stock and skip the reduction in the next step.

NOTE:  I did all the chopping, mincing, slicing, etc... before I ever turned on a burner.  It made the actual cooking time easy.  It was a lot of prep, but totally worth it!

Oh, yes.  The weather.  It turned out to be a FABULOUS, perfect Northwest Spring Day.  Sunny and warm (but, not hot).  Stew and Popovers didn't really match the day.  But, we didn't care one little bit. 

Who Needs a Recipe?

Unlike the rest of the population, I am NOT a football fan.  Well, let's just correct that statement.  Unlike the rest of the population, I am NOT a sports fan.  Okay, one more try.  Unlike the rest of the population, I am NOT a sports watching fan (I do enjoy participating in a game of 'fill-in-the-blank' ball - like volleyball or softball...just don't make me WATCH it on TV!).  I think you get the picture here.  Given that background, you'll understand why I duck and/or walk the other direction when people start talking about THE football game of the year.  Not interested.

Thankfully, God (in His infinite wisdom) didn't saddle me up with a man who is an avid sport watcher.  He doesn't hate watching sports, he just doesn't go out of his way to watch sports. Most of the year, I'm in good shape. Until late January or early February.  This is when he'll waver.  People who never invite us over are suddenly asking if we want to come over and watch THE game.  Not just one invitation, either.  Many.  In the 20+ years we've been married, I think I've only had to watch THE game three or maybe four times.  I promise you, I have not missed much!!!  It's usually hours and hours of time outs and pile ups, punctuated with mass quantities of food.  Not regular food - like a meal - mostly junk food or 'nibbles' as my friend Miz Margaret would call it.  Usually, I'm happy to send my husband off to watch THE game with the invitors while I stay home and clean out a closet (or some other spectacularly fascinating project).

I'm happy to report that there is one aspect of THE game that I don't mind.  It's usually my salvation.  I ALWAYS offer to bring food.  Then I have an excuse for not watching THE game.  After all, I'm very very busy fussing with the food.  A few years ago I made about 50 sliders.  It took forever.  And the game was on in the OTHER room!  :)  See, I have my ways.

This year he roped me into going with him. Oh, I was happy to spend time with the lovely friends who invited us over. And, I was happy to visit and laugh and eat. But, in the background THE game was on and I felt obligated to watch occasionally. Happily, we talked and laughed enough that we totally missed the 'lights-out' event until it was well towards its mid-point. So, you see, I wasn't suffering.

You might ask, what did I bring this year?  Well, as I was jetting through the grocery store the morning of THE game, I found they had tomatoes, limes, onions, cilantro, jalapenos, & avocados stacked up near the giant tortilla chip display.  Somehow the thought of fresh salsa and guacamole popped into my head.

Once home with my bag of freshness, I just started chopping and stirring.  It wasn't until 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the friends' home that I thought, "Huh.  I wonder if I should have looked for a recipe?"  In hindsight, I've discovered that I may have left out one ingredient.  But, in truth, I didn't miss it.  And, I don't know that it would have made any great difference in the taste.  Maybe I'll use a recipe next time.

 

Salsa

INGREDIENTS

½	sweet onion, minced very fine (I don’t like raw onion, so it has to be invisible)
2	cloves garlic, minced very VERY fine
1-2	jalapenos, seeded & minced very fine (it should feel warm in your mouth, you don’t want to find giant chunk of hot)
4-5	tomatoes, diced
¼	c lime juice (from one lime – I also added the zest from that lime)
½	bunch cilantro, washed, leaves picked from stems, and minced.
½	t kosher salt
½	t freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Note: Put away your food processor and get out your chef's knife. This has to be done by hand or you'll have tomato mush.

When you're done with all the chopping, mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Let them get acquainted for about an hour (at room temperature) before serving with tortilla chips.  I used 'Hint of Lime' chips...yummy! 

Guacamole

INGREDIENTS

½	sweet onion, minced very fine (I don’t like raw onion, so it has to be invisible
2	cloves garlic, minced very VERY fine
1-2	jalapenos, seeded & minced very fine (it should feel warm in your mouth, you don’t want to find giant chunk of hot)
1-2	roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
¼	c lime juice (from one lime – I also added the zest from that lime)
½	bunch cilantro, washed, leaves picked from stems, and minced.
8-10	avocados, cut in half, pits removed, cut into large chunks (in their skins), and scooped out with a spoon
½	t kosher salt
½	t freshly ground black pepper

Directions

NOTE:  Time to use your knife skills.  Get out that chef's knife and start chopping.  Until you get to the avocado, then use a small paring knife.

 

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Resist the urge to smash the avocado with a fork!  It will break down a bit because of the lime juice and doesn't need any help.  Let the ingredients get acquainted for about an hour (at room temperature) before serving with tortilla chips. I used 'Hint of Lime' chips...yummy!