Crunchy Iceberg Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese

 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but Ina has never let me down. Even with something as simple as the iconic wedge salad, Ina did it one better by slicing iceberg lettuce into “steaks,” as it were, in order to stretch further than the traditional wedge, make it heaps easier to eat, and a lot prettier. Here is her recipe, unadorned because it’s perfect as it is. The recipe is from her book Make It Ahead. The radishes in the picture I grew myself. I am most proud.

Crunchy Iceberg Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese

For the Dressing:

4 oz. Roquefort blue cheese, crumbled

⅔ c. good mayonnaise

⅓ c. plain Greek yogurt

1 T. sherry vinegar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad:

4 tender inside celery stalks, trimmed & sliced crosswise ¼”
6 radishes, trimmed and sliced into thin rounds

5 scallions, trimmed, white & green parts sliced ¼”

1 large head iceberg lettuce, wilted outer leaves removed

4 - 6 oz. Roquefort blue cheese, crumbled

Fleur de sel

For the dressing, place 4 oz. of blue cheese in a small bowl and microwave for 15 seconds, until it begins to melt. Place the mayonnaise, yogurt, warm blue cheese, sherry vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until smooth. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.

 For the salad, combine the celery, radishes, and scallions in a bowl. Slice the whole head of lettuce across to make four ¾-inch-thick round disks and place each on a dinner plate. Spoon the dressing on the lettuce and sprinkle on a quarter of the vegetable mixture. Distribute the remaining crumbled blue cheese on the salads, sprinkle with fleur de sel and pepper, and serve.

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Banana Crunch Muffins

It's been so noisy here all week with the roofers awakening us in the predawn hours that we've just been stumbling around the house muttering, "Coffee! Coffee!" able to do little else.  But this morning, having awakened to bird song, I figured it was time to get caught up with the weekend paper and have a nice hot muffin for breakfast.  This recipe is from Ina [Garten, the Barefoot Contessa] and is delicious!  Do NOT forgo the banana chips on top, they are wonderful.

BANANA CRUNCH MUFFINS

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

This post is linked to:
Real Food Wednesday
Cast Party Wednesdays
Wow Us Wednesday
Weekday Potluck

For more wonderful recipes from Ina, I highly recommend these books:

Date Nut Spice Bread with Orange Cream Cheese

Ina Garten's Date Nut Spice Bread with Orange Cream cheese makes for a delicious breakfast or afternoon snack with a hot cup of tea.  This morning I had it for breakfast and marveled, once again, at just how delicious this loaf is.  I had it warm from the oven with the cream cheese melting, ever so slightly into the dense, date-studded, spicy deliciousness.  I always make twice the amount of orange cream cheese as the recipe calls for, using the rest to pipe decoratively into hollowed out strawberries for dessert.

Date Nut Spice Bread

2 cups coarsely chopped dates (10 ounces pitted)

1/3 cup orange liqueur 

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 extra-large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grated orange zest (2 oranges)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans (3 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom of an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pan.

Combine the dates and orange liqueur in a small bowl and set aside for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl. With the mixer on low, add the egg, vanilla, and orange zest. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. With the mixer still on low, add the flour mixture alternately with the orange juice to the creamed mixture, beating only until combined. By hand, stir in the dates with their liquid, and the pecans.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, sugar, and orange zest on medium speed until just combined.

Slice the bread and serve with the orange cream cheese on the side for spreading.

This recipe can be found in:

Buy it!


This is linked to:

It's a good day for chicken soup...

...to warm you up inside and cure what ails you. We have some for now and some to freeze for later.

We're on the cusp of winter, so we have 65 degrees days followed by 45 degree days, in cases like this it's tough to know whether to make a hot soup or a cold one. Today I made both. This is a piping hot bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. I used Ina Garten's recipe, and trust me when I tell you that woman knows her chicken soup!

These will go into the freezer.  I try to freeze half of every batch of soup I make.

Here is the recipe (though I must confess I add a bit of chopped onion and some Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning). It's from Barefoot Contessa Family Style, a wonderful cookbook (as are all of her books). Buy them! Every one of them, you won't be sorry.

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

(Printable Recipe)

"Forget canned soup-this is the real thing. And wouldn't we all feel better after eating a bowl? I love having homemade chicken stock in the freezer so I can make this soup in a hurry."

1 whole (2 split) chicken breast, bone in, skin on

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 quarts homemade Chicken Stock

1 cup medium-diced celery (2 stalks)

1 cup medium-diced carrots (3 carrots)

2 cups wide egg noodles*

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breast on a sheet pan and rub the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred or dice the chicken meat.

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a large pot and add the celery, carrots, and noodles. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, until the noodles are cooked.

Add the cooked chicken meat and parsley and heat through. Season to taste and serve.

*I use Goodman's wide egg noodles.

Serves 6

Challah French Toast

How delicious does this look?  Well, let me tell you I've not had French Toast that tasted any better.  It was superb! I attribute part of it to the homemade challah that I made yesterday, and the other to Ina Garten's Challah French Toast recipe.  It's from her book Barefoot Contessa Family Style and it's worth buying the book for this recipe alone.  

Challah French Toast

6 extra-large eggs

1 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon good honey

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large loaf challah or brioche bread

Unsalted butter

Vegetable oil

To serve:

Pure maple syrup

Good raspberry preserves (optional)

Sifted confectioners' sugar (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, orange zest, vanilla, honey, and salt. Slice the challah in 3/4-inch thick slices. Soak as many slices in the egg mixture as possible for 5 minutes, turning once.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a very large saute pan over medium heat. Add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Place the cooked French toast on a sheet pan and keep it warm in the oven. Fry the remaining soaked bread slices, adding butter and oil as needed, until it's all cooked. Serve hot with maple syrup, raspberry preserves, and/or confectioners' sugar.

Slicing for French Toast making.