Nicoise Salad

I AM NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE unrelenting heat wave that has us in its grip. I am not going to talk about living in an older, un-air conditioned home in the mountains. I am not going to talk about my love of summer.

What I will mention is that this is the first summer Pritchard Parker is not working in an air conditioned office all day but rather from home. And he is not enjoying it. He does not love summer. Even when he is not saying anything, he is saying plenty, if you know what I mean. The heat will break soon and he will be back to his usual good humor.

Meanwhile, I have been serving only cold food. If I need to do any cooking at all, like I did here with cooking the beets, potatoes, and eggs, I do it early in the morning before the afternoon sun beats down on our west facing kitchen.

By dinner time, the ingredients for this delicious and satisfying Nicoise salad will be cold and we will dine a little later. I made a simple lemony vinaigrette and chilled that as well.

Nicoise Salad
Washed, torn, and chilled lettuce
Oil packed tuna
Boiled eggs
Sliced Vidalia (or other sweet) onions
New potatoes, simmered until tender
Beets, simmered until tender
Tomato slices
Anchovy fillets
Calamata olives

Lemony Vinaigrette Dressing
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place lettuce on individual plates. Top with tuna, eggs, onions, potatoes, beets, and tomato. Garnish with anchovies and olives. Drizzle with lemony dressing.

Roasted Balsamic Beet Sandwich on Russian Rye

IT ALL STARTED WHEN PRITCHARD PARKER CAME HOME with a fresh loaf of Russian Rye Bread. I already had dinner well underway but we both enjoyed a slice of the bread with our meal. The bread was made with coffee and had minced onion throughout, it was still warm from the oven and it was excellent.

I thought about Borscht.

The next morning I remembered the large beets I had seen at the curb market the day before. Some of them had the circumference of a bread slice. I knew then I would make some kind of beet sandwich.

As I was sipping my morning tea, I was thinking about how to make a beet sandwich.  Once I concluded, in my wavering mind that I would simply use a thick slice, a slab, of beet I started pondering cheese. First I thought of Feta. Then I jumped to Gorgonzola. But neither of those seemed to be inspiring me and I realized it was because I wanted goo. I used Mozzarella.

Parboiling the beets for a few minutes makes them much easier to slice and peel.

Roasted Balsamic Beet Sandwich on Russian Rye Bread
Beets
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Balsamic vinegar
Mozzarella cheese
Shaved sweet onions
Chopped or sliced arugula or other greens
Good sturdy bread of choice

Parboil beets, depending on size, for 10 - 20 minutes, until they are not so hard. Drain and cool. Peel beets and slice into slabs. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Oven roast at 400 degrees until tender and beginning to caramelize around the edges, another 10 - 20 minutes, depending on size. Once they are tender, sprinkle with Balsamic vinegar to taste.

Slice cheese and place onto bread slices. Put under the broiler until the cheese is melting and beginning to brown. Add a slice of beet and top each sandwich with shaved onions and shredded sandwich greens.

Put top onto sandwich and press down. Slice in half and serve.

Red Flannel Hash

I LOVE THE NAME RED FLANNEL HASH. It sounds so appealing, cozy, and comfortable. Also bright and cheerful. I first heard of Red Flannel Hash from the fictional, smart-mouth tough guy with a heart of gold character, Spenser, a Boston based Private Investigator, in a series of books written by Robert B. Parker.

In many cases, while investigating, Spenser would get out of the rain, and of course he would be drenched (and remember tough guys don't use umbrellas) by going into a warm diner and ordering a steaming cup of coffee along with Red Flannel Hash. After this happened on more than one occasion, I started wondering, what the heck is Red Flannel Hash?  So I "investigated".

Red Flannel Hash is corned beef hash with the addition of beets. After my husband's favorite meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage, I usually make either Reuben sandwiches or Corned Beef Hash with the leftovers. After I learned about Red Flannel Hash, my hash changed forever. We love beets anyway and adding them to hash transforms its flavor and gives it such a beautiful color.

I don't think you need a hard and fast recipe for a dish called hash, but this is more or less what I did.

Red Flannel Hash

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups diced potatoes

2 cups chopped leftover corned beef

2 cups cooked beets, diced

Freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter and oil in a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium heat. Add in the chopped onion and potatoes. Cook and stir until they are tender. Toss in the corned beef and beets. Mix together and continue cooking until everything is hot and beginning to brown. Top with freshly ground black pepper. There should be enough salt from the corned beef, but taste and add some if you like.

Serve with eggs and some of your leftover Irish Soda Bread.