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.

Chop Suey

 THERE ARE MANY VARIATIONS OF Chinese-American Chop Suey. At first, I didn't feel sure about even calling this stir-fry meal Chop Suey. One glimpse at Google Images, and all the variations, gave me the confidence to go ahead and all it Chop Suey. After all it is not even a traditional Chinese dish at all but rather one invented in California, out of necessity, by a Chinese-American Chef.

Any protein (or none) can be used--chicken, beef, pork, tofu. I had a couple of thick cut pork chops in the freezer, so I used those. Any vegetables can also be used. I used onion, garlic, celery, carrot, red bell pepper, cremini mushrooms, water chestnuts, and bok choy. Bamboo shoots, broccoli, and bean sprouts would also be delicious.

Most times, when I make a stir-fry, I serve it with rice. This time I wanted to use noodles. The noodles we used were called "Chinese Noodles" and we found them in the Asian section of our grocery store. Any noodles can be used--udon, soba, rice noodles, cellophane, or even vermicelli.

The recipe I am giving is enough to serve 6 people. Since we are a family of 3, I divided the ingredients and cooked it fresh 2 times, rather than making the whole recipe and having leftovers. Stir-fry wants to be served fresh.

Chop Suey
8 ounces pork, thinly sliced
Vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup celery, sliced on a diagonal
1 cup carrots, sliced on a diagonal
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 (8oz.) can sliced water chestnuts
1 large bunch bok choy, coarsely chopped

Sauce
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (to taste)
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger (to taste)
Water

6 ounces Chinese noodles, cooked according to package directions

Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat, in a wok or large skillet. Add the pork; cook, stirring until the pork begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove meat from the wok and set aside. If needed, add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet.

Begin adding the vegetables to the skillet, cooking and stirring after each addition. While cooking the vegetables, mix the sauce ingredients in a 1 cup measure, adding water up to the 1 cup mark. Stir until thoroughly dissolved. Cook noodles according to package directions. (Our noodles cooked in 2 minutes).

When the vegetables are to your liking, add the meat back to the wok and stir. Add the sauce, stirring for about a minute until beginning to thicken. Stir in the cooked noodles.

Serve piping hot and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Vegetarian Cuban Picadillo

THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT A DISH that has both briny, bitter olives and plump, sweet raisins that makes my palate very happy. Warming spices make the flavor almost perfect.

Cuban Picadillo is ordinarily made with ground meat. Because my husband and I have both been feeling squeamish about commercially produced ground beef lately, I decided to substitute lentils for the meat, which was perfect. The final result was absolutely scrumptious.

Vegetarian Cuban Picadillo
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large potato, diced
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. oregano
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 cups cooked lentils
1/2 cup Spanish olives
1/2 cup golden raisins
Salt and pepper to taste

Warm olive olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and bell pepper; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic and stir for a few seconds. Add diced potato and continue to saute for a few more minutes. Add cinnamon, cumin, oregano, bay leaves, and tomato paste. Stir to combine well. Add the whole tomatoes and break up with a wooden spoon. Stir in red wine vinegar. Add cooked lentils, olives, and raisins. Stir well and add salt and pepper to taste. Cover pan and simmer for about 30 minutes until everything is very tender.

Taste and correct seasonings.

Serve with rice.

Beef Bourguignon

MY HUSBAND AND I DECIDED to spend the afternoon in the kitchen making Beef Bourguignon,
He wanted to make it in honor of a beloved chef and I wanted to make it because I had never eaten it, much less cooked it, and felt that was a gaping hole in my culinary experience.

We wanted this to be authentic and were happy and willing to spend the time sourcing ingredients and cooking. I did a lot of reading about the history of this dish, and reviewing recipes. I also watched videos, including one of Julia Child herself making this.

Julia recommended serving the Beef Bourguignon with buttered and parslied new potatoes and French green beans (haricot vert). Ina recommended toasting slices of French bread and rubbing with a garlic clove to soak up the scrumptious gravy, so we did that too.

We were both very happy with the way this amazing dish turned out. It is easy to  see   taste why this has become a well loved classic. I can truly say this was the best meal I have ever eaten.

Beef Bourguinon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

6 ounces bacon, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 1/2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 2-inch chunks
Salt
Pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced into chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 bottle medium bodied dry red wine (we used Pinot Noir)
2 cups beef broth
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
5 Tbsp. room temperature butter, divided
3 Tbsp. flour
1 pound fresh baby onions, peeled
1 pound fresh mushrooms, halved or quartered

In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove bacon to a plate.

While the bacon is cooking, dry the beef chunks very well. Salt and pepper generously.

Cook the beef in the fat in the pan, in batches, until well-browned on all sides. Place on plate with the bacon.

Place the carrots and onions in the pan, adding a little olive oil if needed. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the meat back to the pan with the vegetables. Add the wine, the beef broth, tomato paste,  and the thyme. Bring to a simmer, then cover with a tight fitting lid and place in oven for about 3 hours, until the meat and vegetables are very tender. Check after 2 hours.

Stir together 3 tablespoons butter with the flour, until smooth. When the stew comes out of the oven, stir in the mixture until smooth.

Saute mushroom, in remaining butter, for about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Add to the stew. Add the baby onions to the pan and cook until almost tender. Add them to the stew. Simmer, on top of the stove, for about 15 minutes. Season to taste.