The Gifts of Spring

Spring shows her face in different ways around the world. In the Northern hemisphere it can be cold, windy, rainy, snowy, warm, foggy, or even hot. We started out this spring with duck weather; a good half inch fell today and is greatly appreciated since our weather since January has been drier than normal. I love it that I can go out tomorrow and have an easier time weeding. Since I keep talking about it you probably think that I've weeded acres by now, but the truth is I can only do about an hour of weeding a day (still getting my strength back) so it is ongoing.

One of the gifts of spring is asparagus. We have been eating it almost daily now that the price is reasonable. Usually we just steam it or put the spears on the grill for quick cooking. Today I used two other gifts of spring to make a stunning composed salad. Our across-the-street neighbors gifted us with fresh, pale blue shelled chicken eggs from their own chicken coop. Sweetie could tell you a tale about herding chickens for them and low hanging eaves in the coop, but since he survived to tell the tale, you'll have to ask him what happened. The same neighbors gave us a bag of freshly picked mixed salad greens. All of these combined to make a lovely salad.

A couple of years ago I read a recipe by our excellent local food writer, Michele Anna Jordan, where she used softly cooked eggs to top lightly dressed salad greens. She also combined asparagus and scrambled eggs. I sort of took those and mixed them together and cooked the eggs as over-easy ones. You still get the runny yolks like the soft cooked eggs, but now it is running over both the greens and the cooked and warm asparagus. I threw in some roasted golden beets that were waiting in the fridge and made a very simple vinaigrette. I kept the shaved Parmesan and really liked the interplay of soft with crunchy, warm with cold and the variety of flavors, too. I plated the salad into big, red soup bowls and it make quite an impressive presentation.

I think the trick to making this recipe work is timing...and excellent ingredients. If possible, use farm fresh eggs, high quality salad greens, and fresh asparagus that still have tightly closed tips. Have the asparagus ready to steam or microwave, the salad greens washed and dried, the chunk of Parmesan ready to shave, and the beet slices and dressing ready to go. Have the pan, butter, and eggs ready at the stove. It all goes together quickly after that, so have everyone ready to sit down to this dish as soon as possible after it is plated. I only made two servings. I think one could make four and still get it all plated quickly. Beyond that things that should be warm might get cold.

Spring Salad with Asparagus, Beets and Fried Egg
serves 2

6-8 spears asparagus, ends trimmed
3-4 cups fresh mixed salad greens, washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
one beet, roasted until tender, skin removed, sliced into at least 6 slices and chilled
2 eggs, farm fresh if possible
a chunk of Parmesan cheese to shave about 1 tablespoon from
vinaigrette - recipe below

Place prepared asparagus in a steamer or microwave steamer. Set aside.

In a medium bowl toss the mixed greens with 2/3 of the vinaigrette to lightly coat. Add the beet slices and toss to coat them with the vinaigrette. Portion half of the dressed greens in each of two large salad plates or bowls. Top with the dressed beet slices, at least 3 per portion.

Fry the two eggs in a skillet or cast iron frying pan, using a bit of melted butter to keep them from sticking. While the eggs are cooking, steam the asparagus until barely tender.

Flip the eggs to cook the tops of the yolk briefly. Place the steamed asparagus on top of the dressed greens in the middle of the plate or bowl, dividing them between the servings. Top the asparagus with the eggs, one egg per serving. Use the tip of the spatula to break the yolk so it runs over the asparagus. Shave some Parmesan over each salad (about 1/2 tablespoon each). Serve at once.

Simple Vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon type mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake to emulsify and combine completely. Taste and adjust to your taste (you might want more lemon juice for instance, or more pepper).

Spring Strawberries

Although the plants in my garden haven't yet produced ripe strawberries, only little green ones, the strawberries from Watsonville, just south of San Francisco, have started to arrive in the stores. It's time for strawberry delights.

Over the weekend I was in L.A. for the annual P.E.O. Conference. I attended as a delegate last year when it was in San Jose and was again a delegate. I won't take up time on the conference itself, but do want to show you the dessert from Saturday night, which was the main banquet.

It's a white chocolate box, topped with a glazed strawberry and plated over a swirl of strawberry syrup. Inside the little box are four thin layers of vanilla sponge cake, each layer separated by lemon buttercream, and the layers had a brush of strawberry syrup before the buttercream was applied. The cake was delicious, but the white chocolate box was difficult to eat, although very pretty.

Now that I'm home again, it's time to eat some spring greens, too. Today for lunch I had a salad of fresh mixed greens, sliced fresh strawberries, grilled chicken slices, and a sprinkle of candied walnuts. The dressing was a raspberry vinaigrette made with walnut oil. Light and tasty.

Strawberry and Chicken Salad

Serves 2

2 large handfuls of fresh mixed greens, washed and dried

6 medium to large fresh ripe strawberries, washed and hulled

1 chicken breast

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

1/8 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup candied walnuts

Strawberry-Walnut Vinaigrette (recipe below)

DIRECTIONS
Place one large handful of fresh greens on each person's plate.

Slice the strawberries. If large, cut through the slices to make smaller pieces. Place half of the strawberry slices on each plate, scattering evenly over the lettuce. Set aside

Heat a small cast iron skillet over medium-hot heat. (if you prefer, use a non-stick skillet and less or no oil). Add the grapeseed oil and allow it to heat. While oil is heating, butterfly the chicken breast so that the pieces are more even in thickness. Sprinkle with the garlic salt.

Place chicken breast in hot oil and cook until just opaque and lightly browned on one side, about 3-5 minutes depending on size of the chicken breast.

Remove from the pan to a cutting board and slice into bite sized slices. Place half of the chicken slices on each salad. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the nuts on each salad and dress with the Strawberry-Walnut Vinaigrette to taste.

Serve while chicken is still warm.

Strawberry-Walnut Vinaigrette

6 medium to large fresh ripe strawberries

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cup walnut oil (or olive oil if unavailable)

salt and pepper to taste

Dice the berries, then mash them with a fork in a small bowl. Rub through a food mill or fine mesh strainer, retaining the juices and discarding the seeds.

In a bowl large enought to whisk in, place the strawberry juice and vinegar. Whisk in the oil until emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Keep any remaining in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator.

Two Memes and An 'Empty' Jar of Mustard

I've been so bad! January disappeared in a flash and I never posted the Meme that Lisa of La Mia Cucina tagged me for at the beginning of January. Well, I don't feel too guilty, 'cuz she was sort of slow getting her's done, too. Anyhoo, taking some time worked well because I can do a two-fer since Celeste of Sugar and Spice tagged me today for another Meme. If you've had enough of these memes but want to see what I have to say about an empty jar of mustard, just scroll down and be glad theres lots of stuff about me you'll never have to know. Heh heh.

If you get tagged, you will know because I'll comment on your blog. It's entirely optional, but can be fun, too.

So c'mon...here we go...

INSTRUCTIONS:Select five people to tag - mine are:

1. Technicolor Kitchen - Patricia

2. The Picky Apple - Cara

3. Food Blogga - Susan

4. Apples and Spice - Katie

5. Yumbrosia - Aoife

Next, send them an e-mail or let them know by commenting on their blog that they have been tagged. They are then encourage to select 5 different bloggers and to tag them.
Here are the things to blog about:

What were you doing 10 years ago?
1998 – Well, I was on our local School Board, Secretary of the West Sonoma County School Board Association (and charter member), working out near Occidental for an OB-GYN doctor, taking my son to the local junior college so he and his friends could take college level computer classes, even though they were sophomores and juniors in high school at the time, doing stained glass pieces for a hobby, and going on regular dates with Sweetie and regular walks with friends.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Feb. 2007 - New job and really getting into blogging. Working, baking, cooking, getting ready to start veggie seeds,

Treasurer for PEO local chapter, starting to let my hair go to gray, but decided not to after a very short while…I like it the color that my hairdresser makes it.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Seedless red grapes…but only recently…I used to hate grapes.

2. Shortbread cookies and hot Earl Gray tea.

3. Sharp cheddar cheese and crackers…but Stilton and crackers is great, too, plus tart apple slices.

4. Smoked salmon with baguette slices.

5. Dark chocolate - well, any chocolate really - see photo at top

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Set up college funds for my nephews, nieces, and grand nephews and nieces

2. Pay off the house and buy new autos, a new auto for my daughter, and one for my Mom, too.

3. Travel with Sweetie and travel with my Mom and with my daughter

4. Go to watercolor and crafting workshops

5. Hire someone to design a killer landscape for where I live, then I would create it (with a little help from professionals).

Five bad habits:
1. Eating way too many sweets!

2. Telling myself I’m going to exercise, then just sitting there.

3. Letting stuff pile up in my home office, especially in corners.

4. Letting my printer ink supply lapse...until I’m on deadline and really need that darn ink.

5. Refusing to shop for shoes, even when I’ve worn out most of the ones I own.

Five things you like doing:

1. Reading.

2. Cooking and baking and reading recipes

3. Messing around on the computer...not just blogging, but graphics programs, games, surfing the net, endless sessions in Photoshop

4. Taking long walks
5. Remodeling projects and painting (5 is not enough…there’s more!!)

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Tie dye jeans

2. Anything with fringe or excess ruffles - that is not me in the photo :)

3. Most shorts (darn those varicose veins)

4. Shoes with heels higher than 1.5 inches (see #3)

5. Bangs

Five favorite toys:

1. My PC – unless it’s driving me crazy

2. My camera!!

3. My watercolor gear.

4. Multi-cell seed sprouter doo-hicky

5. Cast iron skillet…really…I use it all the time.

Labels: Meme

Now for Celeste’s Meme:

These are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.

2. Share 5 facts about yourself

3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).

4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Five things about myself –
1) I’m a political junkie…love all the excitement surrounding the primaries…both parties. I even read voter pamphlets all the way through…yes, even the actual proposed law…what a concept!
2) I used to canoe a lot when I was younger and I still love the smell of rivers in the summer…water, mud, sand, all of it.
3) Before I started blogging I used to take lots of photos of landscapes and people. Now I first take photos of food, then think about taking photos of people or places.
4) I love birthdays…my birthday, your birthday, the neighbor’s birthday…you get the idea. Must be the cake that comes with birthdays, right?
5) I was ‘the artistic one’ growing up, which meant that I could invent my own system of logic, one that was acknowledged by my family…although it could be they were making fun of me…hmmm.

So for you five that I’ve tagged above, you can choose to do Lisa’s Meme or Celeste’s Meme, or both! Go wild!!

For those of you who have stayed with me this far deserve a treat, so here is how to make a great vinaigrette for a salad using an almost empty mustard jar:

Unless you really don’t like mustard in your salad dressing, an almost empty mustard jar makes the perfect vehicle for a great vinaigrette.

To the mustard jar (I like Dijon mustard) add some red wine vinegar, some herbs – fresh or dried, some olive oil and some salt and pepper. Close the jar and shake well to emulsify the contents. Open, taste, adjust seasonings and you are ready to dress your salad. The amounts of the ingredients will depend on how much mustard is left in the jar and how big the jar is, but this works really well to use up that good Dijon mustard that has some clinging to the jar that would otherwise get thrown out.