Monday, November 19, 2012
Sensation Salad
Sensation Salad originated in the kitchen at the old Bob & Jake’s Restaurant in Baton Rouge, LA. The restaurant has long since been closed...however, I had the great privilege of eating Jack Sabin's Restaurant in the early 70's.....I thought I had died and gone to heaven....the only salads I had eaten prior to this were the old tossed green salad that was made by Mom.... never had I tasted such a thing! My host and hostess Rig and Carol Rigby introduced me to a whole new way of eating.... unfortunately ... I hadn't learned restraint during the ensuing years!
Anyway... it is a simple and elegant salad that "Ms. Carol" taught me how to make!
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of finely ground Peccorino Romano cheese
1 pint of olive oil
juice on 3 lemons
4 tsp of red wine vinegar
6 cloves of garlic pressed with pulp and all the juice
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley (NOT THE DRIED CRAP)
very cold romaine lettuce torn into small pieces
Wash and spin your lettuce and pop into the cooler to chill
take the juice, garlic cloves, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk together...
add the cheese whisking all the time.... adding the olive oil into the whole shebang a little at the time ( you can use a blender.... if your not into the whisking thing!)... if you make this FAR enough in advance it has time to MARRY and really taste AWESOME!
chop the parsley up and toss with the Romaine.... and a couple tablespoons of the cheese.... if you have extra.....
Then GENTLY toss the lettuce with the dressing coating all the leaves..... and serve with fresh croutons... or NOT... the dressing is so good you can almost DRINK it!
The Cobb Salad
The Cobb salad was created by Bob Cobb the owner of the Brown Derby in Hollywood... it is a simple concoction that we serve at The Rouge Rabbit here in Baton Rouge, LA..... it is one of our most requested Salads.... every chef does his or her own presentation.... some are lined up others tossed together... but any way you serve it is FANTASTIC!
Start with fresh greens.... we use Spring Mix, and Romaine fresh and cold and crisp
Add a chopped boiled egg
Add tomatoes ( we used cherub tomatoes)
Add bacon crumbles
Add grilled chicken strips
Add half an avocado sliced into strips
Add cheese of your choice - cheddar or blue are good choices
add big beautiful croutons
And top with Brown Derby Dressing - found in Salad dressings!
Enjoy!
The Brown Derby Salad Dressing
Cobb Salad: One of the
most famous dishes in American culinary history was created on the
spur of the moment.
Cobb salad was created at the Brown Derby
in Hollywood. Here's the official story ... or legend, if you will
... as recorded by the Brown Derby itself:"One night in 1937, Bob Cobb, then owner of The Brown Derby, prowled hungrily in his restaurant's kitchen for a snack. Opening the huge refrigerator, he pulled out this and that: a head of lettuce, an avocado, some romaine, watercress, tomatoes, some cold breast of chicken, a hard-boiled egg, chives, cheese and some old-fashioned French dressing. He started chopping. Added some crisp bacon -- swiped from a busy chef.
"The Cobb salad was born. It was so good, Sid Grauman (Grauman's Chinese Theatre), who was with Cobb that midnight, asked the next day for a 'Cobb Salad.' It was so good that it was put on the menu.
"Cobb's midnight invention became an overnight sensation with Derby customers, people like movie mogul Jack Warner, who regularly dispatched his chauffeur to pick up a carton of the mouth-watering salad."
The original Cobb Salad Dressing AKA as Brown Derby
Makes 1 1/2 cups
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 teas sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dry English mustard
1 small garlic clove finely minced
1/4 cup full flavored olive oil
3/4 cup salad oil
Blend all ingredients together, except oils. add olive oil and salad oil mixing well to emulsify ...
shake well before mixing it with the salad
Recipe and picture hijacked from Rumbly In My Tumbly
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
METHOD:
Mix sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and milk in a large saucepan.
Bring to a boil and boil ONE (1) full minute
Remove from heat
Stir in peanut butter - mix well
Add vanilla then oats
Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper and let cool
I use this size to make the cookies uniform...I actually draw it out onto the paper.... so I have them really nicely uniform...and no one fights over who got the BIGGEST one!...makes approximately 21 patties
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Sen. Allen Ellender's Creole Pecan Pralines
Adapted by caterer Jane Hall Harmon as seen in The Advocate
This recipe was originally found and adapted from River Road Recipes II: A Second Helping...These have been tweaked by Ms Harmon
Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup whole milk
2 T dark corn syrup
4 cups pecan halves
METHOD
Place all ingredients except the pecans in a heavy 3 qt saucepan on med heat and stir until butter has melted.
Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and place candy thermometer on the side of pot.
As mixture continues to boil on me heat, stire occasionally and check thermometer
When 240 defrees is reached remove pot from heat and stire for about a minute
Add the pecans and stir until mixed well
Spoon about a tablespoon amount onto parchment paper on a flat cool surface.
Let sit untouched for 3-4 hours
keep away from moisture in a cookie tin or plastic bag
Church Fudge
This recipe I found in The Advocate by a caterer Jane Hall HarmonI had a bit of a problem getting past one of the ingredients... but I was determined to try this recipe... and believe it OR NOT... but this is some of the best fudge you'll ever eat!
INGREDIENTS:
2 (16 oz) boxes of confectioners' sugar
1/2 Cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 sticks of butter (unsalted)
1/2 LB of Velveeta cheese cut into small cubes
1 T Vanilla
1 Cup of Chopped Nuts
METHOD:
Sift confectioners' sugar into a large bowl.
Sift cocoa into the same bowl
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and cheese slowly .... stir continuously... be careful not to allow the cheese to stick or burn
When melted and well mixed, pour over the dry ingredients and mix with an electric mixer
When mixed well,add vanilla and chopped nuts,
Mix well using a spatula to scrape sides
Press into a 9x13 pan allow to sit on counter about 20 minutes.... flatten with your hand,,,pressing out any air and distributing the mixture evenly into the dish.
I pop mine out at this stage and cut into squares.... it is VERY rich... Ms Harmon puts hers into the fridge covered in plastic wrap and then cuts into 1 inch squares
The Rouge Rabbit Chicken Salad (Sandwich)
This chicken salad came from a recipe I put together when I had The Emporium, LLC in Tennessee. It is great as a Salad or as a Sandwich!I used to hand-pull the chicken breast after I had cooked it... but one of my customers at The Rouge Rabbit told me to simply use my food processor..I was afraid that it would be a mess... but it ended up actually working better than all that time consuming hand-pulling of each breast.
We serve this on a bed of greens with a few grape tomatoes on the side... with a huge butter croissant that we split for the customer to turn into a 'sandwich'...or treat it as the world's larges crouton!
INGREDIENTS:
Chicken breasts (1-2...or as many as you desire!)
Mayo (we love Blue Plate)
Craisins ( a good handful... or as many as you desire!)
handful of chopped pecans
1 Gala apple
Orange Juice to Coat apples (keeps them bright and crisp...plus adds a great taste
Croissants
Greens of your choice ... and a few tomatoes
METHOD:
1-2 chicken breasts boiled in unsalted water.... no seasoning added just straight water.
after they are done... let them cool.... as they cool ... chop up some pecans and set them aside....
while the chicken cools... peel and core and apple and cut into tiny bits of apple and drop and coat in Orange Juice.
When chicken is cool... place into food processor... and whirl until they are finely chopped...
Add Craisins, Pecans, Apple bits as well and a little of the OJ, mayo...and stir up...
simply scoop onto the greens or directly into the croissants...
There you have it!
Martha Washington Balls Candy
I have been making these candy concoctions for at least 35 years....and strange as it seems....we still love to eat them....of course we only make them during the Christmas season....don't ask me why... they are really not hard to make... just a little time consuming.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup nuts, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 cup coconut
- 2 boxes confectioners sugar
- 1/4 block paraffin wax
- 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate
- Method:Mix first five ingredients together.
Roll in balls and refrigerate until hard.
Melt paraffin wax and chocolate together in a crockpot.
Dip the balls into the chocolate to coat, and drop onto parchment or waxed paper.
David Coleman suggests that you top it with an almond and you'd end up with an Almond Joy!
HOLYCRAPTHESEAREAMAZINGCOOKIES!
http://stickygooeycreamychewy.com
Ingredients:
1 CUP of Sugar
1 CUP of Corn Syrup
18 OZ Peanut Butter (crunchy or smooth)
6 CUPS of Corn Flakes
3 oz of Good Chocolate
Directions:
1. Combine sugar and syrup in heavy saucepan... bring to boil over medium high heat ...bring to full boil and remove from heat
2.Add peanut butter and stir until silky smooth and lump free.
3.Pour your 6 cups of corn flakes into a large bowl to make it easier to mix....
4.now drizzle the peanut butter mixture over the cereal and toss to coat evenly...
5.with a tablespoon (or if you have one) use a cookie scoop.. and make nice size balls dropping onto waxed or parchment paper.
6.put the 3oz of chocolate into a micro safe bowl and micro for around 30 seconds.... stirring until nice and smooth.....
7.drizzle over the cookie mounds and VOILA you have HolyCRAPtheseareamazingCOOKIES!
8. when cooled eat with reckless abandon....
Well, it's been a while since I posted a dang word! I lost my password...couldn't access the blog...and really have gone to Egypt and back to simply post a note! I hope that I can remember how I got here!
Life is moving quickly...Thanksgiving is this week... and Christmas is around the corner! I have been cooking with Robyn in Metairie...and boy did we pull out the stops making Samie's Cornbread Dressing..... can't WAIT to dig in!
Pinterest has a great many posts...and I have posted a couple there...but .. I still reference the family recipes on a regular basis...even though I couldn't post anything.... but I decided TODAY is just as good as any to fight my way back to the posting.... so VOILA here I am!
Life is moving quickly...Thanksgiving is this week... and Christmas is around the corner! I have been cooking with Robyn in Metairie...and boy did we pull out the stops making Samie's Cornbread Dressing..... can't WAIT to dig in!
Pinterest has a great many posts...and I have posted a couple there...but .. I still reference the family recipes on a regular basis...even though I couldn't post anything.... but I decided TODAY is just as good as any to fight my way back to the posting.... so VOILA here I am!
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