Potato Salad

In the Burgandy region of France there is an abundance of mustard plants growing like wildflowers. The story goes that in the 1700's the people in Dijon decided to grind up the mustard seeds with verjuice (premature wine) and made dijon style mustard. Today is most commonly made with white wine and the name is not protected so anyone can make a batch and call it dijon, unlike champagne which can only come from the champagne region. 

Dijon is a wonder condiment. It can transform an ordinary hot dog, be added to dishes for sharpness and added salad dressings for emulsification.

When I buy dijon I purposefully buy a small jar because one of my favorite things is when the dijon is almost gone and I can make my salad dressing right in the container so as to get every last smidge of it. 

I took a chance this weekend and visited the farmers market a little farther from me on Saturday. I went out there for one thing and one thing only.... a Pierogi from this wonderful Polish family that is always there... except this day. I paced back and forth up and down the food tents looking for the lovely ladies in homemade dresses and kerchiefs on their heads but to avail. I thought this was strange so I walked around the rather large farmers market area just to make sure I wasn't missing them. Not there. Then I remembered that the yearly Polish Festival was happening in this weekend in another part of town. They must be celebrating there.

Since I made the journey I decided to pick up some veggies. I passed a potato stand that had beautiful fingerlings in gold, red and purple. I had to have them but what to do with them. Then I saw a booth that some wonderful green beans. Well now we're talking... 

Potato salad is something that every family has their own take on. My mom's is boiled baking potatoes with hard boiled eggs, diced pickles, and half a jar of miracle whip, paprika sprinkled on top. German potato salad is usually warm and made with whole grain mustard. On the 4th of July I tried a Red, White, and Bleu recipe. When I think of potato salad - I think of the French style. Here is my take;


 

French Potato Salad
30 minutes

2 lbs. Fingerling Potatoes, halved or quartered
1/4 lb Green Beans, trimmed
Coarse Salt and Black Pepper
1/4 Olive Oil
3 Tbs. Dijon Mustard
2 Tbs. Sherry Vinegar
1/4 cup drained and halved Green Olives
3 Tbs. Parsley, chopped
1/4 small Red Onion, sliced thinly in half moons
3 strips Applewood Smoked Bacon, diced small

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to boil on the stove. Add in cut potatoes, cook for 10 minutes. 
In a small pan, slowly crisp up diced bacon so that all of the fat is rendered out. Drain on a paper towel. 

Slice up onion and olives and add to a large bowl for tossing. Add in parsley and bacon.
Add green beans to the boiling potatoes, cook 5 minutes longer. Strain potatoes and green beans in a colander and run cool water over the vegetables to stop the cooking process for about 2 minutes. 

In a small jar combine olive oil, dijon, sherry vinegar (cider or red wine vinegar work great too), about 6 good grinds of black pepper and about 1 teaspoon of salt. Lid the jar and shake shake shake. Taste the dressing - if it is too acidic tasting add a little more salt and if it is a little too fatty tasting add a smidge more vinegar. 

Place potatoes and green beans to the tossing bowl, pour on the dressing, and toss gently with a large spoon. This can be served at room temperature or refrigerated up to overnight. Voila. 

Maybe the green olives and bacon doesn't make it French per se but it is delicious anyway. You could use any olive you like; nicoise, castrelvetrano but I like the little green ones with pimento.

Browned Butter

A small pan on the stove, 2 sticks of butter, medium high heat. It happens pretty quickly. The butter melts into a golden juice, it foams in small thick bubbles that look solid. Leave it just for a moment and then start swirling the pan gently. The foam subsides slowly allowing the pool of nutmeg brown to rise through looking like a whirlpool. The fat solids are toasting making a rich nutty smell. As the last of the foam disappears, its time. 

Fall is here. I always tell myself that summer if my favorite but I would be lying. I think its because growing up in Alaska we had spring and fall for two weeks each. Summer for 2 months and then 9 months of winter. Maybe it is because I am attracted to oranges, coppers, and burnt reds and in the fall the trees are adorned with these colors. I can't wait for the leaves to change although they never hang long enough.

The sun is still shining, the temperature is projected to be in the 70s but I want nothing more than a cup of green tea with honey and a Twilight movie marathon (I'm praying for rain on my weekend so I can fulfill the fantasy).

I threw the ball for Paisley today and lost it in the leaves. I should probably get a brighter colored ball! 

Speaking of copper; It is also pumpkin season. I hate pumpkin. I don't understand the peoples fascination with this flavor. I can understand cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom.... but pumpkin? 

I feel obliged to create something for those pumpkin lovers. I make them every year and I will eat some too but it's because of the browned butter frosting top. I thought about drawing the curtains to eat the frosting with a spoon. 

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

2 ¾ C Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 ¼ tsp Salt

1 ¼ tsp ground Ginger

1 ½ tsp Cinnamon

¾ tsp ground Nutmeg

¾ C Butter, room temp

2 ¼ C Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 ½ C Canned Pumpkin

¾ C Evaporated Milk

1 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.

In electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, pumpkin, milk, and vanilla.

Gradually add in flour. Scoop cookies. Bake 12 minutes. Cool completely.

Browned Butter Icing:

4 C Powdered Sugar

10 Tbs Butter

¼ C + 1Tbs Evaporated Milk

2 tsp Vanilla

In small saucepan, melt butter until browned and foam subsides.

 Off heat add powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir together until smooth.

Spread onto cookies.

Grapefruit Pound Cake

The winter is all about great citrus. When I am at the grocery store I see the mounds of lime, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos and I want. I buy. Then I don’t know what to do.

Last week,while at the store I bought a couple of grapefruits. Usually I segment them and save them for breakfast in the morning only to forget about them and toss them out after a few days. So with my new purchase I researched fun things to make with the gorgeous grapefruit.

I found several recipes for Grapefruit Pound Cake. One of my reservations with pound cake recipes is that they always seem to make a ton of batter. The last time I used a recipe for pound cake there was batter for at least three loaves.

Deciding on a recipe to make I believe I found one with the perfect quantity of batter AND it was fun to make. The first step being to rub the zest with the sugar until it looked like wet sand. This made my entire apartment smell amazing. Instead of the creaming method (butter and sugar beaten in a mixer for 5 minutes), this recipe could be made by stirring together with two bowls. 

Grapefruit Pound Cake

1 cup Sugar

2 tablespoons Ruby Red Grapefruit Zest

2 whole Eggs

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice, strained

1/3 cup Butter, melted and cooled

1-1/2 cup All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 cup Sour Cream

2 tablespoons Whole Milk

FOR THE GLAZE:

1 cup Powdered Sugar

3 tablespoons Grapefruit Juice

1 to 2 teaspoons Grapefruit Zest

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and butter a 8x5 loaf pan and then line with parchment paper.

Ina large bowl combine the sugar and the two tablespoons of grapefruit zest. Use a rubber spatula to rub the zest into the sugar until it resembles wet sand.

Add the two eggs, grapefruit juice and melted butter. Stir until those ingredients are incorporated.

Ina separate bowl, Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder.

Ina small bowl or measuring cup; combine the sour cream and milk and stir until combined.

Starting with the flour and ending with sour cream/milk mixture. Alternate with a third of each

until everything is combined but try not to over mix the batter.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes before running a knife along the edge and using the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan.

Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack. Meanwhile make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, grapefruit juice, and zest.

Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and let it sit to harden for a few minutes.

Enjoy!