| Spectacular!
This salad not only looked attractive, but each individual ingredient both stood out and complemented the other ingredients perfectly. I used bosc pears, and had to substitute feta for the goat cheese. I've come to love arugula relatively late in life, and this recipe showcased this lovely green beautifully. With the sweet pears and walnuts, arugula provided the perfect flavor complement.
I also should say that I really like Shulman's salad dressings. This one was no exception. Balsamic and red wine vinegar, a bit of mustard, and a bit of oil (in this case, walnut oil is called for, but we substituted what we had - hazelnut oil).
If you are lucky enough to have great pears don't hesitate - make this - its amazing. |
| A fabulous grown-up version of baked apples.
Apples are half peeled, cored, and stuffed with a mixture of lemon, lemon zest, ginger, raisins, and dark brown sugar. They are covered and baked - which gives your kitchen a heavenly lemon/ginger aroma. They are then uncovered, apple juice is added. Apples are then basted and baked for another 10 minutes.
We didn't have the golden raisins or currents called for, and instead used a mix of dark raisins and craisins.
The apples came out perfectly - softened but still with a bit of crunch. We ate ours with vanilla ice cream. The apples themselves were not very sweet, and so for me, serving with yogurt might not have been as good.
Don't miss the juice in the bottom of the pan. So flavorful. That juice alone would make an amazing yogurt/ice cream topping! |
| The apples were perfect - just needs a better crust.
In this recipe, apple slices are sauteed in a bit of butter, and then sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg is added. The smell in the kitchen was heavenly.
I used a dessert galette pastry in the freezer. Based on my prior experience with soggy crust, I added a layer of almond meal (not called for in this recipe), and encouraged everyone to finish it in one go (the four of us laugh at the suggested 8 servings!).
We ate it warm, and the crust didn't get soggy, but it was hard and not particularly good. I'm hoping though, that this approach (yeasted crust with little fat) will be tweaked so it turns out great.
If these apples had been used in a crisp instead of the galette dough, it would easily have been a 5. |
| A very straight forward recipe, yet it really did bring together great flavors. Green beans are first blanched, and then the typical onion/garlic combination is sauteed. Peeled and seeded tomatoes are then added and cooked a bit. Finally, you add the blanched green beans and cook another 15 minutes or so.
I was afraid that the last of my CSA green beans would suffer from what seemed like a long cook time. However I was delighted to find they still had a good crunch.
This is a nice way to prepare green beans! |
| I really liked this salad. It is simple, and the flavors of arugula, tomato, and feta are an excellent combination. The dressing that is provided along with the salad is also simple - sherry and balsamic vinegars, olive oil, and pepper. I used four different types of home-grown tomatoes - different colors and sizes.
I'd make this salad again, possibly expanding to add additional veggies that are loitering in my crisper drawer. |