September Birthday Salad

The salad we had last night for Gavin's Birthday dinner was fantastic. It was meant to be even more over the top than it was, but because of my procrastinating, I had to tone it down a bit.

In Sarah Leah Chase's "Cold Weather Cooking" cookbook, I found a salad that sounded so over-the-top delicious, I had to make it. It includes roasted spiced pecans, a hot apple cider vinaigrette, bacon, fennel, apple, goat cheese; you name it, it's in there. She mentions that it looks like a lot of work but you can roast the pecans two weeks in advance and the rest isn't too hard to accomplish on the day you wish to serve it. I have thought about making those pecans for weeks now but of course, yesterday I was wildly roasting the pecans, along with baking Gavin's Birthday cake, and making two large pots of beef bourguinon (why make one pot when I can easily make two at the same time? Even if I was having company for dinner...)

Needless to say, I put off starting the cooking yesterday until it reached a critical point. Once this happens, I am prone to make a few mistakes along the way. No carrots for the beef bourguinon, frantically preparing the mushrooms and then adding them way before they needed to go into the pots, boiling the life out of the pearl onions (they only needed a quick blanching), two candy thermometers in the same pot registering different temperatures, and then the part that had me cursing for the rest of the day. I pulled out the tube of tomato paste that I use when I need just a tablespoon or so for a recipe. I was thinking what a wonderful idea it was for someone to put tomato paste into a toothpaste tube. Then I lost control and squeezed the open tube. A squirt of tomato paste landed on my brand new, white running shoe - in the mesh part at the toe. No one to blame but myself, which is the worst.

Before dinner, my Mom asked me if Gavin was going to like this dinner. After all, it was for his Birthday. A bit of nervous laughter and I reassured her that he would (but you know how unpredictable kids can be!). I had already decided that I didn't want to attempt making a "Cars" cake because I had my own ideas of the perfect cake for the occasion. I saw in my mind's eye, the beautiful chocolate cake with marshmallowy, white frosting that's on the cover of "Baking: From my Home to Yours". The Devil's Food White-Out Cake, to be exact. Luckily, I made all of us happy by finding a "Lightning McQueen" candle to place on top of the cake.

In the end, the dinner was delicious. I skipped the hot apple cider vinaigrette and made a simple vinaigrette for the salad. I toasted thick slices of day old bread from the farm stand down the road, and rubbed those with garlic, ladling the beef bourguinon over the toast. Gavin had a plain salad with his new favourite dressing, Creamy Cucumber, and he LOVED the beef bourguinon. Ellen was unusually finicky and at one point Gavin said "Try it Ellen. It's awesome!" The cake & ice cream were a hit and a good time was had by everyone.

September Birthday Salad

Spiced Pecans
2 c. pecan halves
2 1/2 T. sunflower oil (or other veg. oil)
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. grated nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. dry mustard

Place the nuts in a small bowl, cover with boiling water, and let soak for 15 minutes. Drain well and pat dry on paper towels. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread the nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and toast stirring occasionally for 45 minutes. Remove the nuts and increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Whisk together the oil and the spices in a medium bowl. Add the hot nuts and toss to coat thoroughly. Spread the nuts in a single layer on the baking sheet and roast 15 minutes. Let cool, then store in an airtight container up to two weeks.

Simple Vinaigrette
1-2 cloves garlic, smashed with a little salt
1 T. Dijon mustard
3 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
Salt & fresh ground pepper
In the bowl you are serving the salad in, mix the garlic, mustard and vinegar together. Whisk the olive oil in a slow steady stream until it all comes together. Season with S&P to taste.

Salad
12 c. (give or take) torn mixed salad greens, such as leaf lettuce, radicchio, endive and watercress
1 large apple (sour & juicy), thinly sliced
4 oz. crumbled goat cheese

Toss the salad greens, 1 c. of the spiced pecans, the goat cheese and the apple in the bowl with the vinaigrette. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

*This would make a lovely dinner on its own. A crusty baguette and a bottle of wine and life is good.

*In case your mouth was watering when I mentioned the Hot Cider Dressing, here it is.

Hot Cider Dressing
2 c. apple cider
8 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 shallots, minced
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. honey mustard
1/2 c. olive oil
Salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
When ready to prepare the salad, place the cider in a small saucepan and boil until reduced to 1/2 cup, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside. Saute the bacon in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels and discard all but 3 tablespoons of the fat remaining in the skillet. Add the shallots to the skillet and saute over medium heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the cinnamon and mustard and cook 1 minute more. Add the reduced cider and the olive oil; season to taste with salt & pepper. Keep the dressing hot over medium-low heat. Toss the the dressing with the salad and serve at once.