Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

Here is a perfect salad to go with any grilled meat you might be having for the Memorial Day weekend.  We will be spending the weekend celebrating our Granddaughter’s 5th birthday.

I have made many salads combining fruits, nuts and crumbled cheese but this has to be one of the best.  The main fruit in this salad is chopped apples, but because I have a strawberry pot with ripening strawberries, I added them as well.

What makes this salad so very special is the balsamic vinaigrette.  It has a chopped shallot, garlic, mustard and honey component that compliments the heady balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  It was so good I even marinated my pork chops in it.

Have a safe and special Memorial Day weekend.  God bless our troops past and present.

BOURBON PECAN AND APPLE SALAD WITH BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

Bourbon Pecans:
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine brown sugar, melted butter and bourbon in a bowl.  Add pecans and stir to combine.  Place mixture on small baking sheet or cake pan and bake in oven for 20 minutes or so turning occasionally until nuts begin to brown.  Cool in pan.  The sugar and butter will caramelize.

Balsamic Vinaigrette:
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 teaspoons honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium mixing bowl, combine shallots, vinegar and Dijon mustard, let stand for 20 minutes.  Whisk in honey and garlic, then slowly drizzle in olive oil while rapidly whisking.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside until ready to use.

Salad:

1 head of red leaf lettuce
1 apple chopped
1 cup celery
Bourbon pecans
1/2 cup crumbled Feta cheese

In a large bowl, toss lettuce, apples, celery, pecans and Feta cheese together.  Drizzle with Balsamic Vinaigrette just before serving.

Printable recipe

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a departure from the usual.  Our Son Michael loves to grill and decided to attempt a whole tenderloin cooked over indirect heat and then seared over the direct coals.  The inspiration came from Meathead Goldwyn in his iconic grilling book Meathead; The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling.  The beef was outstanding.  Served with mashed potatoes and an updated green bean casserole, we never even missed a turkey.

A whole tenderloin requires a breakdown to get to  a symmetrical log from the center.  The tenderloin tips are cut from each end.  The chain along the side needs to be trimmed away and the silverskin removed.  The trimmings can be used as a few filet mignon steaks, stew meat, and/or ground with some of the fat into upscale hamburgers.

You will need to fold over the tapered end and tie it with string to ensure even cooking.  Once the chateaubriand is ready, dry brine it in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.  The dry brine is just kosher salt.  Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of salt per pound of meat all over the cylinder.  After the allotted time is up, remove the beef from the refrigerator and season it with a seasoning rub.

BEEF RUB
2 Tablespoons ground pepper
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Set up the grill in a two-zone configuration and get the indirect zone up to about 225 degrees F.  Place the meat in the indirect-heat zone.  It will cook slowly for about 45 minutes.  Check temperature with a meat thermometer.

When the meat reaches 110 degrees F, move it to direct heat to sear.  Leave the lid open and roll the roast a quarter turn every 5 minutes or so.  When it reaches 130 degrees F in the center, move it to a cutting board.  Cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes or so.

Slice into at least 1 inch steaks and serve.  Serves 6 to 8 easily.

Earlier in the day Kristen made a delicious Parsnip and apple soup with smoked almonds and scallions.  I don’t have the recipe but anything you add to it is enhanced by using an immersion blender to meld it all together.  Here is a similar recipe.

One of the most colorful dishes on our table was this fabulous Kale, roasted quinoa, purple sweet potato and apple salad.  It was such a seasonal delight that I would love to serve this every Autumn and Thanksgiving.  Kristen is so creative.  Remind me to get the recipe.  Will try to blog about this again or maybe Kristen will put it on her blog, Menubility.

I made a Bourbon Pumpkin Pie from this recipe.  I add a Streusal Topping.  Recipe follows.

STREUSAL TOPPING

1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Mix all ingredients.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Cool and sprinkle over cooked and cooled pie.  You will have extra for other purposes.

We took some time over Thanksgiving to have photos taken for our Christmas cards.  We are lucky to have Christobal of Azul Photography as a family friend.  Let the Christmas Season begin.

Here is another great idea for Thanksgiving.  Salads are not usually a big part of the holiday feast, but why not?  With the heavy stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole and green beans slathered in cream of mushroom soup and french onion rings, something a little lighter should be a welcomed addition.

The components of this salad are all about Fall; apples, oranges, pecans, baby spinach and dried cranberries.  The pasta is just a small addition that gives the salad body.  I even amped the flavor up by making my sweet Bourbon pecans. This is a refreshing salad for the holidays.  The citrus dressing is light and delightful.

I saw this recipe on Facebook.  It was posted by my DIL’s Mom, Darla.  Since we will all be together for Thanksgiving I think this would be a great dish for our shared table.  Thanksgiving will be at Michael (Our Son) and Kristen’s (Our DIL) home.  They just moved into a new and bigger home that will accommodate all of the family.  We are looking forward to it.  The original recipe, and a much better picture can be found here.

A few more pictures of Italy.  We spent four days in Tuscany with a much too short trip into Florence.  But there is so much to do in the region that we were happy with our short trip into this historic city on the Arno River.

We stopped in San Gimignano, the epitome of a Tuscan hill town.  It still has 14 medieval towers standing out of the original 72.  Family towers were important in the 13th century.  The feuding noble families ran the hill towns and expressed their power by how tall their towers were.  Not much has changed over the years has it?  Although we enjoyed visiting the town, it was a tourist trap.

Our intrepid tour guide groveled to a new low to please us with a good picture. (although the picture is a little crooked). Notice all of the people eating Gelato around us!

But Laurent got his shot of us.  It was just one of many of his professional studies.  We were lucky to have this dear friend as our guide through Italy.  Thank you Laurent and Carole for starting your touring company and allowing us to be your test guests.  You are the best.  If you are interested in traveling in France or Italy by motorcycle or scotters, they will treat you so well. Here is the link.  Ride in Tours is the real thing.

AUTUMN CRUNCH PASTA SALAD