Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

I have been missing in action for a while I know.  The family is here for a two week visit and we have been spending our time on the water, at the park and activities in Asheville.  We have been doing a lot of cooking but I have been too distracted to take pictures.  Last night my DIL Kristen made a Southwestern feast with chicken and bean tacos, guacamole, Mexican rice and this warm avocado and corn salad.

Friends of our kids are here with their three children for a few days.  Christobal is a well known wedding photographer and took the above picture for me.  We were working with incandescent lighting but his impressive camera compensated well.

Kristen used fresh sweet corn, ripe avocados, green onions and cilantro in this refreshing warm salad.  It was delicious with the tacos.  I am entering this salad in the Food 52 avocado recipe contest that is going on right now.  You may want to go to their site for some very interesting avocado recipes.

Enjoy!

WARM AVOCADO AND CORN SALAD

5 ears of corn, kernels removed from cob
3 to 4 green onions, chopped, white and green parts separated
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
2 large avocados, cubed
Optional additions; 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, smoked paprika, or pickled red onions

Heat butter and olive oil in skillet.  Add corn kernels and white parts of the green onions and cook for about 7 minutes.  Add cilantro and salt and pepper to taste.  Add the juice of the lime and remove from heat.  Add the cubed avocados.  Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the green parts of the green onion and serve.  This is especially good with the addition of crumbled crisp bacon.

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Grilling season is a great time of year.  It is sometimes a relief to turn the cooking over to my grill maestro.  It frees up my time to concentrate on side dishes. I love the flavor of this Bourbon marinade.  It is a little bit sweet and full flavored.  The recipe came from Paula on her blog Call me PMc.  It couldn’t be easier to mix together the bourbon, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger.   The chicken skewers cook quickly.

I was looking for an interesting side dish to serve with the chicken and thought some kind of wild rice salad would be good.  I found a recipe from Ellie Krieger.  I wonder what happened to her show on the Food Network?  This orange and pistachio spiked rice salad is delicious.  It can be served cold or at room temperature.   It is even tasty warm.  It would be good with any barbecued chicken or pork.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July.  I will be taking a short break from blogging to spend time with the family.  We will be enjoying fireworks on the lake, swimming, hiking and most especially EATING.  Here is the gang that is coming.

See you back here soon.

BOURBON CHICKEN SKEWERS

For recipe see this link

ORANGE-PISTACHIO WILD RICE SALAD  (From Ellie Krieger )

2/3 cup brown rice
2/3 cup wild rice
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 orange, peel and pith removed, segmented and sliced (about 2/3 cup)
10 large basil leaves, sliced into ribbons (about 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup minced red onion
3 tablespoons chopped pistachios, lightly toasted
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
For the dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the dressing:
Combine brown rice, wild rice and chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until all water is evaporated and rice is fully cooked, about 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.

When rice is cool, add orange slices, basil, red onion, pistachios and orange zest; mix to incorporate.

For the dressing:
Combine the red wine vinegar, olive oil, orange juice, mustard, honey and salt in a metal bowl and whisk to incorporate.

Pour over rice mixture and toss to incorporate.

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This is familiar territory for me;  a cast iron skillet, warm lighting for the shoot (forget that natural light when it is late evening), decadent potatoes with a history from Julia Child and a heady scent in the air.  I made this as a side dish for the steak that David was cooking on the grill.  Each time that he returned to the house from the deck, he said “Man, it smells good in here”.  Sometimes tried and true recipes are all you need. And I was tired of baked potatoes with my steak.

Cooking the potatoes in an iron skillet seemed rustic and smart.  Cast iron holds the heat so well.  Julia Child’s Gratin Dauphinois, or scalloped potatoes to us, has stood the test of time and is still one of my favorite scalloped potatoes recipes.  I did make some changes to the recipe.  I used russet potatoes instead of boiling potatoes and I used Gruyere cheese instead of Swiss.  I also added fresh thyme to the casserole.  My thyme plant is thriving this year.

Steak, decadent potatoes and a cool crisp salad.  What a wonderful dinner.

JULIA CHILD’S SCALLOPED POTATOES (GRATIN DAUPHINOIS)

2 pounds russet potatoes

A fireproof baking dish about
10-inches in diameter and
2-inches deep

1/2 clove garlic
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese, grated
1 cup boiling milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel the potatoes and slice them 1/8 inch thick.  Place in a basin of cold water.  Drain when ready to use.

Rub the baking dish with the cut garlic.  Smear the inside of the dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.  Drain the potatoes and dry them in a towel.  Spread half of them  in the bottom of the dish.  Divide over them half the salt, pepper, thyme, cheese, and butter.  Arrange the remaining potatoes over the first layer, and season them with salt, pepper and thyme.  Spread on the rest of the cheese and divide the butter over it.  Pour on the boiling milk.  Set baking dish over heat and when simmering, set in upper third of preheated oven.  Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender, milk has been absorbed, and the top is nicely browned.

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While shopping at one of my favorite Supermarkets, I found a package of Haricot Vert, the lovely French thin green beans.  By the way, that store is a mega Harris Teeter store that we have dubbed the Taj maTeeter.  Although I usually like to shop at small stores with quality ingredients, Farmer’s markets and butcher shops, sometimes a trip to a mega store yields interesting ingredients.  Haricot Vert are hard to find.  Translated haricot means beans, vert means green.  French green beans are thinner and longer than the beans that we grow here in the United States.

The beans are cooked quickly and then put in an ice and water bath to stop the cooking and set the color.  This can be done way ahead of time.  What makes the beans taste so special is the gremolata garnish that is added during the final cooking.  Gremolata is a mixture of garlic, parsley, lemon zest, Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts.  It is usually associated with Osso Bucco, the popular Milanese veal shank dish.  The slow cooked veal shanks are garnished with the gremolata mixture.  But used on the green beans, the mixture sings with flavor.

This is a wonderful side dish for a company meal.  Eat your heart out Dave S..  This was supposed to be for you.  We had a wonderful time at the blogger get together at Almost Heaven South.  There will be more about our gathering in future posts.  But in the meantime, enjoy this lovely and delicious side dish.

GREEN BEANS GREMOLATA (Ina Garten)

1 pound French green beans, trimmed
2 teaspoons minced garlic ( 2 cloves )
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest ( 2 lemons )
3 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons tasted pine nuts
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the green beans and blanch them for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender but still crisp.  Drain the beans in a colander and immediately put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve their bright green color.

For the gremolata, toss the garlic, lemon zest, parsley, Parmesan, and pine nuts in a small bowl and set aside.

When ready to serve, heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.  Drain the beans and pat them dry.  Add the beans to the pan and saute, turning frequently, for 2 minutes, until coated with olive oil and heated through.  Off the heat, add the gremolata and toss well.  Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and serve hot.

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The marriage of chicken and tarragon is a perfect match.  I have been making versions of this dish since the early years of our marriage.  I would say that chicken with tarragon and rice is one of David’s favorite dishes.  Most of the time I cut up a whole chicken, saute it in butter until it is browned, add wine and tarragon and cook covered on low until it is done.  I serve it with a rice pilau flavored with chicken broth and tarragon.

But this quick version is also a favorite.  I bought a package of chicken tenderloins, removed the white tendons, pounded them very thin and then sauteed them in butter until cooked through.  This took minutes.  The sauce was cooked separately and was redolent with shallots, wine, lemon juice, tarragon and butter.  I have fresh tarragon growing in a pot on my deck and love clipping the pretty green leaves.  But if you don’t have fresh tarragon, dry can be used.

This is an easy dish that is even good enough for company.  Serve it with rice pilau and blanched and sauteed green beans for a lovely meal.  The tarragon makes it special.

PAN-SEARED CHICKEN WITH TARRAGON BUTTER SAUCE (Adapted from Gourmet Magazine)

1/4 cup finely chopped shallot
1/2 stick butter cut into 1/2-inch cubes.divided
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenderloins, tendons removed, pounded thin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Cook shallot in 1 tablespoon butter in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add wine and boil until most of liquid is evaporated, about 3 minutes.  Set aside.

Pat prepared chicken dry and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper.  Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute chicken in batches, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through.  Transfer as cooked to a platter and keep warm, loosely covered with foil.

Return shallot mixture to moderately low heat and add remaining 3 tablespoons butter, 1 cube at a time, whisking until incorporated.  Remove from heat and whisk in tarragon, parsley, and lemon juice.  Spoon sauce over chicken.

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