Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

The garden plots that are kept ready with the help of experts from U.S. Lawns Franchise have been plowed and the stakes planted. I took this picture before we worked in the community garden yesterday. The soil looks rich and not at all like the usual red clay soil that is found in most of North Carolina. The view of Chimney Rock is inspirational and makes spending time in the garden worthwhile – you can view website for the best garden services. If you want help with mowing services, then why not try these out! Yesterday we hoed and raked the soil and enclosed our space with poles and wire mesh. David added lime and manure to the plot and planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash. I will post more pictures soon. One thing we could not plant was asparagus. Asparagus takes a few years to develop and we do not have a guarantee that we will have the same plot next year. But asparagus is in the market right now and it is the best time to enjoy it.

The parchment paper insulates the asparagus and cooks it evenly so that the tips and the bottoms of the stalk are equally tender. This recipe added shiitakes, prosciutto, olive oil and fresh tarragon which infused the spears with wonderful flavor. The slow cooking enhanced the flavor even more. Give it a try. I will be posting about that wonderful chicken cordon bleu next.

BAKED ASPARAGUS WITH SHIITAKE AND PROSCIUTTO

1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed

1/4 pound shitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4 inch strips

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Ground black pepper, to taste

Grated nutmeg

3 tarragon sprigs

1. Heat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (it should be twice as long as pan). Lay asparagus in a pile in center. Scatter mushrooms and prosciutto on top. Drizzle with 2 tablespoon oil and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, the pepper and nutmeg. Toss vegetables to coat evely. Lay tarragon over top.

2. Fold parchment to completely enclose vegetables, and staple top and sides shut. Transfer pan to oven and bake for one hour. Asparagus should be just cooked through. If too crisp, return to oven until done to taste.

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Sometimes a dish is more than the sum of it’s parts. Sometimes a dish totally surprises you with how good it is. I have to tell you that this salad is one of the best salads I have ever eaten. I have been familiar with Mollie Katzen for a long time. She is the author of the Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. All things vegetable are her forte. In her latest book, The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without, she presents us with almost 100 vegetable recipes that are her current favorites. When I first looked at this broccoli salad recipe I thought of another broccoli salad recipe that I have made in the past that involved raisins and nuts and mayonnaise. I loved that salad. This one seemed sparse in comparison. How wrong I was. All I can tell you is that it is the best. It could become a classic. It looks simple and it is simple to make, but the combination of the blanched broccoli, the wilted red onions and the crisp apples with the honey- mustard viniagrette is genious. I could not stop eating it. Molly Katzen knows what she is doing.

It is appropo that I am giving you a vegetable recipe right now. We have just joined the Friends of the Hickory Nut Gorge Community Garden. We have signed up for a beautiful garden plot with a view of Chimney Rock and the Hickory Nut Falls. Our garden plot is small but we want to grow heirloom tomatoes and peppers, squash, and beans. I plan on posting pictures of our garden as it evolves.

In the meantime, you seriously have to try this salad. I don’t usually wax poetically about my recipes, but I am now. This is excellant!

BROCCOLI, APPLES, AND RED ONION SALAD

1 large bunch broccoli
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced or crushed garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons honey
5 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 medium sized tart apple, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Put up a large saucepan of water to boil. While waiting for this to happen, remove and discard the thick lower stems of the broccoli, and cut the thinner upper stems and tops into medium-sized spears.
2. Measure the vinegar into a medium-large bowl. Use a small whisk to stir constantly as you add the mustard, garlic, salt, and honey.
3. Keep whisking as you drizzle in the oil in a steady stream. The mixture will thicken as the oil becomes incorporated.
4. By now the water should be boiling. Turn it down to a simmer and add the broccoli. Let it cook in the water for 1 to 2 minutes, or until it becomes very bright green and tender-crisp. Meanwhile, place the sliced red onion in a large colander in the sink.
5. Pour the broccoli and all its water over the onion in the colander. ( The hot water will wilt the onion slightly upon contact. ) Place the colander of vegetables under cold running water for a few minutes, then shake to drain well.
6. Transfer the vegetables to the bowlful of dressing. Use tongs to toss until the broccoli is well coated, adding the apple slices as you go. You can serve this right away, or cover and let it marinate in the refregerator, where the flavor will deepen. Serve cold or at room temperature, topped with freshly ground black pepper to taste.

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The above picture appeared in our newspaper back in 1975. It is so funny to look at this again. I was so skinny and David had lots of hair! That is the kitchen in the first house that we bought. It was this sunny kitchen that sold me on the beautiful old house. Our friends Jim and Janice were the first people that we met in Greensboro. They lived next door to us in our first apartment and Janice and I took cooking classes together. They later moved away from Greensboro, raised a family and we lost touch. Recently we have reconnected and Jim and Janice just moved to Black Mountain, just over the ridge from us. We decided that it would be fun to get together and cook again. Janice and I recreated the menu from 1975. The recipes all came from our cooking instructor Irena ( Kirshman ) Chalmer’s cookbooks published by Potpourri Press.

Here we all are, a little older but still having lots of fun, the girls taking their positions behind the counter and the guys pouring wine and setting the table. Since Jim was pouring in the old picture he is doing the honors again.

The first course for our dinner party is Coquilles Saint-Jacques Nantaise or Scallops with shallots, butter and breadcrumbs. I have to warn you, this is rich with lots of butter even though I cut back some, but it was delicious. Click on the name for the recipe.

The entree was Tournedos Henry IV with Artichoke Bottoms and Sauce Bearnaise. There is more butter in this, but the bearnaise sauce is worth it. It took the two of us to make the bearnaise. The filets are flattened, cooked in clarified butter and then flamed in brandy. They are topped with the artichoke bottom holding the bearnaise sauce. This dish was sublime.

This menu was inspired by a shopping trip to add some autumnal accents to the house. I found the sunflower plates at Marshalls for a very good price and they pair well with my pumpkin Vietri dinner plates. Vietri dinnerware is usually expensive, but I was fortunate to live close to their warehouse in Hillsborough, NC. Twice a year they have a huge sale and I was able to get great discounts on this lovely Italian dinnerware. I would use the sunflower plates to serve the salad course of Baby Greens with Pears, Roasted Walnuts and Blue Cheese. This Epicurious recipe goes well with the rest of the meal that I prepared.

Pork is such a Fall kind of entree. I would have to say that if I could eat only one kind of meat it would be pork; pork chops, pork tenderloin, pork butt, or pork loin. Boneless Pork Sirloin roasts were on sale the other day. You’ve seen those roasts with the string netting around them. They are packaged like this because there are two pieces of meat that comprise the roast. I like the sirloin cut because it has both the white meat of the loin and and the darker moister meat of the hip or back area. The best way I have found to cook this cut is to brown it well on all sides in a deep roasting pan. Add seasonings and fresh rosemary and sage, add liquid such as white wine, apple cider or water and roast it uncovered in a 375 degree oven for approximately 1 and 1/2 hours.

After the roast has been in the oven for one hour, remove the netting and separate the two pieces of meat. Add more liquid to the pan if needed and baste the meat. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness after the first hour. For the complete recipe go here.

With the roast I served Roasted Butternut Squash, Potatoes and Red Onions. If you have limited oven space you could do these ahead of time and rewarm them in the oven just before serving.

I tried to keep the vegetables a uniform size. With a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt, pepper and cumin they roasted to a golden brown.

Since I was in a roasting kind of mood, I decided to also make Roasted Chunky Applesauce. I used Granny Smith apples for this. I coated the apple slices with softened butter, sprinkled with brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon and cooked them until they were soft and beginning to fall apart.

I would suggest that you peel the apples. The applesauce had a good flavor, but the skins were tough. Again if you have limited oven space you can do this ahead of time.

This was a fragrant and easy meal. I started cooking at 4:00 and was finished by 6:00. In my next post I will tell you what I would suggest for dessert.

I am so happy about this week’s Barefoot Blogger recipe. I have been making this curried couscous for years and it is what I always pair with grilled chicken in the summer. So thank you to Ellyn of Recipe Collector and Tester for having the brilliant idea to choose it for one of the June recipes. One of the things that is so great about this couscous is that you can make it ahead of time and serve it at room temperature. Even if you make it early in the morning, you can refrigerate it and take it out about an hour before you want to serve it. It is also a snap to put together. The only prep that takes a little time is the chopping of the vegetables. It is so colorful and tasty that I always get complements on it. I think that even if you are not a fan of curry you will like it. The curry is not overpowering and lends a lovely yellow hue to the dish. The recipe calls for dried currants but I usually use dried cranberries. This time I substituted jumbo red raisins because it was what I had in the pantry. I also substituted

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