Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new title holder...

For "FANCY SALAD."

Eric and I used to call Fancy Salad the mix of fancy salad mix, pear, bleu cheese dressing, and candied nuts. That, my friends, was child's play. Tonight Eric made Wolfgang Puck's Beet Salad (modified) and we learned what fancy salad is. This recipe is available all over the internet, so hopefully nobody will get pissed at me. I copied this one from Food Network:

1 1/2 pounds large yellow or red beets, washed and trimmed
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 recipe Herbed Goat Cheese recipe follows, cut into 8 round slices
1 to 1 1/2 cups mixed baby lettuces, washed and dried
1/4 cup Spago House Dressing, recipe follows
1/4 cup Citrus Hazelnut Vinaigrette, recipe follows
1 ounce toasted hazelnuts, recipe follows, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the beets in a small roasting pan and pour in enough cold water to reach about 1/4 of the way up the sides of the beets. Cover the pan with foil, and roast the beets until they are tender, 2 hours to 2 hours and 15 minutes. To check for doneness, gently insert a bamboo skewer into a beet. The skewer should slide through easily. Remove the beets from the pan, allow to cool, and then peel.
Cut each beet into 1/4-inch-thick round slices. Cut each slice with a 3-inch round cookie cutter. (You will need 10 rounds). Cut trimmings into 1/4-inch dice and reserve 1/2 cup for garnish.
In a saute pan, bring vinegar and sugar to a boil. Lower to a simmer and poach beets 1 minute on each side. With a slotted spatula, remove and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
When ready to assemble, heat the olive oil in a small saute pan. Arrange the slices of Herbed Goat Cheese in the pan and warm slightly, turning them with a small spatula just to warm both sides. This has to be done quickly, or the cheese will melt.
To assemble the napoleons, place 1 of the beet rounds on a firm, flat surface and begin to layer. Top with a slice of goat cheese, then another beet round, a second slice of cheese, another beet round, a third slice of cheese, and a beet round. (Continue until you have 5 layers of beets and 4 layers of cheese.) Carefully cut through layers, dividing into 3 wedges. Repeat with the remaining beets and cheese.
To serve, arrange 3 of the wedges, pointed ends facing out, in a circle in the center of each plate. Toss the baby lettuces with the Spago House Dressing and mound half of the lettuces on top of each arranged napoleon. Drizzle 1/2 of the Citrus Hazelnut Vinaigrette around each mound. Sprinkle toasted nuts and reserved diced beets on top of drizzled vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Herbed Goat Cheese:
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (7 or 8-ounce) log goat cheese

Combine the parsley, chives, thyme, and pepper and place on a flat surface. Roll the log of cheese in the mixture, coating all sides and retaining the shape of the log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
Yield: 1 (7 or 8-ounce) log
Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, "Pizza, Pasta & More!," Random House, 2000

Spago House Salad Dressing:
2 large shallots, minced (1 heaping tablespoon)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons zinfandel vinegar
2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the shallots and the mustard. Whisk in the vinegars and then the olive and vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate until needed.
Yield: 1 1/4 cups
Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, "Adventures in the Kitchen", Random House, 1991

Citrus Hazelnut Vinaigrette:
1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
1 shallot, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1/3 cup hazelnut oil
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, bring orange juice to a boil. Lower to a simmer and reduce until only 1/3 cup remains. Cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, combine orange juice, shallot, thyme, vinegar, and orange zest.
Slowly whisk in both oils until thick and emulsified. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until needed.
Yield: 1 1/3 cups
Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, "Pizza, Pasta & More!," Random House, 2000

Toasted Hazelnuts:
1 cup hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange the hazelnuts on a medium baking tray and toast for 10 to 12 minutes, turning after 5 minutes. (This can be done in a toaster oven). Remove to a clean towel and rub to remove as much of the skin as possible. Chop coarsely and use when needed.
Yield: 1 cup
Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, 2000

As you can see, there are a LOT of damn steps. Here is what we changed: buy goat cheese with the herbs mixed in. We have lots of fabulous herbs, but good grief. We didn't include hazelnuts or the dressing because of the nut factor (and our toddler loves goat cheese and beets, so he would have been pissed if he couldn't have any). We didn't even make the house dressing because the recipe page was separated from the main page and Eric got burned out anyway. We just used a Balsamic dressing. It was good. The whole salad was good. Though in the end we decided you could probably use some escarole or arugala to cut the sweetness of the beet and cheese, and the crunch the hazelnuts would have provided was missed. Still, it was yummy, and Eric did a beautiful job creating it.

With the beets we had pirogies. I don't think Eric thought about it, but it just seems appropriate, no?

The last thing for today is the results of the carrot fennel bread. It was good! The new breadmaker makes a far superior loaf, not at all coarse grained.

The recipe was:

1 1/4 cup water

3 tbsp sunflour oil (we used safflower)

1 tbsp honey

2 cups grated carrot

6 cups unbleached flour

3 tbsp skim milk powder

2 tsp fennel seeds (I used about a cup of fresh fennel leaves instead, they look a lot like dill)

2 tsp salt

yeast

We used up everything this week successfully but the Escarole. Well, we used the center of it for the terrible salad, but we have the outsides left. Supposedly it works like greens, so I imagine we'll have stir fry with greens for dinner tomorrow night.

This week we're expecting:

*salad mix

*more beets (it's a really good thing we've learned to love them)

*spinach

*radicchio

*sugar loaf chicory

*kohlrabi

*yellow onions

*turnips

*carrots

Sadly it's the last of the kohlrabi. Less sadly it's the last of the turnips. I don't know what to do with chicory (other than NOT to put it in coffee weirdos in New Orleans). So more research and experimentation ahead!

Tomorrow is also the farmer's market, yum, yum, yum.