The Funky Kitchen

Okay, maybe just somewhat like they do in Alsace. There isn’t going to be any pork, which the region is known for, saurkraut, which they are also known for but is not welcome in my kitchen, or wine, which I could probably have done with.

What I’ve got here is a grilled twist on Alsatian parsley salad. What is Alsatian parsley salad, Dana?

That’s what I wondered when I heard about it too. It’s not a salad where you use parsley as the green, it’s a cheese salad that is punched up with a vinaigrette and a mound of fresh parsley. Sounds funky, sounds good, I thought.

I couldn’t just let tradition go on it’s merry way, no. This cheese salad, with creamy stringy mozzarella contrasted by herbacious parsley and a vinaigrette, needed a grilled cheese application. The saying doesn’t go: when in Rome kind of do what the Romans do, but these were pretty fantastic sandwiches. Normally such a mellow herb, parsley really gives a strong, clean, green flavor that makes the cheese, in contrast, so much more creamy and luscious.  Melted all together sandwiched between toasty bread brushed with garlic infused olive oil, they were a truly pleasant lunch.

Alsatian Parsley Salad Sandwiches, Grilled

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 Cup grated mozzarella cheese (gruyere would be more traditional, but mozz was what I had)

1/2 Cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

6 slices of bread

2 Tbsp garlic infused olive oil

• In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar and the Dijon mustard.

• 

  These tools make chopping large amounts of herbs so much easier.

• In a second bowl, combine the cheese and the parsley.
• Toss the salad with the vinaigrette.
• Divide the salad on three pieces of the bread, topping them with the remaining pieces of bread.
• Begin a pan heating on the stove over medium high heat.
• Brush the outsides of the bread with the garlic infused oil.
• Grill to your taste, some people like toast better than others.
• Cut on the diagonal and serve.

Because I am not the biggest fan of toast, Mister’s sandwiches stayed in the pan a little while longer than mine. These grilled cheese sandwiches are particularly conducive to the gorgeous formations of cooked crispy cheese that leaks out from the edges of the sandwich during grilling. They’re probably my favorite part of any grilled cheese, and Mister let me have the ones off of his sandwiches too! What a sweetheart!

Mister’s rating: a very fresh, springtime take on grilled cheese sandwiches. The herby taste makes them very light.

February is almost over, isn’t that nuts? The year is well underway and it still seems to me like New Year’s Eve wasn’t that long ago. This month has been weird for me in terms of blogging. February has been a month of falling back on standards, making things that I make often, things that I’ve made and posted about here before. I don’t know what it is, settling into the house or it being so freezing cold without relenting for so long, but the comforting favorites are the foods that have been coming up on the menu lately. Now that there is no more renovating, not so much unpacking and lots of time to cook and blog, most of the things I’m cooking are things that have already made their appearance here, or I don’t plan on posting them up.

I’m working on it. New and exciting things are going on in my funky kitchen (including a new amazing stove, who will make an appearance soon) and they’ll make their way on to here soon.

This is an awesome salad that made its way onto the table when we had some people over for dinner. It was so simple and super tasty, but my favorite part was the vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette, you say? Haven’t you talked about vinaigrette before, Dana?

I have. But seriously, this one was good. And they’re so easy to make on your own. Here’s the handy dandy guide: Three parts oil, two parts vinegar, 1/2 a part of mustard (to help emulsify), and the add ins that fit your fancy. Put it in your jar and shake it up. Easy, right?  For my salad, which was made to serve 6 with a meal, my proportion measure was 1 1/2 Tbsp. Therefore 1 part = 1 1/2 Tbsp, 2 parts = 3 Tbsp, 1/2 a part = 3/4 Tbsp and so on.

Tangy Pomegranate Vinaigrette

3 parts olive oil

2 parts red wine vinegar

2 parts pomegranate molasses

1/2 part honey

1/2 part dijon mustard

salt and fresh cracked pepper

Directions

• Take all of your ingredients and add them to a clean jar.
• Pop the lid onto the jar and give it a shake. (Vinaigrette dance party V2.0!)
• Dress your salad just before serving.

If you have any leftover vinaigrette, store it in the fridge, in the jar with the lid on, for up to a week. The acidic brightness from the red wine vinegar and the pomegranate molasses played against the creaminess of chevre in this salad:

Salad with Cranberry and Chevre

2 heads of romaine lettuce

4 oz chevre

3/4 Cup dried cranberries

tangy pomegranate vinaigrette (recipe above)

Directions

• Wash the lettuce leaves, spin dry, and tear (don’t cut) into bite sized pieces.
• Add the lettuce leaves and dried cranberries into the intended salad bowl.
• Pinch off little bits of the chevre with clean fingers onto the salad. Once you’re about 2/3 of the way through the chevre, toss the salad so that it distributes through, and then add the rest of the cheese the same way on top. Refrain from tossing it too much more, or the little clumps of chevre will stick together.
• Drizzle with vinaigrette before serving.

I think the salad could have really done with some additional crunch, potentially from some walnuts or pecans. I used a crunchy romaine to lend that texture, because we’re a mostly nut-free house due to allergies, but if you’re going to give this salad a spin, you may want to contemplate the idea of adding nuts. Mister is a sucker for anything creamy, and so he rated the salad (vinaigrette included): 10/10!

Now that I’ve finally worked through the lengthy task that was my feed reader, I come bearing recipes of a simple and delicious tortellini soup.

Simple: There aren’t any ingredients in the soup that are very out of the ordinary, I’d have the ingredients for everything but the tortellini in my pantry any day of the week. Also, it comes together without too much prodding or poking. Everyday ingredients doing what they do best make for a fantastic soup.

Delicious: Lots of lovely vegetables in stock from a roasted chicken? Can you ask for more? Yes you can, and that is where the tortellini come into play. You can make your own, make a take a shortcut and make the cheater version, or just by tortellini to put into the pot. I made mine for a birthday girl, because there isn’t much like stuffing pasta for someone to show that you care. The trick, the secret ingredient that makes the soup really sparkle, is just a little bit of red wine vinegar at the end. It adds just a little bit of zing that gets your mouth ready for all of the rounded vegetable, herb and roasted chicken flavors. Tasty!

Tortellini Soup

1 medium onion

3-4 stalks of celery

2-3 carrots

1 Tbsp butter

1-14 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 1/2 tsp basil and oregano

fresh cracked black pepper

3 Cups chicken stock

2 1/2 Cups water (or more to taste)

1 1/2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Tortellini (see recipe here)

• Dice the onion, carrots and celery. Sweat the diced vegetables in a soup pot with the butter until soft.
• Open the tin of tomatoes, and drain, reserving the liquid.
• Turn the heat on the pot to medium high, add the tomatoes (not the liquid), and saute until the vegetables start to brown a little bit. (Browning=flavor and flavor=good)
• Add to the pot the basil, oregano and pepper. Stir and wait for their fragrance to waft into the air.
• Add the reserved tomato liquid, chicken stock and water. Stir occasionally until the soup reaches a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and allow to simmer 10-15 minutes to give the flavors time to get friendly with each other.
• Stir in the secret ingredient, the red wine vinegar.
• Add the tortellini and allow the soup to continue to bubble until the pasta is cooked through (this will depend if you are using fresh pasta or dried: for cheater tortellini ~6 minutes).
• Serve right away, overcooked tortellini will get mushy.

This soup was absolutely perfect for the birthday celebration lunch I brought it to. It’s so warm and summery, it definitely washes away my foot of snow blues.