Summer Salads : Part II

Salmon is great any time of the year, but I especially love it during the summer. Simple and delicious, the following recipe is sure to make your tummy smile. The side dishes that accompany the fish, as well as another homemade vinaigrette, are what make this dish. Not a fan of potato salad? Give this one a try. The potatoes are roasted, seasoned with rosemary, and there's not an ounce of mayo in the recipe.


Grilled Salmon with a Warm Potato Salad, Stone Ground Mustard Vinaigrette, Marinated Cucumber Salad, Hard Boiled Eggs, Greens & Tomatoes

Let's start with the vinaigrette, since this can be made in advance. You can also hard-boil some eggs, slice the tomatoes and wash the greens at this time to be reserved for plating. The greens we used in the cooking demo were little bundles of red and green oak, lola rosa and frisee. Be careful not to boil the eggs too long. A black ring around the yolk of the egg indicates the eggs are overdone. Also, I prefer to use heirloom tomatoes for this dish. Their contrasting colors add a little something extra to the final plate.

Stone Ground Mustard Vinaigrette
Yield: 10 portions

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup tarragon vinegar
1/4 cup fresh tarragon, chopped
1/4 cup shallots, chopped

1/4 cup stone ground "country dijon" mustard
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup tarragon, chopped
2 tsp garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups salad oil
1/2 cup chives, chopped
1/2 cup celery, minced
1/4 cup green onions, minced

METHOD:
1. Place tarragon vinegar, tarragon and shallots in a stainless steel pot and reduce over high heat by 1/2.
2. Cool to room temperature and reserve for dressing.
3. Add both mustards to a bar blender with tarragon, garlic and sherry vinegar.
4. Blend until well combined. Slowly add salad oil until well combined.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Add the tarragon vinegar reduction and adjust flavor.
7. Combine dressing, fingerling potatoes, chives, celery and green onions.
8. Serve at room temperature.

The salmon can also be prepped in advance and then reserved until ready to be grilled.

Grilled Salmon
Yield: 10 portions

INGREDIENTS:
3 oz portions of salmon
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp garlic poweder
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cumin

METHOD:
1. Brush each side of the salmon with olive oil.
2. Combine all the seasonings and coat the salmon well.
3. Heat the grill (or stove top if using a grill pan) to medium high and place the salmon fillets on the grill, flesh side down.
4. Flip the salmon fillets after a few minutes and continue to cook until the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 135 degrees.

Now, on to the potato salad...

Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad
Yield: 10 portions

INGREDIENTS:
4 lbs Fingerling potatoes, cut in 1/2 lenghtwise
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp rosemary, finely chopped

METHOD:
1. Place potatoes in a large bowl and combine with remaining ingredients.
2. Place potatoes on a flat sheet try and roast in a 400 degree oven until golden brown and cooked through, approximately 40 minutes.
3. Remove potatoes from the oven and let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
4. Combine with Stone Ground Vinaigrette.

While the potatoes are roasting, you'll have time to make the cucumber salad...

Marinated Cucumber Salad
Yield: 10 portions

INGREDIENTS:
2 each English cucumbers, peeled and julienned
1/4 cup red onions, finely diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp dill, finely chopped
2 Tbsp salad oil
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
sugar to taste
salt and pepper to taste

MEHTOD:
Combine all ingredients and serve with the grilled salmon salad.


*NOTE: After all the side items are ready, grill off the salmon you prepped in advance. You can plate the additional items while the salmon is grilling so your plates are ready to go once the salmon is ready. Enjoy!

Summer Salads

This week, I was fortunate enough to be invited to assist a great chef at a cooking demonstration. His cuisine du jour? Summer Salads. Twenty-nine eager foodies attended the event and it was a great day. The salads I am going to share over the next few days are courtesy of Chef Doug Ganhs. They are light and fresh, yet highly flavorful. Try them and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Summer Field Greens and Arugula, with a Warm Goat Cheese Cake and Sherry Vinaigrette

First, let's make the goat cheese cake...

Savory Goat Cheese Cake
Yield: 10 portions

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

12 oz goat cheese
8 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp tarragon, chopped
1 Tbsp chives, chopped
1 Tbsp basil, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 black pepper

METHOD:

1. Combine the bread crumbs, walnuts and butter until well combined.
2. Press mixture into a 10-inch cake or flan pan.
3. Combine goat and cream cheese mix until well combined.
4. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
5. Add remaining ingredients and combine.
6. Bake in a 300 degree oven until set (about 20 minutes).
7. Let cool completely before slicing.

*NOTE: You can also bake the goat cheese cakes in flexible muffin molds. I think the 2 -oz molds make especially adorable cakes, and will also serve as a great appetizer. Just be sure to lightly spray the molds with cooking spray, as the goat cheese cakes are delicate and susceptible to crumbling.

Now on to the vinaigrette...


Sherry Vinaigrette
Yield: 10 portions

INGREDIENTS:
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 c rice wine vinegar
4 Tbsp sherry wine
2 Tbsp shallots, minced
3 cups salad oil
white pepper (to taste)

METHOD:
1. Add sherry wine to a small stainless steel sauce pan and reduce by 1/2. Cool.
2. Add egg yolks to a bar blender with the sugar, salt and shallots.
3. Blend until well combined.
4. Combine all liquid ingredients.
5. Add 1/3 of the liquid to the blender and combine.
6. Add 1/3 of the oil and combine.
7. Add the remaining liquid and oil alternating in thirds.
8. If the dressing is too thick, add a little cold water.
9. Adjust seasoning with white pepper.

*NOTE: As with making any homemade dressing, feel free to adjust the seasonings to your preference. I personally love vinegar, and like this dressing to be quite acidic. If you find the vinaigrette too tart, feel free to add additional sugar to cut the acidity. Also, white pepper is much stronger than black pepper, so use it sparingly!

Stop by your local farmer's market and pick up some fresh field greens and arugula and you're good to go. Enjoy!