Check out the cutest little boy in the world!
My family likes to snow ski, but it is an infrequent event unfortunately. We just don’t get much snow here – certainly never enough to ski on. Although I did have a somewhat crazy neighbor (Harvey J) one year put on his skis when we had a rare, but a particularly heavy snow (maybe three to five inches) and take off down the street in front of our house. (Wonder what ever happened to him anyway?) Given the opportunity, we head to Utah or Colorado, don our thermals and ski wear, plunge our feet into those gosh-awful boots that began their lives some time back in the Dark Ages as torture devices (yes, I know they are much better than they used to be, but….), latch on the downhillers and become Stein Ericksen pretenders. I’m okay as long as no one ever mentions “black diamond” or “moguls.” My daughter and son-in-law have tried snowboarding and liked it, but I just don’t see that happening for me. (Maybe slow boarding?) I’m sure my grandchildren will be “cotton-pickin boarders ” one of these days. That’s my husband’s term for them. The three and a half year old has already had his first ski experience and seemed to take to it just fine. My theory is that since kiddos are usually close to the ground, they have no fear of falling and breaking a bone or two. Therefore, their main goal is SPEED! That was certainly true of my daughter when she was learning…and the proverbial acorn hasn’t fallen far from the tree (or should that be snowflake?).
The last time we were in Park City we ate at Purple Sage which touts itself as featuring American Western Cuisine. I had a roasted beet salad with goat cheese and hazelnuts along with butternut squash ravioli. They were both fantastic; I highly recommend that you try them if you get to make the trip. This salad recipe came from Williams-Sonoma. While it isn’t exactly like the one at Purple Sage, it comes close. I thought it was delicious. Purple Sage uses an orange hazelnut vinaigrette that I haven’t been able to duplicate exactly. I am including the one that I use which comes close as well as the original vinaigrette used at Williams-Sonoma. Maybe I can convince Purple Sage to part with their recipe one of these days. Too many people don’t think very highly of beets. Maybe this salad will change your mild if you are one of those.
Before you roast the beets, cut off the greens and reserve them for another use. If they are tender, add them to a tossed salad. Otherwise, compost them or feed them to your pet rabbit.
3 golden beets, trimmed and washed (get small or baby beets if you can)
6 red beets, trimmed and washed
1/2 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
5 Tbs. crème fraîche (Make your own if your grocery doesn’t have it in stock; it’s easy to do.)
1 Tbs. chopped fresh dill
2 tsp. minced shallots
4 cups baby watercress (I have used mache, arugula and baby spinach. It’s hard for me to find watercress.)
4 oz. goof quality goat cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup toasted chopped walnuts (or hazelnuts)
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Place the golden and red beets on a baking sheet. Coat the beets with 3 Tbs. of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil and roast until the beets are fork-tender, about 1 hour. When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 1-inch wedges. Meanwhile, in a salad dressing emulsifier (I don’t have one of these, so I just make do with a whisk.), combine the lemon juice, crème fraîche, the remaining 5 Tbs. olive oil, the dill and shallots. Squeeze the lever to emulsify. Season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper.** Arrange the beet wedges in a layer on a platter and top with the watercress. Garnish with the goat cheese and walnuts. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and serve immediately. Serves 6.
**Orange-Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Makes 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup hazelnut oil (If you can’t get hazelnut oil, try walnut oil.)
1 1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Whisk together vinegar, orange juice, hazelnut oil, and orange zest in bowl. Slowly pour in olive oil while whisking. Season with salt and pepper. This is from Vegetarian Times.
Makes 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup hazelnut oil (If you can’t get hazelnut oil, try walnut oil.)
1 1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions
Whisk together vinegar, orange juice, hazelnut oil, and orange zest in bowl. Slowly pour in olive oil while whisking. Season with salt and pepper. This is from Vegetarian Times.
I noticed a blog entry yesterday on the Yahoo! site about The Top Ten Foods People Love or Hate and thought you might enjoy it, so I have linked it here to make it easy for you to find. It was interesting to see what the writer’s choices were; I’m not sure mine would have been the same, but then I wasn’t the one getting paid to write for Yahoo! either. Anyway, I will be adding some recipes over the next month or so that use some of these items . Maybe they will fall in the category of Foods You Love after that.
