Dinner Tonight – French Bread with Oil, Vinegar and Walnuts
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
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Serves: 2
Dinner tonight was fresh baked French Bread, with, I don’t even know what to call the side, not a sauce, just a mixture of yummy foods that go well together. Quick, easy, delicious.
Ingredients
5 T olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 C red onion
2 T balsamic vinegar
to taste salt
to taste pepper
sprinkle nutmeg
pinch red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 C chopped walnuts
1/4 to 1/2 C chopped kale (chard, spinach, dandelion or any greens that you have on hand)
1/4 C parmesan cheese
1 loaf French Bread, fresh from the oven (or fresh from the store, warmed in the oven)
Instructions
Saute the onion in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes, over medium-low heat, until the onion is softening, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic, walnuts and kale, cook about 3 minutes more.
Serve warm, with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top (lots of it!), and scoop the mixture with hot from the oven French bread.
Notes
This would be awesome with bacon crumbled into it. (July 22, 2010)
This is my second version of Panzanella Salad (bread salad). They were both amazing. I mean, how can you go wrong with crusty bread, olive oil, parmesan, and fresh basil?! I know. You can’t. The ingredients are what I had at the time. Use what you have, and what you like!
Panzanella Salad
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time:
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
2 C crusty bread (I used Sourdough, but French or any other stale or day old bread will work)
olive oil
1 clove garlic
15 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 fresh flat parsley leaf, chopped
1/4 C balsamic vinegar
to taste salt
to taste pepper
pinch nutmeg
pinch cayenne
1/4 C olive oil
1/2 C summer squash, diced
6 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/2 C fresh mozarella
1/4 C parmesan, grated
1/4 C Feta
Also good with red onion, mushrooms, spinach… use your imagination. If you think it will taste good, try it. If it doesn’t, you know for next time.
Instructions
Rub bread with garlic; cube (if it’s frozen, grate the rest into the dressing – if it’s not just grate the whole clove into the dressing)
Drizzle with olive oil; broil (or toast) 5 minutes, turn, 5 min more.
Chop herbs; whisk them with vinegar through cayenne. Slowly whisk in olive oil, creating an emulsion. Toss with squash through feta.
For Mother’s Day, in 2010, we spent the day with Tim’s parents. His mom loves Meryl Streep (who doesn’t!), so we brought the movie Julie and Julia, in case we wanted to watch it. I thought it would be fun to make Boeuf Bourguignon to eat while watching it. But, the recipe was a little intense for a Sunday afternoon. So I made my own version, which turned out to be a Beef Stew (sorry, I can’t think of a fancy word for it).
Happy Eating!
Rachel’s Beef Stew
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
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Serves: 4-6 (depending on how hungry you are)
Ingredients
1½ lbs stewing beef, patted dry
2T flour
2T olive oil
6 red spring onions, chopped
1C carrots, chopped
1 C cauliflower, chopped
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 LB mushrooms, sliced
to taste, salt
to taste, fresh ground pepper
pinch nutmeg
1 t fresh rosemary, chopped
½ bottle red wine
6-8 C beef stock
2-4 C water
1T aged balsamic vinegar
3 potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 T flour and ¼ C water (opt. if it needs more thickening)
Instructions
Heat a soup pot over medium heat; add oil; add beef; sprinkle with 1T flour; brown. (Can do in batches so the pan isn’t overcrowded – use 1T per batch.)
Add onion, carrot, and cauliflower; about 3 minutes (or until onion is getting soft and translucent). Add garlic and mushrooms; about 3 minutes. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and rosemary.
Add wine; de-glaze the pan by scraping the good bits off the bottom (a result of browning the meat). Cook a few minutes, then add the stock, water, balsamic vinegar and potatoes. Bring to a boil; keep boiling until potatoes are tender (15 min or less); turn heat down to low.
Simmer 2 hours. If it doesn’t get thick enough, add flour and water mixture (whisk 2T flour with ¼ C cold water, then pour into soup).
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Notes
I read that it’s best, in the first step, to dry the meat so it browns properly. I didn’t do this, and the beef didn’t get that nice brown crust on it, it just cooked, but still tasted amazing.