Product Review: Simply Organic Red Pepper Curry Vinaigrette

On a recent day of al fresco dining, I settle for an Indian theme. Salad is always an easy picnic vegetable option, and I had this packet of Simply Organic Red Pepper Curry Vinaigrette mix lurking in my cupboard. The directions called to mix the packet with water and vinegar. Once mixed, I felt that it was lacking something, so added a little more vinegar and also good amount of olive oil, as in my opinion, no salad dressing is complete without it. With a little experimenting and the improvisations, we were really impressed with the turn out and will definitely have again.

An Indian Summer Picnic

I love eating al fresco, whether it be a picnic or at a restaurant. You just can't beat sitting with family or friends having good conversation, nice food and wine, fresh air, and the sun shining on your face. Recently, I was invited to a traditional English Garden Fête at the home of the Sarasota British Club's new President, Sue Ford.

It was such a lovely day and brought back so many happy memories of our favorite English summer pastime: Summer Proms. Each summer, at venues across the country, they have a series of out door classical concerts. The themes range from Music from the Movies to the classics that feature on the Last Night of the Proms. The tradition goes that you bring your own table, chairs, plonk, and a meal fit for royalty. I could go on and on about menus from Proms past, but the most memorable for me was one June when we were celebrating James's birthday. We had been out picking raspberries earlier in the day and I made a two layered chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I had covered the top of the bottom layer in raspberries, then once the top layer was iced, dotted fresh raspberries for color. After the 20 minute downpour that usually makes a brief appearance, we had a lovely time. For Sue's Garden Fête, I wanted to create a menu that was fit for the Proms. As Indian food is so popular in the UK, we ended up with Tandoori Chicken, Curried Couscous, and Salad with a Red Pepper Curry Vinaigrette. It was sublime and took me back to an English summer.

Creative Use of Left Overs: Panko- Couscous Chicken with Blue Cheese Gratin Potatoes

We interrupt the regularly schedule travel blogging to bring you TONIGHT'S DINNER... With the current economy suffering, you don't have to break the bank to have a really nice meal. Nor do you have to spend hours slaving over a hot stove. For the following two recipes, all of the ingredients were already in my kitchen - with the exception of 2 chicken cutlets and 2 Idaho potatoes.

I had a basic idea on how I wanted to prepare the chicken: the final product was a combination of a Delia Smith recipe along with my step mom's chicken cutlets and Audrey Sweeney's much raved about chicken bites.

• I first marinated the chicken in 3 eggs with a sprinkle of salt and a good pinch of herbs. My choice was Herbes de Provence, but anything you have on hand will do. After 30 minutes, coat in bread crumbs. This is where i got creative: I didn't have enough panko for the chicken, so I had a look around my fridge. There was some leftover couscous from the weekend, so I decided to give that a go. I mixed equal parts panko to couscous, added a small pinch of salt and some more herbs. Once the chicken was coated, i fried in a shallow amount of olive oil for 6 minutes each side. Once finished cooking, let sit on a paper towel for one minute to absorb oil.

• While the chicken was marinating, I went on to the side dish... My side dish was a creative use of leftovers to make one of my favorite dishes: Gratin Potatoes. We had some leftover Roquefort cheese sauce. As this came out of a dried packet, it was very economical. If you don't have (or like) Roquefort cheese sauce packets, any sort of cheese sauce will do. I mixed the left over sauce with some whipping cream, left over blue cheese crumbles, and a little milk just to thin it out a bit, all in a sauce pan over medium heat. I then added the two potatoes, thinly sliced, and let simmer for 10 minutes. This all got dumped into a backing dish and baked in the over for 35 minutes at 350F.

It didn't tale a lot of effort to make, not did it take a lot of money. Instead of cooking vegetables, I decided it was a good idea to use the little bit of salad that was left over. You know that stuff, that little bit that gets left in the bag that you forget about and end up throwing away? I then drizzled a little of my homemade vinaigrette (also made from cupboard staples) over the lettuce and grabbed my fork.

Yum! Not only was it a satisfying meal, it was satisfying to know I was using things up in my kitchen, not letting them go to waste.

What to Eat After Walking Through Alpine Pastures (10/01)

After a long, high altitude walk through Alpine Pastures (in which I've spared you from the photos), we were ravenous! It was my turn to make dinner that night, so I went for an easy classic: steak, sauteed mushrooms, and salad.
The steak was cooked à point, and served with Sauce béarnaise, from a jar I'm afraid, and not made by my own fair hand. Though making it from scratch is yet another thing I'd like to attempt in the upcoming year. I've never made béarnaise sauce before, and am somewhat terrified of ending up with scrambled eggs.

The steak was followed by a cheese course. We had some lovely cheeses: (clockwise from the top) Comté, Bleu des Causses, Reblochon, and Epoisses.

We finished with a box of Bonne Maman Lemon Tartlets, which were surprisingly good. They were nice and tart - not too sweet.

Stomach full, legs tired, I was ready for bed. Another good day in France...

Lunch at Châlet Rosiers (10-01)

My sister-in-law joined us on Wednesday morning. We popped into Doussard to the Shopi and une boulangerie to pick up some essentials, then went back to Châlet Rosiers for lunch.
As figs were in the height of season, my sister-in-law taught me how to choose the perfect fig: they should be soft (like a peach), but not too mushy.

We also had some ham that my mother-in-law cooked and some French salami.

My sister-in-law made her speciality: tomatoes with a sprinkling of sea salt, chopped garlic and a drizzle of salad dressing.

I was tasked with making the salad dressing for the two weeks, which was a big honor as my father-in-law is the master and had originally taught me how to make it years ago. Following the ratio of three parts olive oil to one part vinegar, I add a sprinkle of sea salt and sugar, one tbsp of Dijon mustard. This particular time I also added one clove of chopped garlic and a couple pinches of herbes de Provence.

This was also the first time I had tried a fresh fig, so I'm glad she was an expert at selecting them. She also showed me how to prepare and eat them. I was a little apprehensive of eating the skins, but they are very soft, not unlike peach skin. Not a huge fan of the Newton, I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. The taste was similar to a peach mixes with strawberries.

It was a very simple lunch, easy to prepare, but J and I agree that it was easily one of the most memorable meals of our trip. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, we were sitting outside on the balcony and it was so nice to catch up with my sister-in-law. We don't get to see her nearly as often as we like, so we always enjoy each minute we get to spend with her.

Culinary Creations: Pesto Pork

My mom came over Sunday night for a pre-thank you dinner since she will be taking care of Harry while we are away. We wanted to keep it nice and simple so opted to do a pesto (or pistou since we're going to France) coated pork tenderloin.
This is super easy to do. I had half of a jar of pesto left over from the Layered up Chicken and Roasted Vegetables. I like cooking with jarred pesto as it has a stronger flavor (i.e. more salt & garlic), than the refrigerated pesto, which makes it not so desirable on pasta itself. With the pesto, I also added in some Herbs de Provence, then coated the tenderloin and let sit for 30 minutes. After, I baked at 350F for 45 minutes.

The results were divine. The pork was nice and tender and had such a good flavor. My house smelt absolutely divine! As we were keeping it simple, we served it with salad, olives, Boursin cheese, and a French baguette.

We sliced the tomato, added some chopped basil, lemon thyme, and chives - then drizzled it with olive oil and sprinkled a bit of Maldon sea salt.

The rest sort of speaks for itself. My Classic French Vinaigrette made another appearance, this time in the form of the pesto jar. The baguette is actually an import from France that I get from my local supermarket's freezer section. It is a nice staple to keep on hand, takes under 10 minutes to bake, and it as close to Paris as you can get in Florida. We threw in some nice French mustard, a bottle of rose, and felt like we were ready for Provence!

Culinary Creations: Classic French Vinaigrette

One of my favorite things to eat is a nice, simple salad. It doesn't have to be packed full of meats and cheeses to get my attention. You just can't beat the natural flavors of mixed baby greens with the addition of whole basil leaves, parsley and dill, topped with a simple vinaigrette.

My favorite vinaigrette couldn't be easier to make: you only need an old jar, mustard or jam jars are the perfect size. What I like best is that it doesn't have a long list of ingredients like supermarket salad dressings. Most of which you have no idea what they even are.

This is my version of the Classic French Vinaigrette:

• 1 part vinegar (white wine vinegar is my staple, but red wine vinegar is fine)
• 3 parts extra virgin olive oil
• 1 generous tsp of Dijon mustard (Maille is divine)
• pinch or 2 of salt and sugar, to taste.

Now for the hard part: put them all in a jar, screw the lid on, and shake until they are all mixed together.

This is also my favorite accompaniment to a nicely steamed artichoke. Add a glass of Sancerre to achieve pure bliss!

Here are some variations:

• You could use balsamic vinegar instead, but omit the extra sugar.
• 1 tsp of dried Herbs de Provence
• 1 tbsp of chopped fresh herbs
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 1 small shallot, chopped

The list could go on and on. It is the perfect base for a salad dressing, and is only as limited as your imagination...

Culinary Creations: Baked Chicken Alfredo with Bacon and Mushrooms

This wasn't exactly the most original thing I've ever made, but it was a good use of things I had in my kitchen: Jar of Alfredo Sauce, Mushrooms, Bacon, and Chicken.

I started off by sauteing the bacon. Once bacon was finished and removed, I then cooked the mushrooms in the left over bacon fat and a little bit of olive oil. Next I added the chicken pieces (I was using tenderloin cutlets), scattered the bacon over the chicken, poured the jar of sauce over the mixture, along with 1/2 cup of white wine. This was baked in my oven, uncovered, at 350F for 35 minutes. After cooking, I garnished with small basil leaves that were left-over from the basil I used in the salad.

To serve, I had a bowl of cooked plain, corkscrew pasta to spoon the sauce over.

I also made a simple salad of lettuce and fresh basil leaves from my garden, dressed with my homemade vinaigrette. Please note my uber fancy jar. Yes, that is an authentic Branston Pickle jar. Unfortunately even after 4 washings, it still retained some of the pickle smell, which slightly altered the taste of the dressing. Not sure if you could tell if you didn't know, but I could...