Chicken and Strawberry Salad

We FINALLY had some nice weather that lasted all weekend. We the residents of Boston have been clamoring for this after what seemed like a relentless winter. There are a few food things that I love about the warm weather, fruit based desserts, fruity cocktails, and creative salads. Today, was a creative salad for lunch kind of day.

The husband and I walked from our home down to the Fan Pier for the first weekend of the Volvo Ocean Race to check out what they had down there. It was pretty cool, I got to spray paint Keating on the side of a fence, don't worry that was totally legit.

After our walk to and fro, we worked up quite an appetite and had this great salad with chicken, strawberries, cashews, arugula, spring mix salad blend, and blue cheese. I loved the way that the fruit, meat, cheese, and bitter arugula played off each other. This may be one of my new favorite salads. Next weekend, I will be posting the recipe for poppy seed dressing that I serve with a spinach and strawberry salad.

Dressing
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl. Gradually drizzle in oil, stirring constantly with a whisk.

Salad
4 cups torn romaine lettuce (I opted to use a spring mix bag of salad that I needed to use up. I liked the way it worked in the salad. If I used the romaine lettuce, it would have had more crunch for sure).
4 cups arugula
2 cups quartered strawberries
1/3 cup vertically sliced red onion (I omitted this as I forgot to get a red onion at the grocery store yesterday. The salad works just fine without the onion).
12 ounces skinless, boneless, rotisserie chicken breast (I am sure that grilled chicken would work just as well, but I really love the rotisserie chicken breast from the store and look for excuses to buy it).
2 tablespoons halved cashews (I'd go for unsalted or lightly salted)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently. Drizzle dressing on top.

Yield: 4 servings

The World's Top 100 Eating Experiences

I found this list through a link on Pop Candy. The list is posted below and can be found on this link (I don't want to plagerize). If interested, the companion article can be found here.

I've certainly not travelled the world as much as I would like (the lack of funds and vacation time to do so get in the way). Despite, my limited travel I have heard about El Bulli before through another source (a book I read that I keep meaning to post of review of).

I left the original notes next to the names of the restaurants which are comparisons of where these restaurants were on last year's list. I listed the cities for those restaurants that are in the US.

I feel fortunate to have had a dinner at Le Bernadin, which is #15 on this list. Years ago, when the husband was still working in media planning, he won a gift certificate to any restaurant in the city. He chose Le Bernadin and we were not disappointed. It was certainly one of the best meals either of us has ever had.

1 El Bulli, Spain (=)
2 The Fat Duck, U.K. (=)
3 Noma, Denmark (+7)
4 Mugaritz, Spain (=)
5 El Celler de Can Roca, Spain (+21)
6 Per Se, U.S. (=) (In NYC)
7 Bras, France (=)
8 Arzak, Spain (=)
9 Pierre Gagnaire, France (-6)
10 Alinea, U.S. (+11) (Chicago, IL)
11 L’Astrance, France (=)
12 The French Laundry U.S. (-7) (Yountville, CA)
13 Osteria Francescana, Italy (New Entry)
14 St. John, U.K. (+2)
15 Le Bernardin, U.S. (+5) (NYC)
16 Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville, Switzerland (+11)
17 Tetsuya’s, Australia (-8)
18 L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, France (-4)
19 Jean Georges, U.S. (-2) (NYC)
20 Les Creations de Narisawa, Japan (New Entry)
21 Chez Dominique, Finland (+18)
22 Ristorante Cracco, Italy (+21)
23 Die Schwarzwaldstube, Germany (+12)
24 D.O.M., Brazil (+16)
25 Vendome, Germany (+9)
26 Hof van Cleve, Belgium (+2)
27 Masa, U.S., (Re-entry)
28 Gambero Rosso, Italy (-16)
29 Oud Sluis, Netherlands (+13)
30 Steirereck, Austria (New Entry)
31 Momofuku Ssam Bar, U.S. (New Entry)
32 Oaxen Skaergaardskrog, Sweden (+16)
33 Martin Berasategui, Spain (-4)
34 Nobu U.K. (-4)
35 Mirazur, France (New Entry)
36 Hakkasan, U.K. (-17)
37 Le Quartier Francais, South Africa (+13)
38 La Colombe, South Africa (Re-entry)
39 Asador Etxebarri, Spain (+5)
40 Le Chateaubriand, France (New Entry)
41 Daniel, U.S. (=) (NYC)
42 Combal Zero, Italy (Re-entry)
43 Le Louis XV, France (-28)
44 Tantris, Germany (+3)
45 Iggy’s, Singapore (New Entry)
46 Quay, Australia (New Entry)
47 Les Ambassadeurs, France (-2)
48 Dal Pescatore, Italy (-25)
49 Le Calandre, Italy (-13)
50 Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden (New Entry)
51 Zuma, China
52 Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, U.K.
53 Spondi, Greece
54 L’Arpege, France
55 L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, China
56 Hibiscus, U.K.
57 Aqua, Germany
58 Le Gavroche, U.K.
59 Chez Panisse, U.S. (Berkley, CA)
60 Les Amis, Singapore
61 El Poblet, Spain
62 Maison Pic, France
63 Cafe Pushkin, Russia
64 Le Meurice, France
65 Bukhara, India
66 Varvari, Russia
67 Schauenstein, Germany
68 RyuGin, Japan
69 La Maison Troisgros, France
70 Wasabi, India
71 The River Cafe, U.K.
72 Enoteca Pinchiorri, Italy
73 Le Cinq, France
74 Allegro, Czech Republic
75 Quintessence, Japan
76 Restaurant Dieter Mueller, Germany
77 Geranium, Denmark
78 Caprice, China
79 Jardines, South Africa
80 Amador, Germany
81 Biko, Mexico
82 L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon U.S (NYC)
83 Fasano, Brazil
84 Mozaic, Bali
85 Obauer, Austria
86 Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee, France
87 L’Ambroisie, France
88 Maison Boulud, China
89 De Librije, Netherlands
90 Babbo, U.S. (NYC)
91 Maze, U.K.
92 Zuma, U.K.
93 Manresa, U.S. (Los Gatos, CA)
94 Pier, Australia
95 De Karmeliet, Belgium
96 Aubergine, South Africa
97 Bo Innovation, China
98 Rust en Vrede, South Africa
99 Del Posto U.S.
100 Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire, UAE

Ham and Bean Soup a.k.a Hot Ham Water

Hot Ham Water is a reference to one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Arrested Development. The show is not on anymore, if you haven't seen it, I strongly encourage renting or borrowing the DVD's from someone. The show is brilliantly written and hilarious. The characters are something else. Getting back to the reference, the character Lindsey makes soup and calls it "hot ham water".

Ham and Bean Soup is a great way to use some of the Easter ham leftovers. My mom would make it using the ham bone and chunks of ham. While time consuming, the soup is easy to make. My mom mentioned that she was freezing the ham bone and making the soup the following week. That is an option. I chose to make the soup right away.

As one can guess, the foray into becoming a vegetarian (for health and some ethical reasons) is not going well. I still haven't had meat from cows in months. The reason we had ham for Easter is because the husband really likes it.

1 cup dry navy beans
4 cups water
1-1.5 pound meaty ham bone
1.5 cups sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf

1. Soak beans overnight in a covered pan.
2. Drain and rinse beans. In the same pan combine beans, 4 cups fresh water, pork celery, onion, thyme, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 hour or until beans are tender.
3. Remove ham bone, when cool enough to handle, cut meat off bone and coarsely chop. Discard bone and bay leaf. Slightly mash beans in saucepan. Return meat to sauce pan.
4. Heat through. If this is using leftovers, feel free to add extra meat.
   

Makes 4 main-dish servings.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue happens to be one of my favorite all time pies. I love the combination of sweet and tart. The vibrant yellow of the pie reminds me of spring, something that is missed severely after this very long winter.

I chose to make this pie for the Easter dinner dessert. The husband and I did our own thing for Easter in the attempt to start our own traditions. I would like to make this pie one of the traditional desserts. I would however like to change the way that the pie was served this year. I was waiting to eat my pie until after I spoke with my parents. The husband refused to wait and dug into his pie. What do y'all think of that?

1.5 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
dash of salt
1.5 cups water
3 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped lemon zest
1/3 cup lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
Baked Pastry Shell (use your refrigerated or the recipe below)
Meringue (recipe listed below)

1. Combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, and a dash of salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in water. Cook and stir over medium-high heat till thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir for two minutes more. Remove from heat.
2. Separate egg yolks from whites; set whites aside for meringue. Beat egg yolks slightly. Gradually stir 1 cup of hot filling mixture into yolks; return all to saucepan. Bring to gentle boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in butter and lemon peel. Gradually stir in lemon juice, gently mixing well. Pour hot filling into baked pastry shell. Evenly spread meringue over hot filling, seal to edge.
   
4. Bake in 350F oven for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill to store.

Meringue for Pie
My meringue didn't rise high which is disappointing. It still tastes great, but doesn't have that diner pie look.

3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons sugar

1. Bring egg whites to room temperature. In a mixing bowl combine egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 minute or until soft peaks form.
   
2. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed about 4 minutes more or until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks and sugar dissolves.
3. Immediately spread meringue over pie, carefully sealing to the edge of the pie.

Baked Pastry Shell
Some readers know that I lack the patience with pie crust. It isn't the making of the crust that I find difficult (read: annoying), it is the rolling out of the dough and transferring it to the pie dish. I am getting slightly better at bring the rolled out dough to the dish without breaking it.

The recipe for the single crust pie can be found in the Lemon Chess Pie posting. Prepare as the recipe suggests, except prick the bottom and sides of pastry with the tines of a fork. Bake in oven at 450F for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Scalloped Potatoes

This is one of my all time favorite potato side dishes. I usually have it at holiday meals. I very rarely make it for the husband and I. However, today was Easter and the husband and I were doing our own thing. I haven't had these delicious carbs in quite some time. They are so easy to make and I rarely stray from the recipe I use from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Props go to the husband for peeling and slicing the potatoes today.

1/4 cup chopped onion (I usually go with at least a 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 flour
1 1/4 milk (Usually I use skim milk, but this time I used 2%)
3 potatoes

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
   
2. Cook onion in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat
3. Place half the sliced potatoes in a greased 1 quart casserole . Cover with half the sauce. Repeat layers.
   
4. Bake covered for 35 minutes. Remove cover and bake for another 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
   

Serves 4