They say that the greatest form of flattery is imitation, but what do you call an outright swipe? I guess that would be stealing. I have to admit right off the bat that I swiped this right off of Smitten Kitchen. I came across it one day, and it was so beautiful that I knew I had to include it on this menu idea list. Instructions are on the blog.
Wouldn't mom absolutely love this salad? It would be a colorful, flavorful, and seasonal addition to any brunch menu. I generally think of brunch as more breakfast-y, but (a) lot of people include lunch or dinner items in brunch and (b) who wouldn't want something as beautiful as this salad at breakfast? Anyway, it's just a suggestion, but one I know I wouldn't want to pass up!
The beans were processed by Lakeside Foods in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The company is voluntarily recalling 15,000 cases of green beans, although no botulinum toxin has been found in any cans that were tested. No illnesses had been reported due to consumption of the green beans as of August 1, either. But hey, better safe than sorry!
The affected brands are: Albertson's, Happy Harvest, Best Choice, Food Club, Bogopa, Valu Time, Hill Country Fare, HEB, Laura Lynn, Kroger, No Name, North Pride, Shop N Save, Shoppers Valu, Schnucks, Cub Foods, Dierbergs, Flavorite, IGA, Best Choice and Thrifty Maid.
The warning applies to cans with the following codes: EAA5247, EAA5257, EAA5267, EAA5277, EAB5247, EAB5257, ECA5207, ECA5217, ECA5227, ECA5297, ECB5207, ECB5217, ECB5227, ECB5307.
I needed a salad to serve with the Haddock Beurre Blanc I made for guests. This salad has all the veggies I was planning to serve as side dishes combined ,so that it has some substance to it, but still remains light and summery. (Light and summery are two of my favorite food words at this time of year.)
I had a cup left of the marble-sized baby red potatoes I mentioned awhile ago and then picked up some sweet and crisp green beans, and super ripe summer tomatoes. I then plucked some of the first of my herbs in my container garden outside my door and I knew a feast was in the offing. I served this salad with the incredibly lush Haddock Beurre Blanc for a great meal that my guests enjoyed. Recipe and photos after the jump.
I have a some guests from out of town visiting for a few days and I wanted to prepare something special. As usual I am all about putting together a meal from fresh and local ingredients. Today it is handmade, cultured butter and fresh caught haddock which were the main ingredients around which I wanted to base the meal. When you have these two ingredients the dish that comes to mind is fish in a Beurre Blanc sauce. This is a sauce made from white wine, fresh squeezed lemon juice, sauteed shallots and then it is emulsified into a sauce by slowly whisking in butter at a very low temperature. I will serve this with a nice Tomato, Green Bean, and Baby Potato Salad with Garden Herbs.
It seems that every family makes that Durkee Green Bean Casserole recipe (or a variation on it) for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Maybe not every year, but I think we all try it at some point. It has somehow become not only a food tradition but a pop culture one too. I hope someone in my family makes it this year too, but maybe it's time to try another one out and see how that goes.
Click past the jump for a recipe that puts a new twist on the favorite:
The holidays tend to bring up a lot of food traditions and we all have at least one relative that wants to stick to the old standards, point-blank refusing to try any new foods between November and New Year's. But even if you're sticking with tradition, you can still improve on the original recipe. Alanna, from A Veggie Venture, made the World's Best Green Bean Casserole based on a recipe in the most recent issue of Cook's Illustrated. The recipe emphasizes using fresh green beans, not frozen or canned even though it takes a lot more time to prep them, and a fresh mushroom sauce that adds a bright, enticing flavor in lieu of canned mushroom soup. Even CI couldn't do away with the canned french fried onions, but as Alanna points out, the topping can be reduced by half and still be very generous. And you won't feel as guilty for using something canned and fried, but will still keep everyone in the family happy with a perfect holiday side.
Like true coffee addicts, the guys over at Forbes have scoured the globe looking for the most expensive coffees in the world. And we're not talking about specialty coffee drinks, but about the beans themselves. Starting off the list at $160 per pound is Kopi Luwak, which we have already heard about, since the berries are digested by civets before the bean is extracted and brewed. This is followed by Hacienda La Esmeralda (Panama, $104/lb), Island of St. Helena Coffee Company ($79/lb), El Injerto (Guatemala, $25-50/lb), Fazenda Santa Ines (Brazil, $50/lb), Jamaica Blue Mountain ($49/lb), Los Planes (El Salvador, $40/lb), Kona ($34/lb), Starbucks Rwanda Blue Bourbon ($24/lb), Yauco Selecto AA (Puerto Rico, $22/lb), Fazenda Sao Benedito (Brazil, $21/lb).
Keep in mind that many beans in supermarkets (and cafes) are "Blue Mountain-style" or "Kona-style" and do not necessarily contain all of the beans that the name suggests, which is why prices in some venues appear to be lower. The Starbucks blend is worth noting because it is part of the company's Black Apron line, a selection of frequently changing premium coffees. Premium, however, doesn't always mean better, especially because several of the prices given here are for the green beans, and a good or bad roast is vital to achieving a quality cup of coffee from high quality beans.
Over at Engadget, there was a post on how to convert your air
popcorn popper into a coffee roaster. An interesting bit of tech work, but they definitely made it more sound more
difficult than it really is. And the commenters seemed certain that trying to use an air popper to roast coffee
beans was a move likely to burn down the house. Clearly, they haven't roasted coffee before. I have used an air popper
to roast beans successfully, without any serious modifications to the machinery - and without burning my house
down, as I cleverly thought to do my roasting outside. In retrospect, this was an excellent move, as the process
produces a fair amount of smoke.
Here are some tips and instructions for roasting your own coffee.
I think I
may have finally cured my family of the green bean casserole.
Every year I try to introduce new dishes to my
family's Holiday dinner tables in order to get replace some of the ones that I *ahem* hate. Okay, so I
don't hate creamed corn, and mashed potatoes aren't terrible; it's just that we have the exact same thing
every effin' year, and the dishes that we could "jazz up" into Parmesan and Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes
or Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing, are rejected the next year for the boring, plain traditional ones. The one I hate
the most is the ultimate poster child of the Food Network show Unwrapped - green bean casserole. It's made from frozen vegetables, canned soup, and pull top canister onions.
But this year, I blanched fresh green beans for a
few minutes, wrapped them in bacon, and roasted them at 350 for 15 minutes, a la Paula Deen. They were awesome. Not a
single one left. My sister made them the next day for her party, too.
We'll see if the green bean casserole
makes it to the table next year.