Cinnamon Croutons

We made these especially to go with butternut squash, but they are so tasty, they might be worth having around as a snack anyway. Fortunately they are easy to make.

Ingredients

6 slices white sandwich bread (thick sliced if possible), crusts removed.
4T melted butter
3T cinnamon sugar.

Method

Set  oven to 375, tray on lower middle rack. Butter both sides of each slice of bread, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Cut the bread slices into cubes, and place the cubes evenly on a sheet pan in a single layer. Place into the oven for a total of 10 minutes, inspecting and rotating after 5. Once they are hard on the outsede, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. When cold, store in an air tight container until ready to use.

Caesar Salad

We had a hankering for a "proper" Caesar salad last week. No hairy fish, no gloppy dressing - just great Romaine with everything done just right. It's harder than it appears - even though the ingredients are simple.
Ingredients (Served 2 as main course)
2 garlic cloves + 1/4 t salt
3T pure olive oil
1/2 cup croutons (unflavored if buying - home made better)
1 egg
1 Romaine - pale leaves and heart only
4T Extra Virgin Olive Oil (best quality you can find
1T lemon juice
Few drops Worcesterhire sauce
1/4 cup coarsely grated Parmiggiano Reggiano
Coarse sea salt
Pepper
Method
Peel and mince the garlic, then sprinkle with salt and make a paste. Mix in 1T olive oil. Warm the other 2T of the pure olive oil in a pan, add the garlic paste and warm through. Toss in the croutons and warm through. Do not allow the garlic to brown as it will turn bitter.
Coddle the egg by placing the refrigerator temperature egg in a pan enough water to cover, bring to a simmer, turn off the heat and leave for 1 minute. Note if you are worried about salmonella and eggs, you may want to use a pasteurized egg for this.
Place the leaves in a large bowl, drizzle on the extra virgin olive oil. Toss. Add the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Toss. Add the coddled egg and toss. The egg should emuslify into the lemon juice/oil. Add the croutons. Toss. Add the grated cheese. Toss. Serve the salad with some coarse sea salt and pepper to taste.

A trip to the Farmers' Market

In Dallas we have a year round farmers' market and it carries some locally grown produce at the right season. Many of the stalls are just dealers though. We always try to buy tomatoes there - seconds if possible because the taste is so much better and the value spectacular.

Yesterday we went down looking for root vegetables, winter fruits, etc. and were pleased to discover some tomatoes which were local (hot-house). These were at a stall run by a delightful Hispanic family. Many of the stalls cut up some of their better offerings to try. These clever people had made a salad of tomoatoes, apples, vinegar, onions and cilantro to lure prospective purchasers. It was fantastic and was the deal closer. .

For lunch today I tried to recreate the salad. It was well worth it. It needed some tweaks...

Ingredients

1 medium apple (Gala or Pink Lady)
4T Sherry vinegar
6 green onions - whites and light green parts chopped into small pieces on the bias
2 whole tomatoes
1/2 cayenne pepper finely minced
1T light oilive oil
1/2 bunch of cilantro roughly chopped - leaves only
1t sugar (more or less depending on ripeness of tomatoes)
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Halve and core the apple. No need to peel. I use a melon baller to core it Chop the apple into 1/2 inch cubes. Pour the vinegar over the apple immediately to prevent browning. Mix in the green onions. Core and chop the tomatoes into the apple sized pieces. Add the tomatoes to the apples/onions/vinegar and mix. Mix in the chopped cayenne pepper and the cilantro. Taste and add sugar, salt and pepper as desired.

Leave to set for an hour or so. Serve with croutons . We dressed it with a little goat cheese.