Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Kosher Kobb Salad


Kosher Kobb Salad

Because I don’t eat pork, I created this from the classic, even though it’s technically not “Kosher” because it mixes meat with dairy, which is a no-no in strict Kosher cuisine.

Ingredients (or ½ for a smaller salad):

1 cup diced cooked turkey or chicken
1 Cup cooked and crumbled turkey bacon
1 cup diced avocado
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 cup minced hard boiled eggs
1 cup minced green onion
Your favorite pre-packaged salad greens. I used baby spinach for this example and dressed it with a light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette, but you can use Italian dressing, Blue Cheese or your favorite vinaigrette.

* Optional:
Black olives, capers, red onions, walnuts, jicima, radishes, red bell pepper, cranberries

Dress the spinach with the salad dressing and then arrange the other ingredients on top in sections.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Other Uses for Ginger Mango Salsa




Using the Ginger Mango Salsa, which can be found in September's postings, I wanted to come up with some variations on the theme. So the first step was to take the salsa and blend it. Then, using half the mixture (I doubled the recipe so there was plenty), I added about a 1/2 cup of orange juice and about 1 tablespoon of ground cumin. Then I used this as a marinade for a flank steak and 2 chicken breasts, which marinated for 24 hours before cooking them. The meat was delicious! I made them into quesidilas which I brought to work the other day, and the girls loved it!

To the second half of the blended salsa mixture, I added about 2 tablespoons of curry powder, and about 1 tablespoon of honey for a curry marinade, then I added half a beef tenderloin. After marinating for a couple of days, I cooked the beef yesterday and after letting it rest, thinly sliced it. Then took half the marinade (as there was too much, I froze the other half), and added 1 tablespoon olive oil to a hot pan and added the marinade. After reducing it by half, which cooked out the raw beef juices and the raw vegetables, then added 1/4 cup water and reduced by half again.

Test for seasonings, you may want to add another tablespoon or so of curry powder, add some salt and a dash of red chili flakes. When you are satisfied with the seasoning, add about 1/4 cut heavy cream to bind the sauce. Then add the resting juices from the steak into the sauce and add the thinly sliced steak to heat through. Serve with your favorite Asian rice. I served this with a Thai Lime rice and garnished it with cilantro.

Happy fall, and happy cooking! Tina