Green Bean and Radish Salad

Description:
A few weeks back we had some friends over and I served Vichyssoise, Wild Rice Salad with Dried Sour Cherries, Green Bean and Radish Salad, and an array of sausages (chicken and apple, Polish, spinach and feta, and Italian). For dessert we had biscuits with sweetened strawberries and cream.

The recipes for everything except the sausages and dessert were out of various Saveur magazines. The Green Bean and Radish Salad is from the May 2006 issue.

Ingredients:
salt
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. radishes, trimmed and quartered
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. honey, preferably chilli (chile) honey
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Blanch green beans until crisp-tender, 3-4 minutes. Drain and quickly plunge green beans into a bowl of ice water, to cool them. Drain.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add green beans, radishes, and garlic and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add honey, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until vegetables are just beginning to caramelize, about 2-3 minutes more. Transfer salad to a large bowl; set aside to let cool slightly.

3. Season salad with salt and pepper to taste and divide between 4 small plates. Serve at room temperature.

Meg's Final Thoughts

This was pretty yummy. I think next time I'll add about 3 times as much garlic, though. I've never seen a cooked radish salad before, making this a great unique salad to bring out to "surprise and amaze your guests!"

Wild Rice Salad with Dried Sour Cherries

Description:
A few weeks back we had some friends over and I served Vichyssoise, Wild Rice Salad with Dried Sour Cherries, Green Bean and Radish Salad, and an array of sausages (chicken and apple, Polish, spinach and feta, and Italian). For dessert we had biscuits with sweetened strawberries and cream.

The recipes for everything except the sausages and dessert were out of various Saveur magazines. The Wild Rice Salad with Dried Sour Cherries is from the June/July 2004 issue.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup wild rice
5 cups chicken stock
4 sliced bacon, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup dried sour cherries
1 rib celery, diced
1 scallion, trimmed and chopped
leaves from 5 sprigs parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Put rice into a medium pot, cover with water, and swish around with your hand. Drain; repeat process until water remains clear, 3-4 more times. Drain rice and return to pot. Add stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir rice once or twice and reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover pot and cook rice until grains are swollen and tender but not blossomed, 50-60 minutes. Drain rice in a colander and let rest, undisturbed, for 10 minutes. (Disturbed rice can become very... disturbing!) Transfer rice to a large bowl to let cool.

2. Cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer bacon and 2 tbsp. of the rendered bacon fat to bowl with rice. Add dried cherries, celery, scallions, parsley, and vinegar and toss well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish salad with a sprig of parsley, if you like, and serve at room temperature.

Meg's Final Thoughts

This was pretty darn yummy. I used dried cherried that I'd gotten last summer in Traverse City, MI. I'm not even sure they were sour, exactly, but they worked just fine. The only thing that went wrong while making this recipe is that I tried using a rice cooker and put the lid all the way on. The rice boiled an hour longer than it should have (and "blossomed") and much of the liquid was still there. I had to pour it off. *shrug* It was a waste of broth, but I don't think the salad suffered. I'll definitely be making this again.

Vichyssoise

Description:
A few weeks back we had some friends over and I served Vichyssoise, Wild Rice Salad with Dried Sour Cherries, Green Bean and Radish Salad, and an array of sausages (chicken and apple, Polish, spinach and feta, and Italian). For dessert we had biscuits with sweetened strawberries and cream.

The recipes for everything except the sausages and dessert were out of various Saveur magazines. The Vichyssoise is from the June/July 2006 issue.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp. butter
4 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
5 medium white boiling potatoes (about 2 1/4 pounds), peeled and thinly sliced
salt
2 cups milk
2 cups light cream
1 cut heavy cream
2 tbsp. finely chopped chives

Directions:
1. Heat butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add leeks and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned, about 20 minutes. Add potatoes, 4 cups water, and salt to taste and increase heat to high. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are soft, 50-60 minutes.

2. Strain soup through a mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing and scraping the solids with a spoon. Clean pot and return soup to it. Whisk in milk and light cream, bring to a boil over high heat, then remove from heat and let cool. Strain soup through a fine-mesh sieve (finer than the first), pressing and scraping it into a bowl with the spoon, leaving behind a thick paste of solids. Discard solids. Stir heavy cream into soup, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled. Season soup with salt to taste.

3. Divide soup between 8 soup bowls and garnish with chives. Serve cold.

Meg's Final Thoughts

Although this soup sounds very fancy, I found it not nearly as satisfying as a basic bowl of potato/leek soup. I think the outrageous amounts of cream were supposed to make this uber yummy, but I found that the cream also seemed to drown out the flavor of the potatoes and leeks. I also only sieved it once and I decided afterwards that that was one time too many. Soup should have substance, even if it's been bisqued. At some point I'll have to try making a Megyssoise version - no sieving, less cream, more flavor.