OK, I'm behind schedule on my blogging. I don't get paid for these little ramblings, so unless someone wants to throw some cash my way, the updates will come after I've taken care of my day job and other responsibilities. It's also been really. flipping. hot. I live in a house that's almost 100 years old and it doesn't have air conditioning. As much as I love roast chicken, the thought of having my oven on for 90 minutes when it's literally 85 degrees in my house just isn't appealing. Fortunately, the weather has eased a bit, so I got back in the kitchen today. I've been wanting to make a derivation on salad nicoise for some time now. I finally had everything together to make my own variation.
I got some gorgeous stuff in my farm share last week. Beautiful red potatoes, yellow beans, blueberries, tomatoes, etc. This whole thing probably took 90 minutes to put together, but it's me, myself and I in the kitchen. It might have gone faster if I'd had an extra set of hands to help me out.
Basic components of tonight's dinner -- hard-cooked eggs, red potatoes, beans, tomatoes, olives, fish, dressing..
I cooked the eggs by putting them in a pot of cold water, added a little salt, brought to a boil, then simmered for about 10 minutes. I ran the eggs under cold water until they were cool, then peeled them and set them aside. I also boiled the new potatoes for about 10 minutes, until they were tender. I removed them from the water and put them in a colander. I covered them with a dish towel to let them steam a few minutes and, because I'm lazy, used the same water (which was already salted) to blanch the yellow beans.
I also learned today that farm fresh eggs are a pain in the ass to peel. If anyone has any tips for that, let me know, or I may have to remember that for next time and buy a few conventional eggs.
I made a quick little vinaigrette using a tsp of dijon mustard, a splash of white wine vinegar, some salt and pepper and whisked in some olive oil.
I grabbed my grill pan and seasoned my salmon with a little salt and pepper and grilled until it was done the way I like it.. I assembled my dinner on a plate and added a half a tomato and some picholine olives (I didn't have the traditional nicoise olives). I drizzled some vinaigrette over the salmon, potatoes and beans. Grabbed a glass of a 2007 viognier from one of my favorite Virginia wineries, King Family Vineyards and had a great dinner.
