Let’s rethink slaw. Here’s a new slaw for your weekend MENU No. 565 Shaved Snap Pea Slaw with Goat Cheese from Little Jewels Recipe Membership Collection. Continue reading Shaved Snap Pea Slaw with Goat Cheese
Category: Lunch
Roasted Pear Salad With Arugula, Walnuts & Roquefort
Cooking the seasons at Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen with Roasted Pear Salad With Arugula, Walnuts & Roquefort. Tis’ pear season, enjoy with this not-to-miss salad with a little twist on the pears.
PEAR SEASON
Yes, pear season is here and there are a bounty of choices. For this salad I chose Bosc pears, identifiable with the a warm cinnamon brown skin with russeting over the surface of the skin, beautiful. The pears are firm, great for baking, as in this case roasting the pears before adding to the salad.
ROASTED PEARS
Roasting the pears for the salad creates a more complex flavor for the salad. Usually they are added raw but here they are roasted, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper, creating a complex flavor for the salad. They roast quickly in about 15 minutes and are ready for the salad. Adding them while still warm creates a salad that is both cool & warm.
ROASTED PEAR SALAD
The other salad ingredients are basic: arugula, walnuts and best of all crumbled Roquefort cheese. For the cheese select real Roquefort from France, check the label. It is a bit more pricey but the flavor is beyond compare.
SORGHUM
The salad’s grain if often a wheat product, but I used Sorghum. It may not be familiar to you, but this grain-free wonder is a stand in for wheat and grain products. You prepare it like many other grains, the easiest way is to use the Instant Pot. You can use cooked sorghum as a stand in for quinoa, rice, or even oats for breakfast. I have used it in this kale salad, it really stands up to the other ingredients.
Enjoy this Fall salad, another Little Jewel from the Recipe Collection Membership. Join to receive access to all 564 recipes in the collection.
Spaghetti alla Vodka
Food & memories, memories & food. Years ago when the world was steady, I met a fantastic chef/fellow blogger. She shared her take on her Grandmother’s “all vodka” recipe. Spaghetti alla Vodka a memory Little Jewel.
ALLA VODKA
Vodka sauce is a pink sauce with a splash of booze that is somewhere between a tomato sauce and an Alfredo sauce. The sauce was surely created in Italy way before it became popular in America. Not to worry, the alcohol inherent in vodka is cooked out completely during the cooking process.
TOMATO INFUSED VODKA
Key to the recipe are the vodka soaked tomatoes. Do not skip these, they are easy to make. Just place ripe, large peeled garden tomatoes in a glass jar (with a lid) and cover them with vodka. Cover and put tomatoes away in the refrigerator for at least 5 days to do their magic. Make sure to fill the jar to cover the tomatoes with vodka, if they float up use a wooden skewer to anchor the tomatoes.
ITALIAN SPAGHETTI ALLA VODKA
This recipe originated from my friend’s Grandmother in Italy. I will vouch, this is a real Italian family. I enjoyed our days cooking with this fellow chef, always something to learn.
Prepare a large pot of boiling salted water, hold a low boil.
The sauce is so easy to prepare. Lightly sauté onions and garlic together in olive oil, just until translucent. Next add the pureed tomatoes and tomato vodka. Simmer about 10-15 minutes. Add the sliced basil*, red pepper flakes, and heavy cream, stir and allow sauce to heat through.
Add the spaghetti to boiling salted water and cook to package instructions. Reserve some of the pasta water to use if the sauce seems too thick.
Stir in the drained spaghetti to the sauce. Toss lightly to coat the spaghetti. Serve the spaghetti in a large shallow bowls with additional grated Parmesan, drizzle of olive oil and more red pepper flakes if you like spicy.
CHIFFONADE
This a French cooking term which is the culinary preparation of herbs or leafy vegetables sliced into long, thin ribbons. Simply tighly roll 2-3 basil leaves together then slice crosswise in thin strips.
PASTA BOWLS
A collection of plain white pasta bowls are a worthwhile kitchen investment. I have two types, the shallow bowls you see here and deeper large bowls for ragus and larger pastas.
No. 563 Spaghetti alla Vodka, a shared Little Jewel from the Kithen Recipe Collection.
Tomato & Bread Salad
Bread & Tomato salad is a great way to use all those random tomatoes at the end of the season. A salad of juicy tomatoes, olive oil & vinegar are aborbed by the rustic toasted bread. Bellisimo!
SUMMER’S END TOMATOES
All the odds and ends tomatoes are perfect candidates for Bread & Tomato Salad.
BREAD & TOMATO SALAD
This salad comes together in an instant with basic pantry ingredients along with day old rustic bread, torn and toasted lightly just perfect to soak up all the juices and dressing. This salad is a light dinner or lunch to serve along with some fresh fruit and a glass of ice cold rose.
Savor the end of Summer season with Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen.
Slow Roasted Cherry Tomato & Basil Sauce
Life is a bowl full of cherries, cherry tomatoes that is. Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Basil savoring the little jewels of Summer.
THE MENU
Nearing the end of summer the tomato plants give it one last go, producing the last of the tomatoes in the blistering September heat. Even along the coast the sun has been pounding down on the garden and the tomatoes are going crazy. Time to pull out all my tomato recipes.
SLOW ROASTING
We know what slow roasting can do for vegetables, it works the same magic on cherry tomatoes. The slow temp coaxes out the sugary sweetness of the fruit. It takes a bit of time but worth every minute, producing cherry tomatoes perfect for sauces, pasta dishes and of course this lovely to add to your Charcuterie platter.
BASIL SAUCE
Another end of season crop is basil, and fresh basil creates this simple sauce to bathe the tomatoes in, plus it is very easy to make. Serving the tomatoes with sauce creates a perfect vehicle to dip sliced bread in then top with a tomato.
BEAUTIFUL FOOD BY DESIGN
My Bijouxs mantra BEAUTIFUL FOOD BY DESIGN. Cooking at home with all the everyday beauty all around us, right in our kitchens. Cheers.
