Life
August 11, 2011
Alexandria Recorder
B3
Fresh or not, pears are tasty in romaine poppy salad My good intentions to make cashew pear salad with poppy seed dressing using pears from our tree will never come to pass. W h y ? The squirrels decided to Rita pull every Heikenfeld pear from our tree. I Rita’s can just kitchen imagine how it happened: it had to be at night or very early morning when the pear heist began, since I was out near the pear tree right before dusk admiring all those beautiful, almost ripe, pears. I was thinking about the jars of pear butter, canned pears and chutneys I was planning to make, along with the pear salad. This morning I went out to pick some mint for my lemon mint spa water (check out my blog at Cincinnati.com, Cooking with Rita, for the recipe) and passed by the tree. I was dumfounded when
Fresh tomato mozzarella tart
I looked up. Really. Not a pear remained. And it wasn’t the deer, since they usually tug on the branches and leave a bit of a mess as they chew. To make matters worse, they cleaned the ground around the tree, so not even a piece of pear was left. It’s not that the squirrels need those pears. There are plenty of oak and nut trees on our property. But you know me, I’m not one to give up so easily. So I’ll buy pears at Kroger to make this nice salad. But I still can’t pass the tree without frowning …
Cashew pear salad with poppyseed dressing Toss together:
1 large bunch romaine, cut up, or equivalent mixed greens 1 cup shredded Swiss 1 cup salted cashews 2 pears, sliced thin 1 ⁄2 cup dried cherries or cranberries
Poppyseed dressing: Mix together:
Homegrown tomatoes are available and just the best for this recipe. Some folks like to squeeze out part of the juice and seeds of the tomatoes.
RITA HEIKENFELD/CONTRIBUTOR
Rita shares tips for finding the freshest corn. Here she is with the Silver Queen corn in her garden. 2
⁄3 cup olive oil ⁄2 cup sugar 1 ⁄3 cup lemon juice Poppyseeds: go to taste and start with a couple of teaspoons 1 tablespoon minced red onion 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard Salt to taste Serves six to eight. 1
1 pie crust 1 tablespoon flour 8 oz mozzarella, Monterey Jack or combo of both Salt and pepper to taste 1 ⁄2 to 3⁄4 cup mayonnaise, regular or light (start out with 1⁄2 cup; if too thick to spread, add a bit more as needed) Tomatoes, thickly sliced, enough to make a layer 1 bunch green onions, sliced thin, both white and green parts Generous handful of fresh basil, chopped, about 1 ⁄3 cup or so, or 2 scant teaspoons dry Sprinkling of shredded parmesan or romano for top Preheat oven to 400. Prick crust and prebake 10 minutes. Dust bottom with flour. Mix cheese, salt and pepper
and mayo. Spread thin layer over crust. Lay tomato slices on top. Spread rest of cheese mixture over tomatoes. Sprinkle with green onions and basil. Smooth top, pushing onions and basil into cheese mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan. Bake about 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serves six.
Tips from readers
Mango cutter/seeder great for peaches, too. Kay Hitzler, nurse extraordinaire at Good Sam during the day and my sous chef extraordinaire for evening classes at Jungle Jim’s, shared this timely tip. We made a lavender peach claufouti (custard) and the peaches were not free stones. Kay took the mango cutter/seeder and pushed it through the peach. Voilà – it cut cleanly through the peach and removed the seed, too, with hardly any
waste. She thought it would be good for plums, too. Thanks, Kay!
Tips from Rita’s kitchen
Selecting sweet corn. We grow Silver Queen corn and it’s always so sweet and picked at the time of perfect ripeness. But if you’re buying corn, here’s what to look for: fresh green, tightly closed husks with dark brown, dry, but not brittle, silk. The stem should be moist but not chalky, yellow or discolored. Ears should have plum, tender, small kernels in tight rows up to the tip. A fresh kernel will spurt “milk” if punctured. Make corn sweeter. Add a squirt of honey to the water before boiling corn. Rita Nader Heikenfeld is an herbalist, educator and author. E-mail columns@community press.com with “Rita’s kitchen” in the subject line. Call 513-2487130, ext. 356.
ENROLL THIS WEEK! Registration for Business Courses is Wednesday, August 10th!
Registration for Medical Encoding & Billing is Thursday, August 11th!
CALL ICT TODAY to schedule an appointment
859-282-8989
76 Carothers Road • Newport Plaza Newport, Kentucky 41071 CE-0000472819
The Campus is served by TANK
Or Visit our website:
www.ict-ils.edu