It’s easy to stress sourcing ingredients at their
peak and taking care not to over (or under) dress a salad, but how you eat it
can be just as important. When Paul Newman opened The Dressing
Room with chef Michel Nischan in Westport, Connecticut, he wanted a chopped
salad on the menu, one where the ingredients would be cut so fine you could eat
it with a spoon.
Instead of working with a standard palette of fresh
ingredients, which could only get him so far, Nischan took a few of the more
wishy-washy contenders and gave them a makeover. Carrots, celery, and bell
pepper get quick pickled and come into brighter focus. A bonus: After they soak
in vinegar for a spell, the vinegar inherits some of their character, too. Into
the dressing it goes.
Every spoonful is jumbled with the snap of acid and
tugs of bitter, sweet, and clean, with no shortage of toasted almond slivers and
cold nubs of fresh goat cheese slipping in here and there to finish the
dressing’s work.
Serves 6
1½ cups (360ml) Riesling vinegar
or other white wine vinegar
3 celery ribs, cut into ¼-inch
(6mm) dice
2 carrots, peeled and cut into
¼-inch (6mm) dice
1 large red bell pepper, seeded
and cut into ¼-inch (6mm) dice
1 heirloom apple, such as Cox’s
Orange Pippin or Roxbury Russet, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch (6mm)
dice
½ large cucumber, peeled, seeded,
and cut into ¼-inch (6mm) dice
1 cup (40g) sliced
radicchio
1 cup (40g) sliced
arugula
1 cup (70g) thinly sliced napa,
Savoy, or other soft cabbage
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive
oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper
1½ cups (170g) crumbled soft local
goat cheese
½ cup (55g) toasted almond
slivers
1 Bring the vinegar to a simmer in a saucepan over
medium heat. Add the celery and carrots. Remove the pan from the heat. Set aside
to cool. When the vinegar is cool, add the bell pepper. Cover and refrigerate
until cold. Strain the chilled vegetables through a sieve. Reserve the vinegar
and vegetables separately.
2 Mix together the apple, cucumber, radicchio, arugula,
cabbage, and the reserved vegetables in a large bowl. Add ¼ cup (60ml) of the
reserved vinegar and the oil and toss well. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. Add the goat cheese and almonds to the bowl and toss to mix. Divide
among six bowls or plates and serve.
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