Cooking Method: Mixing

Fennel and Orange & Arugula Salad

This is such a refreshing salad. The arugula or rocket, with its rich, peppery taste, goes so well with the bright, citrus dressing. Fennel is so underutilized. It is a highly aromatic and flavorful herb with culinary and medicinal uses and, along with the similar-tasting anise, is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. You can make the vinaigrette and prepare the fennel and oranges ahead of time and refrigerate.

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The Enzoni Cocktail

I discovered this refreshing “gateway” Campari drink called the Enzoni cocktail which is a is a cross between a Negroni and a Gin Sour where the Sweet Vermouth comes in the form of muddled green grapes. An ideal drink to introduce a novice to Campari, which is my life’s work! First created by Vincenzo Errico whilst tending bar at Milk & Honey, NYC. Vincenzo was trained by the legendary Dick Bradsell (creator of the Espresso Martini). Red seedless grapes work well for this, too.

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Utah Fry Sauce

Many years ago, my daughter Zoe and I were travelling and we had a long layover in Salt Lake City. We had lunch and everything seemed to have Utah Fry Sauce. I had never heard of it. It's a mayo ketchup combo. Apparently, it was invented and at Arctic Circle Restaurants, which is a fast-food chain. You can read all about the history of this sauce here. Anyway, I recently bought an air-fryer lid for my Instant Pot and wanted to test it out. So I cut up a potato and made some Utah Fry Sauce. It's really a good sauce. My husband said the fries would have been better deep-fried!

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Hearts of Palm & Avocado Salad with Lime & Strawberry

I guess you can tell by now that I love hearts of palm! I love this Hearts of Palm & Avocado Salad with Lime & Strawberry. It's a very simple combination of ingredients that is full of flavor.

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The Bellini Cocktail

Nearly 30 years ago we spent our honeymoon in Venice—late fall so there were brilliant blue skies and daily flooding in the Piazza San Marco which meant that our first purchase as a married couple was matching Wellington boots.  We made it our business to visit every bacari we could find—those small tucked away tapas bars unique to Venice—but we also made Harry’s Bar a regular stop. We had the good sense to buy these Bellini glasses from Harry’s to bring home—our second purchase as a married couple.  Harry’s has a long list of house cocktails, including the Doge’s Cup (which is like an Italian Pimm’s Cup but made with red wine) but the real star of the show in the Bellini which is simply Prosecco and white peach purée. You can use yellow peaches or even frozen peaches but white peaches are what you get in a Harry’s Bar Bellini. You can add a drop or two of peach liqueur (we like Rinquinquin) but really it is the simplicity of the two ingredients and the seasonality of the fresh peaches that makes this drink so unique. If you order one Bellini at Harry's Bar in Venice, it will set you back about $25.

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Lobster Salad with Bibb Lettuce, Apple, and Tarragon Dressing

I wanted to make something "fancy" for dinner. The rich lobster, tart Granny Smith apples and creamy tarragon salad dressing on a bed of butter lettuce definitely added an air of elegance to my table. I will definitely make this again and probably use shrimp, due to my diminishing budget these days!

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White Bean, Hearts of Palm & Artichoke Salad

This White Bean, Hearts of Palm & Artichoke Salad is something I threw together using some of my pantry items. It turned out to be a great combination of things. Use this dressing recipe and with different kinds of beans, cheeses and nuts from your pantry to make your own version. This lasted a few days in the fridge and was great for lunch.

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Curried Chicken Waldorf Salad

This Curried Chicken Waldorf Salad is an update on the classic salad. The dressing combines mayonnaise, curry powder, turmeric and a bit of mango chutney, which adds the perfect amount of sweetness to compliment the tart Granny Smith apples. I love the crunchiness of this salad.

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Vesper Martini

Shaken, not Stirred…..

That phrase instantly brings to mind that most iconic of Martini drinkers, Ian Fleming’s Bond-- James Bond, that is. What do we know about this fictional character beyond the fact that he was a hard-drinking, chain-smoking womanizer?  He was well dressed, a bit of a foodie and not afraid of bucking convention. Nowhere is this more evident than in his choice of drinks. While he is famous for ordering Martinis and dictating that they be “shaken, not stirred,” he does not stop there. Fleming provided his readers with the actual recipe for their hero’s favorite cocktail and it certainly bucks the conventional notion of a Martini.

In the 1952 novel Casino Royale, Bond orders a special Martini, to be named after that book’s lead female character, Vesper Lynd:

"A dry martini," Bond said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."

"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

What strikes me the most about this drink—in addition to the unusual mixture of gin and vodka—is the use of Lillet instead of vermouth. Now, I am not much of a Martini drinker these days, but I have always loved Lillet, that wonderful French aperitif that is usually served over ice with a twist of orange.  Lillet is a fortified wine made with Bordeaux wine and citrus liqueur and comes in red and white versions. Made since the 1880s, this originally contained quinine—hence the name Kina Lillet, but was reformulated in the 1980s without the bitterness of quinine. What you can buy today is a wonderful light citrus aperitif that should be stored in the refrigerator and served very cold.

Vesper, of course, means the evening star—or the religious services held during the sixth of the seven canonical hours, in the late afternoon or evening. The perfect time to enjoy a Martini…..  So, strap on your Walther PPK, don your dinner jacket and treat yourself to a Vesper—me, I’ll stick to a Lillet on the rocks.

By the way, while Bond claims only to have one drink before dinner, I call any drink with four and a half shots of booze a double at the very least….

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Corn & Hearts of Palm Salad with Dill Mayo

This Corn & Hearts of Palm Salad with Dill Mayo is a combination of ingredients I had on hand. I happen to love hearts of palm. The dill mayo uses some dill pickle brine, which made my husband the pickle fanatic very happy. I just checked and I have eight other corn salads on my blog. I guess this should be my theme song - "She's a corn-fed Indiana girl".

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