TARRAGON CHICKEN SALAD

It's summer time, though you wouldn't know it with this wintry weather we are having here in Berkeley. Regardless of the temperature outside, during the summer season I cannot seem to eat enough salad. Around noon, I peer into the fridge and start to imagine a meal based on what we've got on-hand. Fresh cherries marinated in balsamic with toasted hazelnuts and goat cheese has been a new discovery. Or arugula, hard-boiled egg, and thinly sliced fennel is a standby. And almost any salad with avocado makes me happy.

We often have leftover roast chicken, a prime candidate for salad-making, and this tarragon chicken is one of our favorites. There are a few unexpected ingredients - fennel, shallots, and pine nuts - but otherwise the salad is a classic that always seems to be a crowd pleaser, working as a simple lunch or a great picnic.

Serve salad on a bed of butter lettuce or eat on a sandwich. We devoured ours on homemade gougeres. I'll have that recipe for you next week.


INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound leftover roasted chicken, or chicken breast (with skin and bone removed)
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (please try homemade... it will make you smile)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallot (you could also use red onion)
• 1/3 cup crisp green apple, julienned
• 3 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• butter lettuce
• fresh bread or gougere

If you are going to make your own mayo, do so now and set aside.

Lightly toast pine nuts on the stove top. Of course you can roast nuts in the oven, but my mother-in-law converted me to using the stove top. You can keep an eye on the nuts, giving them a shake every few minutes to insure even toasting. When done, set aside.

If you don't have any leftover chicken and are going to cook chicken for this salad, here's what you do. Preheat oven to 350. Take chicken from the fridge. Generously salt meat. Heat an oven-proof skillet on the stove top at medium to medium high heat. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the hot pan. Place chicken in the bubbling butter. You don't want the chicken to get really browned, so check that the heat isn't too high. Very lightly sear each side of the chicken. Place the skillet in the oven to finish cooking.  It should come out nice and tender.

While the chicken is cooking, prep the other ingredients. Peel apple and cut into julienne. Mince shallot. Finely chop fennel. Chop tarragon.

Warm Rice Salad with Chard, Feta, Walnuts, and Blood Orange

You may have noticed.... I have greens on my mind. After converting our backyard to a vegetable plot nearly two years ago and watching the successes and failures of varying crops, I have come to see greens as the gems of the garden. Mustard inspired my last post, and for today's recipe I harvested rainbow chard and beet greens.

This recipe was a happy accident. A couple of weeks ago I steamed some brown rice and sauteed a couple of bunches of chard when I decided to throw the two together and continued to add other goodies that were complimentary in flavor. Luckily, I wrote down the details of these ingredients so I could recreate this scrumptious improvisation and share it with you. The rice salad is the kind of one dish meal that travels well and could be great to take to work for lunch, or share at a potluck. I hope you enjoy.


INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups cooked brown rice (at room temperature)
• 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 2 bunches chard, beet greens, and/or spinach
• 3 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• 2 blood oranges
• 2 tablespoons good quality red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 ounces feta
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon chopped

Prepare rice and let it cool to room temperature. Brown rice is critical to the success of this dish - important both for its nutty flavor and nutritional value. Wild rice could also work, but not white.

Toast walnuts, chop, and set aside.

Wash greens. Remove stems. Chop leaves. If you are using chard for this salad, chop the stems as well. In large saute pan, heat olive oil (enough to generously coat the bottom of the pan) over medium heat. When oil is hot add chopped chard stems. Cook for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add chopped garlic. Cook garlic with stems for one minute. Add greens and a splash of water to pan. Cover and cook until greens are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Set aside.

Zest 1 blood orange and set aside for garnish.

Prepare the dressing. Juice 2 blood oranges. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and salt. Mix. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup olive oil to emulsify dressing.

When both rice and chard are no longer hot, but pleasantly warm, toss them together in mixing bowl. Gently fold in feta and walnuts. Top with orange zest and 1 tablespoon chopped (or "torn" - Thomas Keller's recommended preparation for herbs) tarragon. Salt to taste.

Serve at room temp. We ate this salad with grilled salmon and it was delicious.

Serves 4-6  

Nicoise with Tarragon Vinaigrette

Last night, I made Meg's Tuna Confit and it was delicious. I took her advice and used the leftovers for a Nicoise. Every time I eat this salad, I rediscover how wonderful it is!
As always, I serve my salads with all the elements separated to accommodate the picky eaters in my house. Everyone is enthusiastic, and the presentation is quite beautiful.
For the Nicoise, I really like a tarragon vinaigrette. Tarragon is one of my favorite herbs and I highly recommend growing a pot or two, if you can. Tarragon is so versatile and is great chopped up in a omelet or chicken salad.


Ingredients
inspired by David Tanis' Platter of Figs

Leftover Tuna Confit
Hardboiled eggs
Slender green beans
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Nicoise olives
Salt and Pepper to taste
Tarragon Vinaigrette (Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, chopped tarragon and salt)

Prepare the eggs by simmering for 9 minutes, then plunging in ice water. The yokes should be perfectly moist. Steam or boil your beans until just tender - you want them to retain their vibrant color. Tomatoes of any size can be used. (I picked some really sweet ones from my backyard tomato jungle.) Potatoes should be steamed until tender; when cooled, cut into manageable chunks. Place all of the above ingredients on a platter along with the tuna and olives in bowls.
Let everyone serve himself, then top with a drizzle of dressing and season liberally with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Soft shell crab with cornmeal and tarragon

The first time I had soft shell crab was at Chez Panisse on my birthday years ago. Now every time August comes around, I crave these delicious critters. Paul cooked these for my birthday this year and they were the best I've ever had.

In a wide shallow bowl, lightly beat two eggs with 1 cup buttermilk. On a plate mix 1/2 cup cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour (gluten free, in my case), 2 Tbs chopped tarragon, a pinch of cayenne, salt and ground pepper. Heat canola oil over medium-high heat in a large cast iron pan. Coat 8 cleaned crabs with the egg/buttermilk, then lightly dredge in the cornmeal/flour mixture. When oil is hot, but not smoking, place the crabs in the pan. Cook for about a minute. Then lightly shake the pan. Cook another 3 minutes. Flip crabs and cook another 3-4 minutes until crispy brown.

We served these with corn, a green bean and tomato salad, arugula, and a wedge of lemon. A perfect summer birthday meal!

(I think these would be so tasty on sandwich. Next time, we'll try them that way.)

Serves 4 as a main course, or 8 as an appetizer