4th of July Salad with Fennel, Daikon, Cucumber and Smoked Salmon

We were lucky enough to get invited to Brian and Margaret's House for dinner and fireworks last night.  The King and Queen of the West End, their pad offers a 360 degree view of the Valley and a direct vision of the fireworks.  

Watching the fireworks from a mountain top is pretty cool.  You know they are toxic, dangerous and a little silly.  You can sort of hear the sirens going off and the dogs howling.  But from up on the hill they are beautiful shakti explosions.

I was asked to make a salad.  I had stuff in my fridge from last farmer's market and half a CSA box from Steve Sprinkle.

1. Cut up remaining ciabatta for croutons.  Toast in 400 degree oven till somewhat crunchy.  Heat too much olive oil in a pan and pan toast them till golden.  Remove and finely grate Parmesan cheese on them.  Set aside to cool.

2. Barely Steam some green beans.

3. Thinly slice the fennel.  1/4" Diagonal slice on the Persian Cucumbers.  1/8" Diagonal Slice on the Daikon.  Toss with Lemon, Ojai Olive Oil's White Balsamic Vinegar, olive oil and chopped mint.

4. Wash and Slice 1 head lettuce and 1 head radicchio from Steve's farm.

5. Mince a shallot or 2 and let sit in White Wine Vinegar for 15 minutes.  Stir in dijon mustard.  Salt and Freshly ground pepper.  Mix in desired amount of olive oil.

6. Toss fennel mixture with lettuce and toss with dressing.  Add in the croutons.  Flake and toss in pepper smoked salmon.  Slice up avocados and put them on top.

Oven Roasted Heriloom Tomato Pasta

Any juicy fresh tomato will do, but I had heirlooms.

1. Preheat Oven to 350
2. Core and Cut 5 or 6 Tomatoes in half. Put on baking sheet cut side up. Drizzle olive oil and grind fresh pepper on them. Put in oven for about 50 minutes, until they look a little dry on the top.
3. Meanwhile, start your pot of salted water.
4. Finely Chop 1/2 a red onion. I would have used Shallot if I had it.
5. Mince 1 clove of garlic.
5. Sliver lots of fresh basil. (I probably slivered a cup).

6. When tomatoes are done, roughly chop them up and throw in a big bowl with the onion, garlic and basil, some olive oil and lots of good salt and pepper.

7. Cook pasta. Tonight we used the egg pasta from Farmer and the Cook.
8. Drain Pasta and Toss with Tomatoes.

Serve. Yum.

Thomas Meyerhoffer Returns Home

Our pal thomas showed up yesterday night for 2 days. I love when Thomas comes to visit.

Tonight we made this:

Grilled Scallops on Fennel, Radish and Lemon Salad

1. Start the grill.

2. Prep the giant diver scallops from Ric and Alicia with a little olive oil,pepper and salt. 3 to a skewer.

3. Slice some Pink and Red French Radishes and bulb of Fennel super thin and toss with a little lemon zest, lemon, olive oil, fresh ground pepper and good salt. Divide among 3 plates.

4. Finely chop some Tarragon.

5. Grill Scallops Perfectly like Eric did tonight.

6. Arrange scallops on the fennel salad, sprinkle tarragon and serve with a lemon wedge.


Yum. Then me and Thomas had vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.

In Anticipation of Summer Cold Pasta

This pasta is best in the late summer when the tomatoes and cucumbers are unbelievable. But we swung by Farmer and the Cook tonight after a long hike and the produce, as always looked great, so we decided to give it a try.

Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta.
Start preparing below. Once water boils, add some salt and the pasta.
(Tonight we used Bionaturae's Organic Fusili)

As you prepare below, add to a wide deep bowl.

1. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and mash with some good salt
2. Thinly quarter 1/2 a red onion
3. Chop about a pound of the best tomato's you can find.
4. Thinly slice and then mince between 5 and 8 marinated sun dried tomatoes.
5. Add too much good quality olive oil and stir the mixture.
6. Peal and half and slice 2 cucumbers into half moon shapes.
7. Finely grate zest of 2 lemons into bowl. Then slice and squeeze the juice, being aware of keeping the seeds from getting into the bowl.
   
8. Add a shy 2 tbl. of drained capers.
9. Add about 1/2 cup of pitted halved kalamata olives.
10. If I had had fresh herbs like Tarragon or Basil, I would have used them. But instead, I used some dried Mexican Oregano and Red Pepper flakes.
11. Open and remove pits of 3 avocados. Keep avocado in skin and Using Sharp knife, slice in two directions to get 1/4 inch pieces. Reserve and do not add to bowl.
    

Stir the above and add too much salt and ground pepper.

12. Once pasta is done, drain and run cool water over it, stirring to bring temperature down evenly.

13. Add pasta to mixture and stir. Use spoon to scoop out avocados and gently add to pasta mixture.