ROASTED BEET AND WALNUT SALAD

So I’m at this birthday party held for me at a nice Italian restaurant and there are eight of us and we all have a salad course that includes a sliced beets garnish. No one likes beets and I'm eating everybody’s. I’m incredulous that no one appreciates beets so I decide to prepare beets in a way that all would appreciate.

If the notion of eating beets makes you sad, get ready for a happy upgrade. There is a wonderful way to enjoy this very healthy vegetable which is so rich in folate, manganese and fiber.

If you think you don't like beets – think again. You could like beets; but not the way they are usually prepared. Forget those horrible canned, bland beets and roast up some fresh ones. When you do, you'll be a beet-lover.

As their intense colour indicates, beets are big-time antioxidant providers and also have cancer and heart- disease fighting properties, as well as a host of vitamins and minerals. Nutritious beets are inexpensive; they store well; and they’re available throughout the year.

But forget about the numerous health benefits these ruby-coloured gems bestow. Roasting the beets magically brings out an extraordinary flavour that you can savour with an all over warm pleasant taste. Beets done this way will tickle your innards. Roasted beets could become as popular as baked Idaho potatoes, or okay, at least an occasional culinary diversion.

Roasted beets pair blissfully with greens, cheese and nuts. If you haven’t eaten beets in awhile, or never; please try this dish and excite your taste buds. A zesty, vibrant salad of greens, cheese and nuts that features roasted beets. I know - your mouth is already watering, so I’ll stop talking now and let you go ahead and enjoy.

Salad of Roasted Beets with Gorgonzola and Walnuts serves four

Ingredients

5 small beets

¼ cup raspberry vinegar
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
½ teaspoon of honey
1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste

½ pound baby spinach, torn
Small handful of radicchio, torn
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted lightly in a dry skillet
4 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (or blue cheese or goat cheese)

Cut-up sliced peaches or mandarin orange segments

Method:

• Heat oven to 350F/175C. Wash and scrub the beets thoroughly. Leave the skins on.

• Rub the beets with some olive oil
• Put the oiled beets in a baking dish just large enough to hold them.
• Bake them for 45 minutes.
• Check that they are tender. Depending on their size they may need a couple more minutes.
• Remove from oven and let the beets cool slightly.

• Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey, and garlic in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil and season with salt and pepper. Set this vinaigrette aside.

• After beets have cooled enough to handle, remove and discard skins and cut into bite-size pieces.
• Mix beets with half of the vinaigrette, then mix spinach and watercress or radicchio with the rest of the vinaigrette.
• Transfer greens to plates and top with the beets, walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese. Add the peaches and/or orange segments.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but eat beets this way for your good health. These beets are great. Try this and get ready to eat beets more often

SILVER MEDAL AWARD WINNER

I 'm so proud of my lovely spouse, the Education Tipster; Kathy Stemke. Her charming children's book: “Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep has just garnered another award. She won a silver award in the 2012 children's literary classic awards.Yes, this beautifully illustrated tome, perfect for young boys who have just acquired a younger sibling, or any child, has been recognized for its educative value.

I already knew Miss Kathy had great teacher skills so this award validates that. When we travel to schools and libraries, the little children get the biggest thrill from her readings. I know because while helping miss Kathy set up and such, little ones exuperantly exclaim “This is fun”. The gleam in their eyes is so rewarding. I was kneeling on the floor retrieving kinetic exercise placards and a little girl kissed my arm. It was so sweet. The librarians and first-grade teachers love “Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep” and all enjoy our visits immensely.

I would urge everyone to take a look at this precious book and perhaps make it a part of your personal library.

Please join me in congratulating miss Kathy for the silver award. (Hearty applause) Well done sweetheart.

                                                   http://www.clcawards.org/2012-Award-Books.html 

CHICKEN A LA MARENGO

Just a few months after the successful performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s first big musical work, his Symphony #1 in C (opus 21), his hero Napoleon Bonaparte was also making a name for himself by audaciously crossing the Alps (on a mule) and leading his army to defeat the Austrian army at the battle of Marengo, in northern Italy. Driving the Austrians from Italy, Napoleon insured his success as First Consul (French government leader) and that particular victory ended the French revolutionary period (beginning the Napoleonic era) and allowed him to boldly reform France and Europe as he wished.

They say an army travels on its stomach, and Marengo had decimated Napoleon’s food supplies. Legend has it that he sent his chef and cooks foraging out into the countryside. Accordingly, they brought back chickens, eggs, tomatoes, onions, garlic, mushrooms and crayfish from a river, and thus a classic dish, Chicken a la Marengo, was fashioned. So memorable was that battle victory, that when later- exiled French Bonaparte supporters initially settled a county in the state of Alabama, USA, they named it Marengo. Perhaps few people are familiar with the battle of Marengo but plenty know and love the Chicken a la Marengo dish. And for good reason – it is sensational; vibrant and jam-packed with bucolic flavour.

When Beethoven had composed his Third Symphony in E flat, (Opus 55) a couple years later, he originally dedicated it to Napoleon because he cherished Napoleon's new constitution, founded on representative government with sacred rights of property, equality, and liberty.  But when Bonaparte arrogantly crowned himself emperor, Beethoven saw him for the imperial tyrant he had really become. A few years later Bonaparte was exiled and the rest is history.

Beethoven went on to compose eight more symphonies, several string quartets and piano concertos, even an opera since that historical Marengo battle. By the time his 3^rd Symphony was performed in 1805, Beethoven was regarded as a master composer. That “Eroica” (heroic) symphony revealed a breadth and profundity of orchestration that significantly lifted music from the sweet, melodically appealing music of earlier periods to a new dynamic structural standard where bold passion played a big part. I don’t know if Ludwig ever dined on Chicken a la Marengo, (his hero worship of Napoleon had certainly expired) but the immortal composer would have surely loved this tasty classic dish, richly imbued with its own culinary breadth and profundity.

Classic recipes for Chicken a la Marengo abound; here is one from Julia Child that is extraordinary. Many modern recipes omit the shellfish and the croutons and the eggs and many use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Because of the history, I like Miss Childs’ faithful to the original version, which I can assure you will taste wonderful. But if you refrain from the garnishes, it is okay, you will still have a wonderful dish. I hope you will try Chicken a la Marengo; perhaps listening to the Eroica symphony while preparing it. Think of it all: the sight, the sound, the taste, the aroma.

Chicken a la Marengo                                     serves 6

Ingredients:

1 chicken, cut into parts for frying or personally chosen parts 4-5 lbs

4 tablespoons olive oil

¾ cup dry white wine divided into 3rds (3- ¼ cup sections)

1 tablespoon cognac or brandy

2 medium onions, diced

2 lbs diced fresh tomatoes or a 28 ounce can highest quality tomatoes, chopped up

2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed or pressed

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ lb white mushrooms, caps and stems

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup of the white wine from above

2 tablespoons olive oil

6- ¼ inch slices of baguette (small ovals)

6 large cleaned shrimp or prawns or crayfish tails

1 tablespoon olive oil (perhaps a little more)

6 small eggs

1 generous teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

½ cup pitted black olives, sliced

Method:

• Rinse the chicken and pat dry thoroughly
• Heat a large skillet, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and when hot brown the chicken well on all sides. May do this in portions to avoid overcrowding the skillet
• Add ¼ cup white wine, cover and simmer all10 minutes
• Add BRANDY, then ONIONS, recover and re-simmer 10 minutes
• Remove chicken to a platter

• Remove stems from MUSHROOM CAPS and dice them, reserving caps
• Fry the GARLIC and MUSHROOM DICE together
• Add the chopped TOMATOES, ¼ cup WHITE WINE and HERBAGE
• Stir well and loosen up any chicken bits in the skillet
• Add salt and pepper, tasting for proper amount
• Bring heat up and add chicken to the tomato mixture
• Reduce the flame, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes

• As the chicken cooks, heat a saucepan over high flame with olive oil and white wine and briefly add the mushroom caps tossing lightly
• Now set them aside keeping them warm ( a slow, 200F oven is good)

• Heat a frying pan and add 2 tablespoons olive oil and lightly brown bread slices
• Keep warm

• Add the shrimp to hot oil and fry only about 1 or 2 minutes, just until they curl up Place on a rack or paper towels and then keep warm
• Poach the eggs in water or fry them in olive oil. When cooked drain on rack or paper towel

 I usually serve this individually or you can put the chicken on a platter and then spoon the tomato sauce over it. Garnish with the black olives and parsley

.

Place the croutons around the chicken platter.  Place an egg on every crouton and a shrimp between them. If you want to serve wine with this, a cabernet sauvignon is a good companion.

Despite its rustic beginning, Chicken a la Marengo is a noble dish to prepare for a special occasion if not a weeknight thing. A couple working together can enjoy preparing this historical entity easily and the heroic symphony will add to the happy thrill. There is a lot to love here, especially the Chicken a la Marengo.

Enjoy.