Goat Rope Salad

In the Navy we have a strange saying. When something is really a mess, all discombooberated, we call it a goat rope. That's the way this salad started out.

My S-I-L Ann, she who cooks like an angel, had recommended to me a beet salad that sounded really good. She even sent me the recipe which, apparently, I didn't read carefully. So, I went to the store, collected what I imagined were the ingredients and brought them home only to re-read the recipe and find that most of what I brought home was not in her recipe. A goat rope.

So, I improvised, while resolving to make her salad another day. This salad had three colors of the lovely last heirloom tomatoes of the season layered with some roasted beets and sprinkled with raspberries and crumbles of a marvelous, creamy, tangy French goat cheese called Chevre de Bellay. Topped with rocket and drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette, it was the best salad I've made all summer.

The colors were perfect, of summer shading into fall, and the flavors of sweet tomatoes and fruit married with tangy goat and balsamic and a little rocket bite were love songs to the tongue. Goat rope or no goat rope, this was one terrific salad.

Jamie's Chicken Caesar

In case you missed the Jamie at Home show where he made this dish, I wanted to bring it to your attention. It is one of the three or four most delicious things we ate this summer.

It's the best Chicken Caesar salad you are likely to find.

Start by tearing up bread into bite-size chunks (Jamie used ciabatta - we've used leftover sourdough baguette), enough to cover the bottom of a roasting pan. Lay a single layer of whole chicken legs with thighs attached, skin side up, over the bread pieces. Lay strips of bacon across the legs and slide the whole thing into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the thickest part of the thighs are pierced, the juice should run clear.

While the chicken and bread are roasting, prepare a Caesar dressing and wash the light green Romaine lettuce leaves. I deleted the show by mistake before I could write down his dressing so I made one from (my sometimes very faulty) memory. I crushed one big clove of garlic and mashed up one small anchovy with the back of a spoon (you can use a small sardine in lieu of the anchovy if you truly hate anchovies) mixing them in a small bowl until the garlic and anchovy are one rather divinely smelly paste. I added the juice of one half a large lemon and about a tablespoon of mayo, mixing all together. This makes about the right amount for two plates of the salad.

When the chicken comes out and is still hot, separate the meat from the bones. Dress the plate by adding a layer of the (now crunchy and deliciously chicken-y) bread, then a layer of chicken meat, then the salad on top, tossed with the dressing before mounding. Sometimes the bacon gets too well done to enjoy but if it's still good, you can crumble it over the salad or simply lay the strips on top. Grate a little good aged Parmesan cheese over the whole lovely pile and you've got a meal fit for the proverbial king - or emperor!

He Loves Me!, Part One

At the risk of being scorned like poor Sally Field, who took such a drubbing from the press for her remark upon receiving her Academy Award, I'll paraphrase her by saying, "My Beloved loves me! He really loves me!"

I know this because he orders bacon to be delivered to me when he's out of town on business. Sometimes he sends flowers, too, but this time it was cob-smoked bacon from Dakin Farm. Vermont bacon. Is it any wonder the guy makes me feel swoony?

Two packets of this bacon arrived on our doorstep this past week, packed into a box with another surprise, about which I will write tomorrow.

This bacon is deeply smoky and lightly salty. I used some of it to make Jamie Oliver's chicken Caesar salad, the one with chicken legs roasted over torn up bread and topped with his Caesar salad. The bacon was so smoky that its flavor invaded the chicken and improved what I thought was a virtually perfect dish.

I made it for My Beloved's homecoming - to show him that I'm nuts about him, too!

Playful Caesar

My Virginia brother and his wife have lived in Paris for five years during two tours of duty during his Navy career. He seems to have concentrated on learning about wines while she attended classes at the Cordon Bleu;
needless to say, when we visit them, I have high expectations. They have a way of finding really, really good restaurants, even in places like Rochester, NY where ziti with red sauce from a can is considered a culinary highlight.

This time, my expectations were exceeded. We dined at a restaurant called FarrahOlivia by Morou in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, where my first course was a delightfully silly deconstructed Caesar salad. All the pieces were there, wonderfully fresh and beautifully presented - left to right at the top, fresh sardines as a riff on the usual anchovies, Caesar dressing in a tangy pool, and crisp, crisp bread crumbs rather than croutons which might have been difficult to eat in this way. The lettuce was sliced lengthwise to present both young and mature leaves, drizzled with dressing and punctuated by a delicate, flavorful parmesan cheese custard.

He has done it again, my Virginia brother. Stay tuned for the rest of the meal...