Salad With Maple Bacon Vinaigrette - A Delicious Main Dish

 

This delicious salad is one of my most requested recipes. The original version of it came from The Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website and it was delicious. But like all real cooks, I live to change things up.  I turned mine into a main dish by adding making a pork loin, which I sliced on top. But you could skip the pork loin and keep it as a side.

 

I guess you could even skip the bacon and substitute olive oil,  but you're dead to me. 

 

Let's start with the insanely delicious vinaigrette -

 

You'll need 1/3 cup of maple syrup - has to be the real stuff - no Mrs. Butterworth allowed.

3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons of whole grain mustard

Pinch of salt and pepper

Enough of your favorite lettuce (I like romaine or iceberg, but baby spinach or kale would work) to cover your serving platter.

1 sweet eating apple, sliced.

6 ounces of pecans

4 ounces of dried cherries

6 ounces crumbled blue cheese

1 finely diced shallot

6 ounces bacon

1 Bartlett pear (optional - I happened to have one, so I used it and it was great)

 

 

Put the mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small jar and shake or in a small bowl and whisk.

 

When they are nice emulsified and the salt dissolved, add the maple syrup and shake or whisk.

 

Try not to drink the salad dressing. It's a real temptation. Next, let's take that shallot.

 

Peel, dice finely and set aside.

 

 

 Time to make the pork loin. As I said, it's optional. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

 

Start with a nice piece of pork loin. I like to sprinkle mine with salt and sugar a day or two ahead of time. But you can do it right before cooking as well.

 

I make a rub of black pepper, dried thyme and dried rosemary.

 

Coat the pork loin with the rub.

 

Get an oven-proof skillet piping hot and add about a tablespoon of olive oil.

 

Now add the pork loin and brown on all sides.

Then put the skillet in the pre-heated oven. It should cook for around 12 to 15 minutes or until the pork loin registers about 145 degrees on an instant read thermometer.  Then take the pork loin out, wrap it in foil and allow it to rest while you finish prepping the salad.

 

 

 Time to fry some bacon! Bacon! Chop it up and fry until crispy.

 

Remove bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel. Turn off the heat, but leave the bacon fat in the pan. We'll get back to it shortly.

 

Chop up the lettuce of choice and spread it across your serving platter.

Let's check out our salad ingredients:

 

I ended up with the pear because my husband couldn't tell if my list said pecans or pears. The list said pecans, but as it turns out, pears are perfect in this dish, too.  Slice up the apple with the peel on and peel and slice the pair. Then start arranging the bacon, pecans, cherries, blue cheese and fruit on top of the lettuce.

 

Just keep adding the deliciousness.

 

Now turn the flame on underneath the bacon fat and get it hot again. Add the shallots.

 



Give them  about a minute to soften, then add the rest of the dressing.  Pour in any juices that have accumulated from the pork loin wrapped in foil.

It should be heated through in less than a minute. Turn off the heat and slice the pork loin.

 

 

Arrange the pork loin on top of the salad and start spooning on the hot dressing.

 

 

Remember, this is both the salad dressing and sauce for the pork. You can also serve some dressing on the side for people to add to their individual plates.

 

I also do a version of this where I microwave sliced sweet potatoes and then roast them in the pan the pork cooks in while it's resting. I'll get photos the next time I whip that up. 

 

The delicious vinaigrette goes great on any kind of salad. I think it would be kind of kick-ass for a hot potato salad, but I haven't made that yet.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Secret To Perfect Cobb Salad

 

 
 
 
Cobb salad is an amazing dish. More than a salad, it's a perfect meal packed with protein and flavor. It has meat and cheese and vegetables dressed in a tangy vinaigrette. I love a good Cobb salad, but it's really hard to get a decent one out. Either the ingredients are wrong or it's just a pile of dried up stuff on a plate with dressing on the side.
 
The ingredients in a Cobb salad are easy to remember. Take romaine or iceberg lettuce and then EAT COBB.  Eggs, Avocado, Tomatoes, Chicken, Olives & Onions, Bacon & Blue cheese.

 
The eggs are hard cooked, the chicken is either boiled or grilled and then diced and the onions are scallions or chives. You'll want to use mission olives and not a sharp briny olive like Kalamatas.  Each of these items needs to be diced into similarly sized pieces. You will also want to chop up the lettuce into bite-sized pieces.
 
Now let's make the vinaigrette. The ingredients here are 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1tsp. lemon juice, 1  tsp. Worcestershire sauce,  1/2 tsp sugar, tsp salt, sprinkle pepper and a minced clove of garlic.

 
 
 In a small jar combine everything but the oil and give it a good shake (if you don't have a jar, you can whisk in a bowl). Leave out the oil because you want the sugar and salt to dissolve and the won't do that in oil. Once it's all combined, add the oil and give it another good shake. Taste and adjust salt, sugar and pepper to taste.  It's a good idea to save old relish or pickle jars just for making things like dressing.

 
 
You'll want a nice large platter for assembling this salad. You'll also want a bowl, because we are going to toss everything in a light coat of dressing before serving. Start with the lettuce. This is a composed salad, not just a bunch of lettuce with stuff on top, so the lettuce should not be too much more prominent that the other ingredients. Just enough to cover the plate.

 
Toss it very lightly in about a tablespoon of the dressing and arrange it to cover the platter.

 
 Then toss each of the ingredients separately in just a little dressing before adding to the platter. This includes the chicken.

 
Do the same for the tomatoes, avocados, olives and scallions. The bacon, blue cheese and eggs can skip it. But I would salt and pepper the eggs after they are chopped. Dressing ingredients separately when assembling a salad is the key to an awesome salad. You will also use a lot less dressing,
 
Then start arranging the ingredients in strips on top of the lettuce.

 
It doesn't take a lot of artistic effort, but it sure looks nice when it's done.
 

Serve the remaining dressing on the side and everyone can add extra if they need it.  Yum! 

 

A few things about Cameron Lightfoot

Today, Cameron Lightfoot turns 22 and graduates from The University of Findlay. In true middle-aged person fashion, I've been going through photos and reliving memories of the kids I've been proud to have call me "Aunt" Cyndy his whole life. So I decided to write down a few memories. Partially to give him a laugh and partially because this will be great source material for lazy showbiz writers when he's a famous actor. "10 Facts You Didn't Know About Cameron Lightfoot!"

Baby Facts:

I found out he was on the way when his parents invited us to dinner at their tiny little apartment in the electric blue house on Cortland Avenue. Cheryl made pecan pie and we brought cherry cordial ice cream. It was a little sweet. While we were having dinner, I noticed on the wipe board year calendar on the wall a date, I believe in April - with a little drawing of a baby face and the words OUR BABY!  So I had a little clue of the announcement to come.

I had my boss at the time, make a Star Trek Next Generation onesie for the baby to come.

He pinned me to the ground by grabbing my cheeks with his sharp little finger nails and pulling me to him. I was kneeling on the ground with him and couldn't get away without hurting him. He had me for a good twenty minutes. This was the day he screamed so loud that my husband Tim left the house to get away from him, slipped on the steps and hurt his back. 

He limped back in after lying on the ground for a bit (shortly after I freed myself from the death grip) and said, "We are not having kids."  This is why I tell Cameron he is responsible for taking care of us in our old age. I hope you enjoyed yourself, angry baby :)

Young Cameron

We gave him a pair of Batman pajamas when he was about five for Christmas. He opened them up and said "Oooh nice! And look, flame retardant!"

When he was about six, I babysat for him and his infant brother while his dad and my husband went to see Cinderella (the hair band) in concert.  Cam had a copy of The Nutty Professor in hand and said to me, "Aunt Cyndy, when we put that baby to bed, we are going to PAR-TAY."

I pulled the best prank in the history of ever by baking him a Barbie cake for his 11th birthday. He was mortified. I did have a Spiderman cake waiting in the wings, but only after catching his mortified expression for posterity.



He was not a fan of rollercoasters or rides of any kind. His expression is priceless after the Demon Drop. Even better was hearing him brag to his friends about the rides he'd been on at Cedar Point. I told him at the time this photo was taken that I would pull it out someday when he brought a girl over. When the lovely Alaina Counts came over for the first time, it was sitting out.

He also parlayed an uncanny resemblance to Harry Potter into the biggest draw for chicks I've ever seen. They used to swoon. I think he's imprinted on the psyches of girls of a certain age, because they still swoon. Well played.

One of the great pleasures of knowing Cam has been meeting his wonderful friends. We have so many fond memories of Dungeons and Dragons nights with Thomas Dysard and Charles Taylor, starting in grade school. I remember their first get together back when the kids were in grade school. Charles said, "This is Tim? I thought Tim was a kid! Then Thomas said, "Charles, Tim is the ultimate."

And let's not forget all of the Free Comic Book Day adventures, Doctor Who viewings, Star Trek Parties and superhero movies.

And let's not forget his lovely and talented girlfriend actress and writer Alaina Counts. Our world would certainly be less glittery and fabulous without the queen of all nerds. All will love and fear her. I've come to call her my fake daughter, though there's nothing fake about his kid. Nothing says more about the caliber of Cam than his ability to woo a gal like this. Oh, and I invented the term Camlaina© - I expect royalties when the Lunt and Fontanne of Findlay are world-famous.

I would be remiss not to mention Cameron's many plays. Among them: Hot Mikado, Much Ado About Nothing, Rent, (In which he played the hero, the poor guy who just wants to collect his rent from squatters) Glass Menagerie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Hollow, King Lear, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and Pride and Prejudice . The kid's  a star!

Here's a photo of Cam with his dad Scott along with Tim and Charles at one of the legendary Man Movie Nights. This is shortly before Tim warped the young men's minds with Ichi The Killer.

Three things I will never get tired of talking about: 

Cam freaking out when we didn't have place cards at Thanksgiving when he was 13 "But we've had them my whole life!"

Cam singing Juke Box Hero is Rock Band with the lyrics "Juice Box Hero."

13-year-old Cam telling me of his plan to grow up, get his own place, invite his little brother over and then "Bam, right in the face."  Look out Mal, he seemed serious.

I also can't say how much I admire him for being wise beyond his years and being strong and supportive for his father during his battle with cancer and a rock for his mother and brother when his father passed away way too soon. I was his age when I lost my mother and it's rough not having the person who would be the proudest of you there at your college graduation.

Here's a shot of the boy in his graduation suit. Looking sharp. And incredibly grownup... dammit... when did that happen?

This charming fellow loves God, his family, the theater and his friends and just life in general. The whole wide world is waiting out there for you bud! Geronimo!

Uncle Tim and Aunt Cyndy love you bunches and are proud of you and any small part we've played in who you are today.

P.S.  When are you going to finish painting my porch? 
P.P.S  Get a job -  that one's for your dad.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

This recipe is actually my husband's. Although I did help with tweaking the flavors a bit. So it's sort of a collaborative Mac and Cheese.  He's gotten very much into experiments of the macaroni and cheese variety. He finally admitted that homemade is better than the stuff in the Kraft box. I might have shed a tear at that one. It only took 23 years of marriage.

This recipe is the perfect balance of creamy, cheesy goodness and sharp Buffalo wing sauce tanginess. If you didn't want the chicken you could just add the hot sauce and butter to the macaroni. But, I warn you, that might make my husband cry.  You can also put this together in the time it takes the pasta to boil. This doesn't take a minute more to make than the boxed stuff.

Here's a look at your ingredients: Pasta, a can of evaporated milk, eggs, sharp white cheddar cheese, Monterrey Jack cheese, cooked chicken, (this was a shredded rotisserie, but you could always cook either chicken thighs or chicken breast for this) Frank's Hot Sauce, butter and Buffalo pretzel bits and some crumbled blue cheese.

Let's start by boiling a box of macaroni in a large pot of heavily salted water. Salt it good! This is how you are seasoning the macaroni. We like to use cavatappi, a curly ridged noodle, because of the way it catches the sauce in mac and cheese.

While that's boiling, let's combine  melted butter and hot sauce in equal amounts in a dish or large measuring cup.

Give it a stir until blended.

Coat the chicken thoroughly and set aside. You can do this the night before if you like. The chicken only tastes better the longer it sits.

Now let us make the easiest cheese sauce in the history of ever. You'll need eggs, evaporated milk and some salt and pepper.

Combine the eggs and the evaporated milk together in a cup or bowl with salt and pepper.

Whisk the daylights out of it.

If your cheese, like this lovely block of sharp white cheddar, is in block form, get out the grater and grate it. I like to do it on parchment paper. It's easier to move around.

Now your sauce base should be all set - egg & milk mixture plus your two cheeses and two tablespoons of butter.

While the pasta is still boiling. Put some of those pretzel bits in a plastic bag and bash the heck out of them.

Melt some butter in a pan.

Toss in the pretzel bits and cook in the butter until they brown slightly. Set aside.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it.

Return it immediately to the pot you cooked it in and add the two tablespoons of butter.

Stir it in to melt thoroughly. Then add the egg and milk mixture. Make sure you give it a whisk before pouring it in the pot.

Now add the shredded cheddar.

Plus the shredded Monterrey Jack.

Stir until the sauce is nice and creamy. You should be able to do this with the heat off, but if it doesn't melt, you can turn it on low.

 

Now add in the chicken coated with hot sauce.

 

 

Stir to combine and then salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

At this point you can either add the macaroni and cheese to a buttered dish and sprinkle with blue cheese or put in on a plate or bowl and add the blue cheese. I could say that the blue cheese is optional, but not having blue cheese is never an option for me.

 

 

Then sprinkle on the buttery pretzel crumbs.

 

Here's what it looks like in a serving dish.

 

 

If you like more of that Buffalo zing, serve with hot sauce on the side.