Antipasto ideas

i makea salad with baby spinach leaves, cooked bacon, roasted pumpkin
cubes, toasted pine nuts and the secret ingredient is is a particular
marinated goats cheese - it is SOOOOOOO good. matter of fact, i'd like some
now

could you travel to just outside of melbourne australia to get the cheese?

chris
"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Having a birthday party on Sunday and I am charged with the salad. Since
it's all Italian, an antipasto is the way to go. I want a salad for the
gods, a salad for the ages, a salad that will make history, a salad fit
for
royalty, a salad you'd want for your last meal. I want a salad that makes
you glad to be alive. I want a salad that will have your stomach in
ecstasy
and your colon sending you love letters.

Ideas?

And I want a really superb dressing for it. Something exotic, even
truffle
oil is possible. A vinaigrette I think.

Paul

Paul M. Cook said:

Having a birthday party on Sunday and I am charged with the salad.
Since it's all Italian, an antipasto is the way to go. I want a salad
for the gods, a salad for the ages, a salad that will make history, a
salad fit for royalty, a salad you'd want for your last meal. I want
a salad that makes you glad to be alive. I want a salad that will
have your stomach in ecstasy and your colon sending you love letters.

Ideas?

Cobb salad.

Well that's what comes to mind when I hear "salad" anyway.

--
Andy
http://tinyurl.com/dzl7h

"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:Xnp3f.24067$wm3.7519@trnddc01...

Quoted message said:

Having a birthday party on Sunday and I am charged with the salad. Since
it's all Italian, an antipasto is the way to go. I want a salad for the
gods, a salad for the ages, a salad that will make history, a salad fit
for
royalty, a salad you'd want for your last meal. I want a salad that makes
you glad to be alive. I want a salad that will have your stomach in
ecstasy
and your colon sending you love letters.

Ideas?

And I want a really superb dressing for it. Something exotic, even
truffle
oil is possible. A vinaigrette I think.

Paul

So you want a salad for antipasto! I will think this afternoon.
But I don't find that truffle oil could agree with vinaigrette.
cheers
Pandora

What about an antipasto platter of marinated veggies? roasted red
peppers & roasted garlic, marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts, cubes
of meats & cheese, pepperoncini, etc.

"Paul M. Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:Xnp3f.24067$wm3.7519@trnddc01...

Quoted message said:

Having a birthday party on Sunday and I am charged with the salad. Since
it's all Italian, an antipasto is the way to go. I want a salad for the
gods, a salad for the ages, a salad that will make history, a salad fit

for

Quoted message said:

royalty, a salad you'd want for your last meal. I want a salad that makes
you glad to be alive. I want a salad that will have your stomach in

ecstasy

Quoted message said:

and your colon sending you love letters.

Ideas?

And I want a really superb dressing for it. Something exotic, even

truffle

Quoted message said:

oil is possible. A vinaigrette I think.

Paul

I have served this salad a few times to rave reviews. The apple walnut
vinaigrette is really excellent but the recipe makes a lot more than needed
for this salad.
The recipe comes from "American Brasserie" by Rick Tramonto & Gale Gand.

Roquefort & Pear Salad with Grapes & Spiced Pecans (serves 4 to 6)
For the Spiced Pecans

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tbl light brown sugar

2 tsp olive oil

1 cup pecan halves

For the Salad

8 oz mixed salad greens (mesclun)

6 oz haricort verts or string beans blanched & shocked in ice bath

2 ripe but firm pears, cored & sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch slice

6 oz seedless red grapes

1/2 red onion thinly sliced and soaked in cold water or wine vinegar

6 oz Roquefort cheese, chilled (I used Maytag bleu)

1 tbl fresh chives

S & P to taste

1 recipe Apple Walnut Vinaigrette*

Make spiced pecans. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine cumin, cayenne & brown
sugar in a bowl. Add the oil and mix thoroughly. Add the pecans and mix
until thoroughlt coated. Spread pecans onto a baking sheet and bake for 15
to 20 minutes until toasted. Stir the pecans about midway through baking.
Can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept in a sealed container.

In a large salad bowl combine the pecans, mixed greens beans (if using)
pears, grapes and drained red onion slices. Add about half the vinaigrette
and toss thoroughly. Sprinkle S & P to taste over the salad .

Crumble the Roquefort over the salad. Sprinkle the chives over the salad.
Toss at the table and serve, passing the remaining dressing separately.

*Apple Walnut Vinaigrette

1/2 Granny Smith or other [censored] apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

1 shallot, peeled

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/3 cup walnut oil

2/3 cup canola or light olive oil

S & P to taste

In a blender or food processor combine the apple chunks and shallot and
process until smooth. Add the vinegar and sugar and blend. Add the oils
and blend until creamy. Add S & P to taste and pulse to blend. Use
immediately or refrigerate in a tightly sealed jar. Shake well before
serving.

Kate

This will sound odd, but it is tasty. You will need to multiply the
recipe, but it shouldn't be a problem.

8 oz / 225 grams of fresh mozzarella (tiny balls in brine)
1 shallot sliced thin
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 medium onion sliced thin
6 large sundried tomatoes dices small
handfull each of parsley and basil, chopped fine
oil

If the tomatoes are dry, reconstitute in warm water for at least ten
minutes, or until fairly soft.

In a pan large enough to hold everything in one layer :
Heat a thin layer of oil to fairly high heat, add onions and shallots,
and saute until lightly browned. Turn down the heat to lowest setting
and add the garlic and sundried tomatoes. lightly saute the garlic and
tomatoes. Add the cheese and mix until cheese gets gooey and just
starts to melt a bit. Remove from heat. Toss on the parsley and basil
and mix. Allow mixture to cool. Best if prepared a day ahead (only if
you don't eat it in the meantime...)

Pine nuts can also be added. If so, toast lightly in a dry pan until
very slightly browned. Then remove from pan, and add again when you add
the garlic.

That would make a salad, but you can still do more. Make that a
centerpiece of the anti-pasta, and put it in a "bowl" of large
radicchio leaves. Surround this with fresh and/or marinated veggies, an
herbed olive oil dip, perhaps even a bit of balsamic vinegar, a variety
of olives, and perhaps even some meats and cheeses. For the cheeses,
try Fontina, Taleggio, or Crecenza. For the meats, pepperoni is good,
but capacola, and prosciutto are also good. Add a bit of fruit.
Catalope and figs are good with prosciutto. A few berries (whatever is
fresh and ripe) will add flair.

For me, that would have my stomach in ecstacy.

Dean G.

Paul M. Cook said:

Having a birthday party on Sunday and I am charged with the salad.
Since
it's all Italian, an antipasto is the way to go. I want a salad for
the
gods, a salad for the ages, a salad that will make history, a salad
fit for
royalty, a salad you'd want for your last meal. I want a salad that
makes
you glad to be alive. I want a salad that will have your stomach in
ecstasy
and your colon sending you love letters.

Ideas?

And I want a really superb dressing for it. Something exotic, even
truffle
oil is possible. A vinaigrette I think.

Paul

A salad belle de nuit is equal quantities of crayfish tails and slices
of black truffle dressed in oil and wine vinegar, well seasoned with
freshly milled black pepper.

One of my favourite party dishes is any number of vegetables, lightly
blanched & drained, cauliflower, green beans, artichoke bottoms, small
white onions, cooked red beans, drain and pour over them boiling white
wine vinegar well flavoured with mustard, season with salt and pepper
and chill for at least 24 hours in an air tight container. Use only a
clear vinegar or the resulting product will not look very nice.

Attereaux a la Genevoise
-----------------------------

Chicken livers sautéed in butter, braised lambs sweetbreads, poached
brain, mushrooms, truffles and artichoke bottoms, all cut into 1 inch
square slices, impaled on skewers and coated with well reduced sauce
duxelles.

When cold, cover with a coating of forcemeat mixed with a little beaten
egg; egg and crumb and fashion to a neat cylindrical shape. Deep fry at
the last moment, replace the wooden skewers with decorative silver
skewers and arrange decoratively, stuck in a mound of rice or a loaf of
bread and surround with fried parsley.
-------------------------------

Attereaux au Parmesan
--------------------------

Prepare a mixture of 7 ounces semolina cooked for approximately 30
minutes in 4 & 1/2 cups white bouillon. Remove from the heat and add 5
ounces grated Parmesan cheese
and 3 & 1/2 ounces butter. Spread the mixture on a buttered tray 1/5 of
an inch thick and allow to cool well.

Cut into rounds with a 1 inch plain pastry cutter and impale these on
wooden skewers, alternating them with round pieces of Gruyere cheese of
the same size and thickness. Egg and crumb and deep fry at the last
minute; replace the wooden skewers with silver skewers and arrange as
indicated above.
---
JL

"Jude" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What about an antipasto platter of marinated veggies? roasted red
peppers & roasted garlic, marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts, cubes
of meats & cheese, pepperoncini, etc.

Sounds good. What kind of a marinade would you use?

Paul