Help! Menu idea, quick!

Sheryl Rosen said:

I was thinking of running out to get some romaine, and making a composed salad on a platter of
romaine, red onions and oranges and grapefruits, garnished with toasted walnuts and whipping up a
creamy walnut oil vinaigrette with white wine vinegar and some juice from the citrus fruits, and
some curls of very sharp cheddar. What herbs would go into that?

Whaddya think????

It seems right, and I have most of it here already (just have run out for the greens and onions),
but I wasn't sure if there was something better.

I like the contrast between the light and tangy salad as an appetizer for a rich hearty
stew, I think.

I think it sounds great, especially as the lettuce, walnuts, and onions will be a bit crunchy to
offset stew and dumplings. Go for it! I'd just add some salt and freshly ground black pepper
instead of herbs.

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Sheryl Rosen said:

My mom, i explained, blah blah blah.

I Thing is, I'm not used to serving this for company....stew is sort of an all in one meal, and
when i served it for the family, that was all we had. But for company...especially the first time
I've ever entertained these folks, I can't just stick a bowl of stew in front of them, ya know?

You invited them for stew. Serve them stew. If it's good stew that should be enough.

Salad, perfect! Crunch and flavor. With the stew, a good rye bread with softened butter.

nancy (have fun!)

Sheryl Rosen said:

I was thinking of running out to get some romaine, and making a composed salad on a platter of
romaine, red onions and oranges and grapefruits, garnished with toasted walnuts and whipping up a
creamy walnut oil vinaigrette with white wine vinegar and some juice from the citrus fruits, and
some curls of very sharp cheddar. What herbs would go into that?

Whaddya think????

I think it's going to be just fine. I'd nix the cheddar though.

RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

In a small bowl, whisk together

3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon walnut oil
(optional) and 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 1/2 cup.

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

in article [email hidden], Curly Sue at
[email hidden] wrote on 1/3/04 4:19 PM:

Quoted message said:

Sheryl Rosen said:

I was thinking of running out to get some romaine, and making a composed salad on a platter of
romaine, red onions and oranges and grapefruits, garnished with toasted walnuts and whipping up a
creamy walnut oil vinaigrette with white wine vinegar and some juice from the citrus fruits, and
some curls of very sharp cheddar. What herbs would go into that?

Whaddya think????

It seems right, and I have most of it here already (just have run out for the greens and onions),
but I wasn't sure if there was something better.

I like the contrast between the light and tangy salad as an appetizer for a rich hearty stew,
I think.

I think it sounds great, especially as the lettuce, walnuts, and onions will be a bit crunchy to
offset stew and dumplings. Go for it! I'd just add some salt and freshly ground black pepper
instead of herbs.

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

That's what I did. Except, I opted for oranges and pears. I had a red pear in the fridge, and I
liked the color contrast. I couldn't get red onions at the salad bar, so rather than buy an entire
onion, too much, I just used the small white onion I had and it needed color, so the salad blend has
some radicchio (is that the red one?) and the pear skin is red. The walnuts are toasted, the
dressing is made and wow, is it ever pretty on the platter!!!!!

I used some orange juice, a splash of "mojo marinade", white wine vinegar, walnut oil and whipped it
with my hand blender, salt and pepper, of course.

I am skipping the cheese as this looks pretty enough on its own. I will also offer blue cheese
dressing. I don't use it but this salad seems to cry out for it, for those who like it.

This is a very nice winter salad. I'm pleased with it.

or you could try a little mint that often goes with fruit related salads.
The Salad sounds a great idea good luck
"Curly Sue" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sheryl Rosen said:

I was thinking of running out to get some romaine, and making a composed salad on a platter of
romaine, red onions and oranges and grapefruits, garnished with toasted walnuts and whipping up a
creamy walnut oil vinaigrette with white wine vinegar and some juice from the citrus

fruits,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and some curls of very sharp cheddar. What herbs would go into that?

Whaddya think????

It seems right, and I have most of it here already (just have run out for the greens and onions),
but I wasn't sure if there was something better.

I like the contrast between the light and tangy salad as an appetizer for

a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

rich hearty stew, I think.

I think it sounds great, especially as the lettuce, walnuts, and onions will be a bit crunchy to
offset stew and dumplings. Go for it! I'd just add some salt and freshly ground black pepper
instead of herbs.

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

in article [email hidden], sf at
[email hidden] wrote on 1/3/04 6:23 PM:

Quoted message said:

Sheryl Rosen said:

I was thinking of running out to get some romaine, and making a composed salad on a platter of
romaine, red onions and oranges and grapefruits, garnished with toasted walnuts and whipping up a
creamy walnut oil vinaigrette with white wine vinegar and some juice from the citrus fruits, and
some curls of very sharp cheddar. What herbs would go into that?

Whaddya think????

I think it's going to be just fine. I'd nix the cheddar though.

RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

In a small bowl, whisk together

3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon walnut oil
(optional) and 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 1/2 cup.

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

I did nix the cheddar, it didn't need the cheese at all.

I didn't have raspberry vinegar, but the orange juice worked fine. I did use some powdered mustard
to emulsify it, and a drip of honey, just to balance the bitterness of the mustard powder.

It was delicious.

I used pears and oranges on a bed of romaine, sliced yellow onion (very thin rings) and topped with
toasted walnuts.

It was refreshing, different, and the perfect counter point to the stew, which was rich and sort of
mushy (being stew), but not in a bad way.

Sheryl Rosen said:

Curly Sue :

Quoted message said:

Sheryl Rosen said:

I was thinking of running out to get some romaine, and making a composed salad on a platter of
romaine, red onions and oranges and grapefruits, garnished with toasted walnuts and whipping up
a creamy walnut oil vinaigrette with white wine vinegar and some juice from the citrus fruits,
and some curls of very sharp cheddar.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I think it sounds great, especially as the lettuce, walnuts, and onions will be a bit crunchy to
offset stew and dumplings. Go for it! I'd just add some salt and freshly ground black pepper
instead of herbs.

That's what I did. Except, I opted for oranges and pears. I had a red pear in the fridge, and I
liked the color contrast. I couldn't get red onions at the salad bar, so rather than buy an entire
onion, too much, I just used the small white onion I had and it needed color, so the salad blend
has some radicchio (is that the red one?) and the pear skin is red. The walnuts are toasted, the
dressing is made and wow, is it ever pretty on the platter!!!!!

I used some orange juice, a splash of "mojo marinade", white wine vinegar, walnut oil and whipped
it with my hand blender, salt and pepper, of course.

I am skipping the cheese as this looks pretty enough on its own. I will also offer blue cheese
dressing. I don't use it but this salad seems to cry out for it, for those who like it.

This is a very nice winter salad. I'm pleased with it.

Sounds great, Sheryl. Hope your evening went well 😉

in article [email hidden], lea b at
[email hidden] wrote on 1/3/04 11:00 PM:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This is a very nice winter salad. I'm pleased with it.

Sounds great, Sheryl. Hope your evening went well 😉

It did. They loved the meal. The salad was a huge hit. The stew was a huge hit. They are wonderful
friends and I'm glad I did this. The husband watched the football game while we cleaned up
afterward. It was nice having someone to clean up with. I hate the drudgery of cleaning but it is so
much more pleasant with a "buddy".

After that, we had dessert and coffee. They brought cannolis. Yummy!!! I brewed some decaf. We then
played cards for a couple hours afterwards. It was so nice. I really enjoyed myself. I want to do
this again, soon!

My poor cat, though, hasn't eaten, I think she is upset by all this company I've been having. She
seems poopy.

Sheryl Rosen said:

I did nix the cheddar, it didn't need the cheese at all.

I didn't have raspberry vinegar, but the orange juice worked fine. I did use some powdered
mustard to emulsify it, and a drip of honey, just to balance the bitterness of the mustard
powder.

It was delicious.

I used pears and oranges on a bed of romaine, sliced yellow onion (very thin rings) and topped
with toasted walnuts.

It was refreshing, different, and the perfect counter point to the stew, which was rich and sort
of mushy (being stew), but not in a bad way.

Sounds wonderful and the meal must have been divine in a down to earth, homey way. Loved the
dumplings idea! Did you put any potatoes in the stew or eschew them in favor of dumplings?

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

in article [email hidden], sf at
[email hidden] wrote on 1/4/04 1:29 AM:

Quoted message said:

Sheryl Rosen said:

I did nix the cheddar, it didn't need the cheese at all.

I didn't have raspberry vinegar, but the orange juice worked fine. I did use some powdered
mustard to emulsify it, and a drip of honey, just to balance the bitterness of the mustard
powder.

It was delicious.

I used pears and oranges on a bed of romaine, sliced yellow onion (very thin rings) and topped
with toasted walnuts.

It was refreshing, different, and the perfect counter point to the stew, which was rich and sort
of mushy (being stew), but not in a bad way.

Sounds wonderful and the meal must have been divine in a down to earth, homey way. Loved the
dumplings idea! Did you put any potatoes in the stew or eschew them in favor of dumplings?

Potatoes, diced rutabaga, baby carrots, onions, celery, AND dumplings! Sometimes I put peas in, but
not this time.

The gravy was made with red wine, onion soup mix, an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, black pepper,
herbes de provence.

There was too much gravy, so I reserved some (about 6 cups, actually) from the leftovers and I will
use that as the base for some barley mushroom soup for lunches this week.

There is enough stew leftover for dinner for me and my friend tonight (we have a Sunday night "date"
for supper every week). And I'll have the soup at work this week.

My mom always made her stew with dumplings. I didn't realize other people didn't until I got to
adulthood. I remember being 16 or so, going to a friend's house for supper, and the mother served
beef stew, and my mom asked, when she picked me up, how it was and I told her it was tasty, but
there were no dumplings. I actually asked the mother where the dumplings were. It wasn't a rude
comment, I mean, I wasn't a heathen. She wasn't insulted, and they invited me back, so if it was
rude, it was forgiven. To me, stew isn't stew without dumplings.

Hark! I heard Sheryl Rosen <[email hidden]> say:

<big snip>

Quoted message said:

I like the contrast between the light and tangy salad as an appetizer for a rich hearty stew,
I think.

I agree -- although I'm a day too late. Hope it went well... :-)

--
j.j. ~ mom, gamer, novice cook ~ ..fish heads, fish heads, eat them up, yum!