The Three Hour Salad
The Three Hour Salad is the reason that I am writing a second book. My first book: Impromptu Friday Nights – A guide To Supper Clubs, was about how to organize a supper club and prepare a dinner party. My real goal was to provide young adults with a roadmap of how to enjoy getting together with friends to socialize over a meal. In steps my daughter Jenn. She is a master at socializing, a good cook and most importantly, the mother of three kids under 8 years old. She once told me: You know your Romaine Wedge Salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette (featured in book one), while it is great, you must know that it takes 3 hours to make with 3 young children hanging onto your ankles. It might only take me 30 minutes to make homemade croutons, prepare vinaigrette, sauté bacon and slice and dice assorted tomatoes, onions, and olives. There is no way that process makes sense for Jenn.
I got it. Supper clubs sound great for young adults looking to socialize with friends, but there must be an easier way. In steps book number two: Impromptu Friday Nights – Bring a Bottle And An Appetizer – A guide To Wine Groups. You don’t need to prepare a six-course meal to get together with friends. You don’t even need a Three Hour Salad. All you need is a bottle and an appetizer. The beauty of appetizers is that they don’t have to be hard to make. You don’t even need to make them yourself as there are plenty of store-bought options that are great.
I mentioned earlier that Jenn was a master at socialization. To be truthful, she majored in socialization through high school and college. In high school she played coed soccer and ran track. Why? Because that’s what her friends were doing. She went to Auburn for college and very little got in the way of her socialization. She did a “Victory Lap” (a fifth year) to make sure she didn’t miss out on a party or football game. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have it any other way. The friends and experiences from her school days, have made her into the person she is today. And, that person is a lot of fun, even if it takes her three hours to make a salad.
Crostini are my latest hero appetizer. They can combine all the food groups. There are all kinds of ways to bring culinary panache and variety to them. They look great. They can be a meal onto themselves. They can be healthy. But most importantly, they are easy to make. One crostini appetizer certainly does not take…Three hours to make. And, just like my daughter Jenn, they are a lot of fun.
Jenn with Dylan, Max and Hadley Grace after mom ran the Disney half marathon
If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/wine group/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.
Steak And French Fries
This is a re-write of a blog wrote last year
Remember when you went off to college and pretty quickly put on 15 pounds from the dorm food and regular beer drinking? Now, many of us are “Sheltered in place” and eating pretty well with threat of the coronavirus and Covid-19. Hopefully, we can avoid getting sick and all we get is a few extra pounds (AKA “The Quarantine 15) from eating well.
Last night we splurged a little with:
- New York Strip grilled to a perfect medium rare
- French Fries
- Chopped “Three Hour” Salad
- Pan Roasted Shishito Peppers
- Caramelized Onion
- Phelps Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
Talk about all the food groups!
Steak
We don’t eat a lot of red meat. When I get the green light to grill a steak, I like to work with a thicker cut of New York Strip. We bought a whole loin from Costco with our bulk shopping at the start of the lock down. I cut it into steaks that were 2 inches thick. The added thickness widens the window to get it cooked to the perfect medium rare.
French Fries
What is not to like about homemade French fries. The French really know how to make them. I will never forget my first trip to Paris and getting fries at a Bistro and thinking: These are better than McDonald’s. Growing up in the states, my gold standard for French fries were found under the Golden Arches. After working with a French chef, I learned that the Bistro in Paris and McDonalds both know the magic secret to a crispy fry. YOU HAVE TO COOK THEM TWICE. The key is to pre-cook them, let them cool and then finish them quickly in hot oil. It works every time.
3 Hour Salad
My daughter Jennifer has renamed my Romaine Wedge Salad with Gorgonzola Aioli as the “3 Hour Salad”. The combination of:
- Roasting homemade croutons
- Sautéing bacon
- Whipping together a Gorgonzola aioli
- Prepping a combination of green onion, olives and grape tomatoes with live oil and vinegar
- Chopped Romaine Lettuce
What takes me about 30 minutes, will take Jennifer 3 hours. There is something to be said about trying to cook while at the same time keeping an eye on three kids under the age of 6.
Shishito Peppers
These are easy to make, taste great and add a perfect amount of zip/color to your plate. I love that they add the zip without too much heat, The funny thing is that 1 in 10 will have a real pop of heat, but that isn’t exactly a bad thing,
Caramelized Onions
These were a last minute addition. It just so happened that we have a lot of onions from our “Buying In Bulk” exercise. A wonderful offshoot is you will add something different
Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon
Talk about a little splurge. Phelps is one of our favorite vineyards that we first visited back in the 1980’s. Do their wines taste better to us because they remind us of a wonderful afternoon in an idyllic setting 40 years ago? Probably! Past that, Phelps makes a pretty tasty Cabernet.
We can’t eat the way we did last night or we will be adding and unwanted Coivd-19 POUNDS. But, we certainly had a pretty good meal last night. Tonight, may be a pan seared chicken breast with extra vegetables. Being “Sheltered in Place” doesn’t mean we cant eat well.
If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.